Heifer Project International, Inc. - development program grant

(HPI) and to train LDC smallholders in dairy production management. HPI will implement the project, with the Winrock International Livestock Research and Training Center acting as co-implementor of training activities. A permanent evaluation unit with four staff members will be established within HPI; the unit will utilize outside consultants as necessary. The unit will design a methodology for evaluating HPI"s efforts to assist small farm animal breeders by transferring livestock to LDC recipients who, in turn, are asked to share the benefits they receive. The planned evaluation system will enhance HPI"s capability to select appropriate recipients, manage the logistics of livestock transport, assist recipients to achieve maximum benefits, and assess the needs of its volunteer host country field staff. Over the life of the project, the unit will develop a general project design/evaluation system and specific evaluation methodologies for selected countries. Four ongoing HPI activities will be evaluated and all activities will be assessed. To improve the milk and meat production management capability of heifer recipients, 20 weeks of U.S. animal husbandry/range management training will be provided to 63 LDC recipients; 9 weeks will be spent at a large commercial dairy and 8 will be spent on family dairy farms. Classroom training, orientation, and review will complement these experiences. Training topics will include breeding, gestation, calving, rearing, feeding, milking, sanitation, recordkeeeping, and the sociocultural aspects of U.S. dairy farming. In addition to increasing production, the training will increase the number of persons capable of nonformally transferring the fundamentals of beef and dairy husbandry to other LDC smallholders.