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Author Archives: Vinton Smith
The cows told us… “We want more water!”
Water is the often considered the most important nutrient. No one can survive but for a few days without it. It’s really important to cows to not only survive, but to also cool their body during hot water and, the … Continue reading
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Improving the feeding program as Yaya Dairy so Ziway can improve access to safe and affordable dairy products.
Assessing the current feeding program at Yaya dairy was the first step in determining opportunities to improve how they feed their cows. This included assessing the ingredients they feed as well as the way in which they feed them. Both … Continue reading
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Visiting Yaya Dairy Farm for the first time… Assessing key opportunities to make the biggest difference
Visiting Yaya Dairy Farm in Ziway, Ethiopia for the first time as part of my first Farmer-to-Farmer training with Catholic Relief Services was a very interesting experience. I have taken many weeks to prepare for this visit but was still … Continue reading
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A day off from volunteering to attend church and broaden cultural experiences in Ethiopia!
Today was a day off from volunteering from dairy farmer training with Catholic Relief Services for the Farmer-to-Farmer program. So, it gave me an opportunity to experience even more of the Ethiopian culture. After having breakfast, Yared Abebe, the … Continue reading
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Preparing for a Farmer-to-Farmer project in Ethiopia focused on Improving Dairy Management Practices
I did a lot ahead of time to prepare for this Farmer-to-Farmer training project through Catholic Relief Services and US-AID, but there is only so much one can do to prepare to teach farmers in a different country, especially when … Continue reading
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Arriving in Addis Ababa and wondering… how do the 5.4 million people living there get enough to eat?
13 1/2 hours on an Ethiopian Airlines flight and I finally arrived. That was a very long flight! It gave me lots of time to wrap up a few things for work and to further prepare myself for the next … Continue reading
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There are over one million small holder dairy farmers in Kenya who have just 1-4 cows. They represent about 80% of the dairy farms and produce about 56% of milk in Kenya. These farms are spread throughout Kenya, leading to … Continue reading
We want to share the story of two other amazingly resilient and resourceful farmers we met during our visits with Heifer International. First, Lydia operates a farm on just 1 acre of land. She has two milking cows and one … Continue reading
Note: We’ve been so busy over the past several days, it’s been challenging to keep up with our posts here. So, we’ll try to catch up over the next couple of days! During our time working with Heifer International, we … Continue reading
New farmer striving to provide more food for her family
Today we met with farmers in Central Meru, Kenya who have only recently started to work with Heifer International. Dorthy and her family are just one example of the significant challenges of food insecurity. She shared great appreciation for the … Continue reading
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One cow at a time... 