In Honduras, over 50% of the total population resides in the rural sector which is characterized by poverty, limited access to basic services, and insufficient employment opportunities. Most rural households depend on agricultural production as their main source of income and food. But rural families without access to land for the cultivation of crops, must find other economic activities for food security, income generation, and employment.
Since 2008, PAG has been implementing its Small Animal Microbusiness Projects, a sustainable income-generating project that addresses poverty, teaches skills, and increases food availability and income for rural families.
Chicken Projects
After completing training including the construction of a chicken pen, families receive fourteen egg-laying hens and a rooster to begin their project. These will produce between 13-14 eggs per day and their production remains throughout the year.
Families have fresh eggs available which they can eat and sell to neighbors and in the local market for income.
Some families choose to raise them as breeding stock or fatten them for meat which they can also sell for income.
Pig Projects
Once selected families complete training on animal health, breeding, and feeding practices and a pigpen is built, they receive a female pig which is ready for breeding.
Sows give birth two to three times a year, with an average of 10 – 12 piglets per birth.
Some families choose to sell the piglets while others choose to fatten them for meat. Pork meat is in high demand and families can sell it in the local market for income.
Pass on the gift: a unique component which makes this project more sustainable where families are required to “pass on” a small animal they reproduced, a flock of hens or a pig ready for breeding, to benefit a new family to start their small animal project as well. The new families waiting for their small animals are building their chicken or pig pens and are receiving training on how to care for, reproduce, and manage their small microbusiness project.
Keyla Sanchez from the community of San Isidro in the municipality of San Francisco de Ojuera, built the chicken pen with her own hands prior to receiving the "pass on" of hens and a rooster from a family.
Reina Mejia from the community of Estancia in the municipality of San Francisco de Ojuera, receives the "pass on" of a pig ready for breeding.
At the end of the first year of implementation, the number of beneficiary families will double and sometimes triple. In some communities, PAG has been able to have four or five “pass on the gift” reproduction which lowers the price of increasing more projects in each area.
Over the many years of working with the poor, this is one project that is easy to set up, it doesn't require much land, training is done in each community, and the market of the products produced locally like eggs and meat is in high demand. It is a great project to help struggling families to achieve additional economic income.
Friends, would you consider supporting a rural family in need of food and family income with a chicken or pig project? Your donation will make a big difference in the life of our Honduran brothers and sisters. A $500 donation will support one family with the necessary materials and training to help them start and successfully manage and reproduce their small animal project! You could also as a group or church family sponsor 5 to 7 families in one community to begin their community project! May God bless you richly for considering the disadvantaged families in rural Honduras.
Blessings,
Chet Thomas
PAG - Executive Director
