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Pig Farming Project Provides Many Benefits to Thailand Families

Providing Pigs To Families Of Sponsored Children 3

In response to a shortage of food and income during the Covid-19 pandemic, Pearl S. Buck Foundation Thailand partnered with Pearl S. Buck International and generous donors to launch a pilot program to address these concerns.

Providing Black Pigs to Sponsored Children and Their Families

The participants were families of 20 sponsored children struggling against poverty in Ban Nong Luang Village, Mae Ramard District, Tak Province, who were given black pigs to raise to ensure they had enough protein to eat, help reduce the families’ food expenses, and enable each family to have a source of extra income for the purchase of other necessities. With the success of the initial pilot, eventually this project will scale-up to include another 30 households.

The pilot program involved meeting with village and teacher representatives, selecting the sponsored children’s families for participation, providing advice and assistance to the families as they learned how to care for their pigs, having the families meet with district livestock officers for instruction on raising the pigs, and purchasing the pigs and pig food for the families.

Pilot Program Successfully Helps Families

Thanks to the resounding success of this pilot program, 20 sponsored children’s families and 252 family members had enough food to eat during the hard times of the pandemic. They gained lots of experience, knowledge, and skills in pig-raising for food security and earning extra-income from selling the grown pigs. In addition, children and their families had more time together as they shared in the tasks involved in raising the pigs.

The children and their families learned valuable skills not only for raising pigs but that can be advantageous to alternative occupations in the future. Another positive outcome is that the 20 pilot children will be able to contribute to the scaling up of the project by sharing what they’ve learned with the other children who will participate.

Benefits of Pig Farming Project Go Beyond Food Security

The benefits of this program go beyond food security and augmented income for impoverished and marginalized children and families during a global pandemic; the positive outcomes help ease those challenges in everyday situations and have psycho-social and family benefits as well. Not only do the children and parents spend time together caring for these animals, dedicating their time usefully to pig raising also helps keep the children, teens, and young adults busy and away from the dangers of drugs and and inappropriate online media.

We are so grateful to everyone who has contributed to this program, providing a means for the children and families served by Pearl S. Buck Foundation Thailand to get on the road to becoming self-sustaining and lifting themselves out of poverty with dignity. You can support the expansion of this project at: https://pearlsbuck.org/gifts/pig-farming-for-extra-family-income/.

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