Jersey cows helping boost milk yields in Nepal

Jersey cows are helping Nepalese farmers improve the quality of their milk in a scheme described as a "real success story" for addressing poverty.

Genetic material is being sent to the country so that cows there can be cross-bred to help improve milk yields, Jersey Overseas Aid said.

The development agency said the four-year scheme, also involving Project Heifer and the Royal Agricultural Society working with three co-operatives in Nepal, was having "an amazing impact".

Sara Peeters, from Heifer Netherlands, has been visiting farms in Jersey. She said the project would help improve the lives of Nepal's farmers who would get "better milk at higher prices".

Ms Peeters said: "Their own cows only produce a couple of litres.

"The quality of milk is not very good and they get quite a low price."

Those involved with the project said they worked with laboratories in Nepal where farmers could cross-breed their own cows using semen from cows from Jersey to help improve their genetics.

Ed Lewis, from Jersey Overseas Aid, said the work with farmers overseas was "a uniquely Jersey way of addressing the inequality and poverty that we see".

He added: "To think that this cow from a rock in the English Channel is having such a transformative impact on communities in east and central Africa, in Nepal - it's a real success story.

"It's a really lovely example of how Jersey is playing a really significant role on the international stage."

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