Heifer China's History

Heifer Project International sent its first shipment of dairy cattle to China through the United Nations Relief Service in 1947. Heifer returned to China in 1985, after a delegation from the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Animal Husbandry visited Heifer Headquarters in 1984. In 1989, Heifer International built China Office in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The Heifer China Program Started with its first three projects in Dayi, Ya'an and Jianyang County of Sichuan Province.

To date, Heifer China has had 51 projects in 13 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China with a total funding of US $ 8 million. First generation of project animal includes 158 dairy goats introduced from England and 550 rabbits imported from USA and 298,000 animals purchased domestically or locally. To date, more than 4,148,200 animals have helped 43,048 farm families with a population of nearly 100,000 with a direct economic increase of more than US $45.5 million, and indirect increase of more than US $500 million. All together around 150,000 households have been indirectly benefited from the program, with a population of over 600,000. Most of the project families have doubled or even tripled their incomes in less than five years. Heifer China has responded to the natural disasters, and implemented rehabilitation projects for snow disasters and landslides on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, rainstorm disaster in Sichuan Basin and flood disaster along the Yangtze River.

During these years, Heifer China has been organizing technical force to pack the key technologies such as domesticating introduced livestock, establishing breeding system, feeding and management, artificial grass-planting, use of crop stalk, artificial insemination and disease control, to form a technical package being popularized in the remote, poor, mountainous, plateau and ethnic minority area. A total of 2,766 training sessions have been held and 179,202 person/times trained. Trainees are from various nationalities including Han, Tibetan, Miao, Yi, Qiang, Hui, Wa, Lahu, Hani and Uigur.

Technical training has been greatly emphasized. This program has invited more than 140 experts from overseas to give training at the program areas. More than 80 project staff/technicians were sent abroad to attend conference and/or give academic lectures; it published 21 papers on foreign journals; it sent 9 technicians to the United States to be trained in livestock technologies. For five times, Heifer China Program sent technicians to Nepal and Korea to give lectures and technical instructions. It has held 2,766 terms of technical training sessions at its program areas, having trained 179,202 persons/times, among which 39.7% are women. It published 20 books of academic papers and technical literature, in 40,000 copies. Forty-seven technical papers were published from the program areas. As a result, it laid a strong technical base for the overall program.

Heifer China sent more than 60 Chinese technicians to USA, England, France, Greece, Netherlands, India, Thailand and ROK, for technical training and academic exchange.

As one of major supporters of International Goat Association, Heifer China played an important role in promoting the 6th International Conference on Goats being held in Beijing in May 1996.

Heifer China always values team spirit and has a competent team of 20 full time staff working at Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

The Program has been bringing hope, opportunity and quality life to many needy families in the project areas. The program focuses on creating viable communities, strengthening families, increasing dignity, promoting diversified and integrated farming systems, building local institutions, promoting and using the skills and resources of indigenous people, reducing urban migration and caring for the earth.

In addition to what is mentioned above, Heifer China Program has greatly contributed to the friendship and mutual understanding of people between China and other countries through hand to hand and heart to heart touching. In 1996 Heifer China passed on 33 rabbits to Nepal. In 2002, Heifer China also passed on 100 rabbits, 25 pigs and 50 dairy goats to Thailand.

Heifer China’s program won the second-grade prize of the Year 1999's Sichuan Provincial Award for Scientific Progress. Many news media including China Central Television, Sichuan Television, Reference News, Farmers Daily, Sichuan Daily, CNN (USA), Wall Street Journal, etc., have reported Heifer’s projects in China.

Heifer China was one of five country programs of Heifer International which was evaluated by the Hilton Humanitarian Prize Committee, and finally contributed to Heifer International’s winning the prize in 2004.