Project Harvest Hope
Promoting economic development in Transylvania
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Model Dairy Farm
Milk sales are a primary source of income for local people, and therefore the Dairy Farm Project was founded in the village of Karácsonyfalva in partnership with the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, Massachusetts.
Goals of the Dairy Farm Project:
- Employ and train young adults from the villages;
- Provide land lease income to elderly villagers who currently farm their land with no mechanized equipment, doing backbreaking work. This will enable them to enjoy improved quality of life and longevity, and prevents the confiscation of their lands.
- Provide healthy animals to villagers as another source of income.
- Promote the survival of villages now under threat, and thereby promote survival of the cultural and religious traditions within these villages.
- Protect the property and human rights of ethnic minority groups.
- Secure the well-being of widows and single women who are threatened by poverty.
The project's priorities are to improve local herds, to protect the ancestral lands from government seizure, and to gain higher incomes for the villagers by establishing a dairy cooperative. The farm will operate as the basis for an extensive cooperative dairy project. The offspring of the first herd will be given as starter cows to villagers in twelve satellite villages, each of which will retain ownership of their own herds. Widows and single women will be given their own heifers, and additional professional assistance, in order to improve their precarious financial status.
The dairy barn staff will provide technical help and veterinary care to the satellite farms, and the milk will be collected and homogenized at the dairy. Villagers will then be able to bargain collectively with large milk companies, thereby stabilizing the region's milk prices and securing a greater income for the people.
Dairy Farm Status
In the fall of 2001, to much rejoicing, the first 15 cows arrived in the newly refurbished building. In 2002 another 10 cows were purchased. A total of 65 calves have been born at the farm.
At the end of 2004, the dairy farm barn contains 21 cows and 33 calves. Three female calves had been distributed to villagers. Most of the male calves had been sold.
To be fully operational, the farm needs 48 cows, and funding is now being sought to complete the herd and finish the final work on the barn.
The Dairy Farm Project currently provides four jobs, including that of Dairy Herd Manager, to young people who would otherwise need to find work in cities, or even emigrate. In addition, the construction of the barn has provided jobs and income in an impoverished region.
Distribution of cows from the Karácsonyfalve model dairy farm
Qualified farmers will be able to get cows from Harvest Hope pro Homoród. To qualify, farmers must have the necessary infrastructure to care for a cow - a barn and a source of feed, and agree to attend a one month course on theoretical and practical dairy farming techniques.
For qualified farmers, cows will be distributed in the following priority:
- single women or widows with less than 5 cows
- young couples between 20-40 years with less than 5 cows
- families between the ages 40-65 with less than 5 cows
- single women or widows with 5 to 10 cows
- young couples between 20-40 with 5 to 10 cows
- families between 40-65 with 5 to 10 cows
Those who want to participate in the program will have to attend a one month course which will be both practical and theoretical. The theoretical part will be taught by the Agricultural Department of Hargita county together with the Association of Hungarian Farmers from Romania. The theoretical part will be for two weeks, the practical part for two weeks.
The farm manager's house will be modernized for use as an educational center, so that we have a place to hold these classes. Until it is ready, the classes will be held at another location. The remodeling of the farm house will result in a 20 seat classroom in the attic and two guest rooms for the teachers - this would be an ideal situation.
For those who will be part of the program, the farm will offer consulting and help in working their fields with the machinery that we have on the farm.
Doing Their Part
The intention of the model dairy farm is to benefit the entire region. For Harvest Hope pro Homoród to be able to continue to provide cows to area villagers, the farmers will be asked to contribute part of the milk from the cow they receive to the foundation.
The first born female calf from their cow will also be distributed to another farmer. These calves will be raised on the model dairy farm and will go to another farmer when they are old enough to be bred.
Here is how the farmers will participate:
- the actual value of a cow is 1000 dollars
- the price of 1 liter of milk is 20 cents, so this means that the value of a cow is 5000 liters of milk
- The farmers will be asked to donate 1000 liters of the cow's milk per year, about 20% to 40% of the total milk from the cow during that year.
- In five years, they will have provided enough milk for another cow to be provided to another farmer. After this time, the cow and all its milk and future calves will be theirs.