Bill Gates says chicken-rearing can combat poverty - and he will do his part Gates and wife Melinda are launching a new poultry philanthropy project Their foundation will contribute 100,000 chicks to world's poor nations 'If I were living in extreme poverty, I'd want to raise chickens,' Bill tweeted
Bill Gates
says people living in extreme poverty can improve their lives by raising
chickens - and he's planning to do his part with a newly launched
poultry philanthropy project.
The
billionaire philanthropist, speaking in front of chickens pecking and
clucking in a New York City skyscraper, announced plans on Wednesday to
donate 100,000 chicks to poor nations in an effort to end extreme
poverty.
The
chicks will go to rural areas in two dozen developing countries from
Burkina Faso to Bolivia, where the Heifer International charity manages
breeding operations and distribution, according to the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation.
Raising
and selling chickens can lift families out of poverty, and a farmer
breeding 250 chickens a year could make $1,250 U.S., said the
Foundation, which is partnering with the Heifer International.
Bill Gates, speaking in front of
chickens pecking and clucking in a New York City skyscraper, announced
plans on Wednesday to donate 100,000 chicks to poor nations in an effort
to end extreme poverty
Gates said a farmer starting with five
hens could earn $1,000 a year, compared with the extreme poverty line
of $700 a year. Pictured, a young boy holding a cockerel in Laos
'There's
no investment that has a return percentage anything like being able to
breed chickens,' said Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp.
'If I were living in extreme poverty, I'd want to raise chickens,' he wrote on his Twitter feed on Thursday.
Gates said a farmer starting with five hens could earn $1,000 a year, compared with the extreme poverty line of $700 a year. (A Business Insider tally from 2013 found that Gates himself makes more than $23,000 a minute).
Eventually Gates wants to help 30 percent of rural African families raise chickens, up from 5 percent now.
Gates'
wife Melinda, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said
breeding chickens can also empower women by giving them a source of
income, which they are more likely than men to spend on education and
healthcare.
In New York, Gates urged the public to donate through Heifer International.
Billionaire philanthropist and
Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates speaks to the media, in front of a
chicken coop set up on the 68th floor of the 4 World Trade Center tower
in Manhattan
'There's no investment that has a
return percentage anything like being able to breed chickens,' said
Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp
'The
numbers today in terms of Americans who give to Heifer or things like
that is actually quite small, so we'd like to see that scaled up,' Gates
said.
Referring
to the proverb that teaching a man to fish will feed him for a
lifetime, he said: 'The parable could have been stated in terms of
giving somebody a chicken and showing them how to raise chickens.'
Gates
said he aimed to boost household chicken ownership in places such as
West Africa, where it is now 5 percent, to 30 percent.
Gates
made his announcement on the 68th floor of a new building at the World
Trade Center, a site not typically used for showcasing chickens, he
said.
'We snuck them in,' he quipped.
Some
critics said the programme was a publicity stunt and wouldn't solve the
underlying problems of poverty in Africa. 'Our father, Who art Uncle
Bill, Hallowed be thy whims ...' Nigerian satirist and author Elnathan John wrote on Twitter.
Gates
acknowledged that some might scoff at the plan, but insisted that he
believes it will have an impact. 'It sounds funny,' Gates wrote on the
project's website. 'But I mean it when I say that I am excited about
chickens.'
The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest private
charities in the world, has invested heavily in Africa, tackling a wide
range of issues in healthcare, education, women's rights and poverty
alleviation.
According
to the United Nations, an estimated 800 million people live in extreme
poverty worldwide, with those in fragile and conflict-torn states
suffering the most.
farming is yes
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