Animal Bank Builds Families Economic Resilience in Vietnam

In uplifting households and helping families to gain economic independence, Hagar Vietnam provides training in husbandry techniques. The animal bank project teaches beneficiaries to manage the animals, in raising, breeding and disease prevention. The training includes household economic management and human trafficking prevention awareness. This is especially useful in Yen Bai province as the community is vulnerable to cross-border trafficking of the young girls as brides or domestic slaves to Chinese families.

Upon being trained, the beneficiaries are given the livestock, and guided with technical support through regular household visits. After a year, the animals would have reproduced and a young pair are returned to the animal bank which in turn would be given to new beneficiaries who are trained in husbandry management.

The project has since sponsored breeds and equipped livestock farming skills to 75 households. After just nine months, all 75 beneficiary households have successfully bred their livestock with at least one breeding animal having given birth to a litter, or is pregnant. In under a year, a total of 224 goats and pigs have been born!

Economically, the project has helped families, and we are so glad that they are able to thrive where they are and have reduced their vulnerability to trafficking.

Raised in the mountains of northwest Vietnam, Sau sought to give her family a better life. She bravely decided to leave home, but unfortunately, Sau was tricked and sold to China. Thankfully, she was found by the Chinese authorities and returned to the Vietnamese Border Guard. However, Sau was not able to earn enough. Her lack of education meant there was little job opportunities available to her. She had to rely on seasonal jobs in order to make ends meet, and would have to work very far from home which prevented her from being with her young child.

Sau was introduced to the animal bank project by the Communal Women Union whom Hagar partners with to reach out to the vulnerable communities. She was enrolled in the project and received animal husbandry training and three goats to raise. After six months, her goat herd started to procreate and delivered baby goats. Using the knowledge she learnt about economic management, Sau decided to sell one baby goat to buy two pigs and expand her farm. Now with new directions, she feels more secure with the vision of a stable future with her family.

If you would like to support the animal project in Yen Bai, check out these livestock that you can buy! Animals such as goats, cows, chickens and piglets are a lifeline for these families and can directly minimise trafficking risks for them!