Zero-Grazing

Zero-grazing is an approach to animal management in which families keep their livestock in an enclosed, shaded area, where they carry fodder and water to them and provide them with daily exercise. This replaces letting them wander in the open where they are more likely to catch diseases or damage the environment.

Scarce resources play a major role in the environmental problems in many countries because impoverished people often must make short-term choices based solely on their desperate need for food. Many farmers have no alternative to cutting trees for firewood or putting animals on overgrazed land — practices that can harm the Earth.

We believe that development must be sustainable — projects should be long-term investments in the future of people and, ultimately, the planet. That’s why we teach partners environmentally sound farming methods. We teach families how to keep their small plots of land healthy and renew the soil for future generations by planting trees and using natural fertilizer. Each year, we introduce thousands of farm families to zero-grazing or managed grazing techniques. We not only provide livestock to the project participants but also fodder/forage seeds/sampling to meet nutritional requirements.

Benefits of a zero-grazing pen include:

• Healthier animals due to less contact with diseases
• Manure concentrated in one spot so it can be collected and composted for fertilizer to replenish the soil and grow more vegetables
• Less damage to fragile ecosystems
• Managed breeding
• Sheep wool stays cleaner
• Decreased mortality rate of offspring due to improved health
• Protection from predators

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