No. 27-0658-01
Sheep Breeding for Balanced Development for Food and Livelihood Security of Labowa Community's farms

Labowa Community is located in southern Poland near Nowy Sącz close to the Slovak border. The inhabitants of this region make their living from farming on the plots run in a traditional way. Beautiful open meadows available in the region create great opportunity for development of sheep breeding. This kind of animal production is also recommended by the policy of the Landscape Park because of the natural meadows which can be protected by skillful sheep grazing.

In the framework of the project, HPI will provide 12 farmers with 25 sheep each. Another 24 families will join the project through passing on the gift. Development of sheep breeding in this area is really promising for the improvement of the lives and futures of the farmers. Currently, there is increasing demand for sheep milk and meat on the market, which creates new opportunities for the farmers to create income for their families. In this particular area, a small private dairy plant has just been opened, making milk marketing easier for the prospective project participants. The owner of this plant is also willing to help with HPI project development. He decided to lend milking machines to the HPI farmers to make milk production more effective for them. He has also declared to sign contracts with the project participants for milk and meat delivery that are going to be processed in his small local processing plant. This way, farmers will not only receive direct assistance with sheep herd development, but they will also have secured market for their products, which is indispensable for their future success. Thanks to such fortunate combination of different interests, the local farmers have a real chance for securing permanent income for their families and for becoming independent.

This HPI project will be managed by GREENWORKS Association, which associates people in active protection of animals and their natural environment. It also promotes education helping to preserve high quality of the natural environment. The Association has already successfully completed 4 programs supported by different partners such as GEF, Poprad Landscape Park and Malopolska Education Society.

The Poland HPI office is confident that having such an experienced partner as the GREENWORKS Association, the farmers participating in the HPI project will be able to make the best possible use of the assistance provided to them for their own benefit and for the benefit of the nature that surrounds them.

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