The programme offers impoverished farmers comprehensive assistance in every aspect of their work- everything from animal breeding and nutrition, financing for new facilities and technological support to finding buyers for the food they produce. Nguyen Ngoc Loi of Suoi Cao Commune, Xuan Loc District, in the southern Dong Nai Province remembers clearly the day when an Anco Group team member came to present him with four piglets along with a sizeable supply of feed.
The Anco representative went on to give him instructions on how best to care for the pigs until they were large enough for market. "Initially, I could not believe they were simply handing us millions of dong," said Loi.
Presently, Loi’s litter of three-month-old pigs are fat and healthy. In 10 days they will be ready to sell, bringing Loi about VND10 million (US$625), the largest single amount this 70-year-old farmer and his wife have ever earned.
Loi tried to raise pigs before. However, he found that he could earn very little, sometimes even losing money, using conventional methods of care and breeding. "But now I can identify signs of illness and administer treatment thanks to the Anco Group. I hope that my stock of pigs will grow to 20 in the next two years," Loi said.
Nguyen Thi Nhung of Suoi Cao Commune, Xuan Loc district, a very poor woman without any cultivated land, will similarly be able to support herself on the profit earned from four Anco Group pigs. "Our feed is restocked whenever supplies are running low. Veterinarians come treat my pigs when they get sick. These pigs will help to pull us out of poverty," said Nhung.
Like Loi, Cung intends to earn enough money to upgrade her temporary house and buy more sows after selling the first farrow.
Livestock, guidance
After two years of implementation, there are more than 100 households from different provinces nationwide receiving support from the programme at a total cost of over VND500 million ($31,250). Each household gets four piglets and 32 bags of feed per animal.
"We not only provide the livestock, but also instruct our recipients in how best to raise the pigs," said Pham Cong Binh, a member of Anco Group’s technical staff. Binh also expressed the group’s desire to widen the scope of its programme, providing feed and better technology to raise cattle as well as increasing the number of programme participants in order to help more and more people escape from poverty.