Supporting Orphans with Oxen

Excerpt from a recent Case Study...

In Kazzi Village (Kakooge sub-district) lives Nassolo Gorret. Four years ago her husband died. She had four children with him, all of whom are still under her care. Nassolo is also supporting 10 additional children, orphaned when her brother and his wife died a few years back. She grows food for home consumption around her house, cassava for sale and does ‘small petty business’ (sale of small items like soap and biscuits) in a nearby town.

Nassolo came to know of Save the Children through a Community Reproductive Health Worker carrying out family planning trainings many years ago. Currently, she is active as a Key Farmer Coordinator and heads a Livelihood Support Group (LSG) with eleven other members. One of her sons is also enrolled in the Vulnerable Youth Mentorship Program as a carpenter.

Heifer International also helped Nassolo with a piggery project about a year back. Nassolo gave her first litter back to Heifer International earlier in the year, which was distributed to other vulnerable beneficiaries. Since then, she has been struggling a bit from the high costs of feed and has yet to see any financial returns to the money she put into the project. However, the second litter of piglets is a few months old and will soon be ready to sell.

At the beginning of 2008, Nassolo’s LSG chose to rent ox-ploughs. In March, SC gave the group two untrained young bulls and an ox-plough. The LSG was expecting to start earning money within three to four months, but after consulting with a local authority, the group found this was not possible. The oxen were still to young and small to train. The group plans to enroll the oxen in a three-month training program in December.

The LSG did not expect the high intermediary costs, which included vaccinations, spraying and caretaker fees. While the NSG does not keep financial records, estimates these have run about 17,000 sh ($10) per month. One of the cows also fell sick a few months back and the group had to call a veterinarian.

Two elderly members of the group were unable to meet the maintenance costs but wanted to stay in the group. A few members advocated for letting the two elderly members use the ox-plough for free, but not sharing with them money earned from rentals. Nassolo did not see this as an equitable solution and pledged to work with SC extension staff to come up with a better resolution.

Despite these setbacks and nearly a year of unexpected costs, the group are confident they can continue contributing to the seems very positive that they will soon see a return on their efforts. With limited resources, the oxen have been very well cared for. Nassolo says that she has learned a lot about cattle from nearby pastoralists, who she consults regularly. The groups remains satisfied with their livelihood choice of ox-ploughs and believe that their patience will soon be rewarded.

If all goes according to plan, this is very likely the case. Nassolo asserts that the LSG will have no trouble charging for their ox-ploughs. Manual ploughing for a ¼ acre runs around 25,000 sh. The LSG plans to charge 15,000 sh for the same area. Well trained and strong oxen can plough up to ½ acre per day during the two rainy seasons. By her estimates, including maintenance costs, the LSG should earn between 560,000 ($350) and 1,800,000 ($1,125) per year if everything goes according to plan. However, with high hopes, the LSG intends to reinvest much of this money back into the project and expects that if well managed this will eventually ensure that all group members are able to sustain themselves financially and provide their homes with a good supply of food year round.