AGCO designs, manufacture and distributes agricultural machinery and precision ag technology including brands like Fendt and Massey Ferguson.
Heifer Netherlands is a non-profit organisation that is part of International Heifer, which aims to end hunger and poverty by supporting and investing in farmers and communities in more than 20 countries.
The two-year partnership was chosen from hundreds of grant applications received in response to AGCO Agriculture Foundation’s climate campaign.
Dairy farming is an important source of livelihood for rural people in Nepal, generating income, food and nutrition security and employment, particularly for vulnerable households.
However climate changes, including erratic rainfall patterns and flooding impact dairy farmers in Nepal.
The AAF-funded project will help minimise existing greenhouse gas emissions from Nepalese smallholder dairy farming practices while improving productivity.
It will also help smallholder dairy producers, particularly women, focus on climate-smart solutions.
The project approach will combine several sustainable farming methods.
Producers will learn to develop climate-smart feed management and animal husbandry systems that reduce enteric fermentation, improve the productivity of animals and sequester carbon emissions through fodder trees and proper manure management with clean energy production using biogas and organic fertiliser.
"Nepal remains one of the world’s least-developed nations,“ AGCO Agriculture Foundation board chair Roger Batkin said.
“The majority of people live in rural areas. We want to prioritise actions for the direct benefit of these farmers’ livelihoods while supporting sustainable agricultural practices that maintain soil fertility, raise healthy livestock, and improve the environment.
“Across food chains, from livestock to crop production, climate change continues to have a significant impact on food security and livelihoods of farmers and their communities.”
For the next 24 months, the project will support beneficiary farmers (100 households/500 family members), dairy value chain actors, and dairy farmers across Nepal during the dissemination phase, rural communities, academia, research institutions and government and non-governmental institutions.
"We are very happy with the trust and financial support that the AGCO Agricultural Foundation is providing to Heifer Netherlands to implement the climate-smart dairy farming project in Nepal,“ Heifer Netherlands executive director Goossen Hoenders said.
“This project will also contribute to the work of a large long-term program called 'Milky Way Nepal' that aims to transform the smallholder dairy sector into a fair, profitable and climate-smart value chain by 2030.
“The granted award is one of the first steps into realising this ambitious program."
