How can a cow stop deforestation, send children to school, and open a savings account? Mr. Grisham Nyoni and his cow can show you how. Prior to receiving a dairy cow through the USAID-supported Land O’ Lakes project, Mr. Nyoni made a living by chopping down trees from the hills around his house to sell as charcoal. He didn’t make enough money to feed his family, let alone send his children to school. And he certainly didn’t have enough to put in a savings account or build a house.

After receiving a Land O’ Lakes cow, Mr. Nyoni has a new job and source of income. With the milk from his cow, he has milk for his own family and importantly, can sell excess milk at a significant profit. He earns enough to send his children to school and he has established a savings account at the local bank. . Mr. Nyoni also has enough money to construct a new house for his family – made of bricks with iron sheets for a roof rather than mud and thatch. And more importantly, he no longer cuts down trees to sell as charcoal.

The Land O’ Lakes Project in Malawi

Land O’ Lakes has been supporting the development of the Malawian dairy industry as a way of ensuring that rural families have enough money to meet their basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and school for their children. At present, there are 6,376 members of the Land O’ Lakes cooperatives of dairy farmers, about half of whom are women in Malawi.

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