Ethiopia
In rural Ethiopia, few people have access to farm machinery of any kind so animals play a key role in any agricultural enterprise.
Projects funded: 53
Oxen take the place of tractors while donkeys serve as pickup trucks hauling everything from people to produce.
With a new oxen costing more than most farmers make in a year, replacing one that falls ill or dies is beyond the reach of the average family.
The loss of one of these animals can have a devastating effect on a family that is dependent on subsistence farming as a means of survival. They can fall into a cycle of poverty that they cannot break out of.
It is no accident that much of the world’s most acute poverty exists in regions of Africa that are infested with the tsetse fly that carries sleeping sickness. In Ethiopia, sleeping sickness is the leading cause of death among farm animals.
Each year, Africa loses an estimated $4 billion in crop production because of the insect’s impact on animals used in farming and this staggering number does not even take into account losses in areas such as dairy and beef production.
Today, thousands of rural families are benefiting from A Glimmer of Hope’s investment in veterinary clinics which are staffed by trained veterinarians and stocked with the medicines need to combat sleeping sickness and other major diseases.
As a direct result of the animals receiving the treatment they need when they need it, their owners are benefiting from their continued good health. In addition to producing more meat to eat, more milk to drink and more hides to sell, they are in turn producing more healthy animals which contribute towards an increase in overall agricultural production.
Improved survival rates are also resulting in surpluses that the farmers are able to drive to market and sell for additional income.