“You have given them rule over…all things at their feet: All sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field.”

Small farmers in remote areas depend, not on tractors and trucks for plowing and hauling, but on carabaos. That was the project that launched Aktion Wasserbüffel in 1992, to provide small farmers the funding to buy carabaos.

This year, Asaffi coordinated with AWB in bringing two live female carabaos to Brgy Estado, Victorias City, and the Municipality of E.B. Magalona, both in the hinterlands in Negros Occidental.

The recipients were poor, small-scale farmers who agreed to take care of the carabaos and use them for their livelihood, namely, farming and hauling or transportation of harvest. The recipients were also responsible for the breeding of the carabaos, so they could give the calves to other qualified beneficiaries to be identified by CAJDEN, the onsite implementing organization.

The project is designed to be sustainable in the long term. Each beneficiary is required to breed and pass on a grown carabao to another beneficiary, who will do the same, creating a self-replicating cycle.

Other benefits of the project are:

• It fosters responsibility among farmers to care for and breed carabaos.
• Carabaos are low-maintenance animals that can thrive in local environments, reducing the need for external resources.
• The project provides beneficiaries with a source of income through plowing and hauling.
• The use of carabaos for hauling and plowing promotes sustainable agricultural practices, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating climate change.

Read more about Aktion Wasserbüffel.

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