Ninh Thuan’s Farmers Association in collaboration with the coordination board of the project to help rural areas create groups of farmer doing the same things.

The three participating communes in Ninh Phuoc district have created 27 such groups, whose members are from low-income households. They have received capital, seedlings, livestock, construction materials, and technical advice on husbandry, cultivation, and production planning.

Mang Thi Quynh’s family in Lien Son hamlet, Phuoc Vinh commune, is very poor. The whole family depends on her income from hired work. Lien Son authorities admitted her to a group that raises Heifer cows.

Quynh said: “I’m happy to have been given two cows. We will do our best to raise them and hope that our life will get better.”

Ten low-income households of the Raglai ethnic group in Ta Duong hamlet, Phuoc Thai commune, are happy to be in the group raising Heifer cows.

According to Chamale Tho, head of Ta Duong hamlet, “Since I joined the Heifer cow breeding project, I’ve been trained in husbandry techniques including how to preserve feed made from agricultural waste like rice straw, how to take care of cows, and how to vaccinate cows. In addition, the project has given each household two cows to improve our lives. Our life is starting to improve.”

There are 300 groups of farmers with common interests across Ninh Thuan. Chau Van Ky, President of the provincial farmers’ association, said the project is almost finished. He said: “The association will ask the project’s management board to continue organizing training courses for trainers to give them skills to share their own experience with other farmers. In that way, we hope to make our groups more effective.”