PLEWA FAMILY FOUNDATION WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NASIO TRUST ANNUAL REPORT 2021: TWO GOATS FUND PROJECT
The NASIO TRUST – Charity Background
The Nasio Trust is a UK registered charity and Kenyan NGO which supports orphaned and vulnerable children and empowers communities to break the cycle of poverty by a holistic approach providing education, improving health, food security, psychosocial support and developing commerce. Our strapline of ‘Changing Lives for Good’ reflects the way we help transform the prospects of countless individuals – in Kenya, Tanzania and the UK.
The objective of the Nasio Trust, established over 20 years ago, is to empower communities for social change, helping unlock leadership potentials, and deliver sustainable and scalable ways of addressing the world’s problems by working with communities, individuals, governments, partners and other NGO’s to directly tackle and contribute in ways to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Introduction
This report covers the partnership work between Plewa Family Foundation and The Nasio Trust to support a widow Eunice Atieno (the mother of Benedict, one of the Nasio sponsored exceptional students and her daughter Michelle) for her subsistence farming in keeping a dairy goat to help improve the nutrition of her family and sale surplus milk for income to support the family. Goats’ milk contains more protein and calcium than cow’s milk.
Dairy goat farming is increasingly gaining popularity, particularly in areas where land available for dairy cows is diminishing. Like the dairy cows, dairy goats require good management that’s why we have a veterinary officer who trains and regularly visits all our goat farmers to check on the feeding and general care.
Project rationale, aims and objectives
Poverty is the greatest barrier to education access in the communities living in poverty and
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (N. Mandela).
We strongly believe in supporting families in sustainable income generating activities, so we know we can break not only the cycle of poverty and improve their health, but we can help those families in educating their children so they can provide financial means out of improved farming practices and crop yields.
The dairy goat project is to support and provide a steady source of milk every six months when the goat gives birth. So, the primary objective of our project is to provide milk to the family (for own consumption and for sale) but at the same time to grant free of charge every newly born baby goat to a next family in need, to expand the project. As goat milk has more protein and calcium and less cholesterol and lactose than cow milk’s, we can provide great nutrition value to the children and family.
In summary the aims of the project are:
- Training in dairy goat management.
- Training and help in establishing a kitchen garden using the goat droppings and food waste.
- Improve health of the family through goat milk which has high nutritional value.
- Generate basic income through milk sales.
- Every 6 Months a newly born baby goat can be given free of charge to the next family in need.
Dairy Goat Project
A Goat is a multifunctional animal and can play a significant role in the economy and nutrition of the families we support. Goat rearing is an enterprise which has been practiced by a large section of population in rural agricultural areas in Kakamega County. Goats are among the main meat – producing animals in Mumias and there is a strong demand for goat meat, which is more expensive than beef.
We introduced the goat project as part of the support program for Eunice and her family. We donated one pregnant dairy goat to Eunice in March 2021 with the primary aim of producing milk to serve nutrition purposes for her family and any surplus to be sold.
We built a pen for the goat to shield it from rain and the sun during the day and at night it sleeps in the kitchen to keep it warm and safe from theft.
Current Project Status
| Activity | Achievement | Status | Impact |
| Goat management Training | Trained in dairy goat management. | Completed | Eunice is now well trained and able to manage the goat with little support from the Vet and Nasio team |
| Construction of goat pen | Structure was completed. | Completed | Goat is housed and zero grazed to protect it from diseases |
| Goat purchased for Eunice | Dairy goat donated and Eunice trained how to use droppings in her kitchen garden | Completed | Goats’ droppings and food waste are used in her kitchen garden as organic manure. |
Impact
Raising dairy goats is gaining popularity as a profitable business in Mumias west because milk is highly nutritious and more easily digestible than cow’s milk. It also has a unique taste and flavour compared to cow’s milk.
When the goat gives birth Eunice will be able to sell a litre at Sh200 equivalent to $2 which is a higher profit than from cow’s milk. Goat milk has good rewards unlike a cow’s and its price does not fluctuate, guaranteeing steady income which will help Eunice financially.
From this dairy goat project we are supporting Eunice and her family to have sufficient food to ensure her health and nutritional needs for her two children are met improving their attendance at school and also improving income for her family reducing household poverty levels. The context of life in this area is one of extreme poverty where living for most people is hand to mouth.
Ending extreme poverty is about more than addressing a lack of money or material resource – it’s about creating and enabling an environment where families have the ability to make meaningful choices for themselves and their children.
Thanks to funding from Plewa Family Foundation, we are able to support and empower Eunice and her two children to break the cycle of poverty and keep them both in education.
Asante Sana – Thank You Very Much