PROJECT DAIRY COWS ON SRI LANKA - JUN 2015

The Ten Brinke Foundation from Varsseveld in the Netherlands has given the green light in April 2015 to start a new aid project in Sri Lanka. This project involves the purchase and use of 30 pieces dairy cows, which will be distributed among about 20 families in the poor region Solepura. The project was launched in cooperation with Stichting HAS (Netherlands) and NEDLA (Sri Lanka), which together form an organization. HAS Foundation has a Dutch board and this board maintains contacts with sponsors in the Netherlands. Next, NEDLA weith their board members implements the aid projects.

The idea of the Ten Brinke Foundation was willing to support a project that can pay for itself and that has the potential to grow independently. Dairy farming in Sri Lanka is very interesting because there is a lot of green available for the cows to eat. People have not only the capital and can not independently take the risk to buy a single cow. Through this project, there are 20 dairy farmers trained at a local institution, to learn how to keep cows and thereby what is important. Then they have realized a small shelter for the cow in the form of an open shed. The cows are outside during the day just to graze. The project also provides additional food during the first year that the farm should be launched, as well as fees for veterinary and insemination of cows. It is estimated that through the sale of milk to large dairy companies in the region a small basic income can be extracted from keeping a cow. The challenge for the people of Sri Lanka is to maintain their herds well, plus this and so the project (and their income) will grow! Also, multiple families can get a cow when the herd multiplies. Meanwhile, the project has started and cows have already been bought for the first phase of the project. This year all the cows will be bought and all the people will get educated. The coming years will be monitored through reports from Sri Lanka, to show how the farming operation is running and if everything keeps going smoothly.