Youngsters of Agarak Village of Stepanavan Region, North of Armenia, now have a chance to start animal breeding on their own. World Vision's “Young farmers in Animal Breeding” project is specially intended for youngsters of 9-10 grades.

The young beneficiaries receive calves and they are then supposed to take care of the calves on their own, acquiring animal breeding skills and thus having a chance to start their own household. They are united in the Club of young animal breeders.

“This project not only ensures that young boys and girls are busy and kept off the streets. It contributes to the development of independence and self-confidence among them, and also considerably eases the difficult social conditions of their families”, says Naira Chobanyan, the president of the club.

“Being able to somehow contribute to their family and learning to do something independently is a good component of child education and development”, she adds. “After all, these are skills they will very much need as they enter a more independent life”.

The project is implemented within the cooperation between World Vision and The Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development (CARD). Along with the calves youngsters get necessary medicine and food for the animals, as well as educational materials.

Young animal breeders gather periodically in the club to learn about how to take care of the calves acquiring all the necessary knowledge about animal-breeding. All this is then involuntarily conveyed to the youngsters’ parents providing them with some new technological knowledge and skills.

Karen Jilabyan, 13, is one of the Agarak Village youngsters who have received a calf. He says the little calf has totally changed his life. “Every day I wake up earlier to feed him. As I come home from my classes, I spend another couple of hours with him. It takes me a while to take care of him, but I am so happy I have a calf of my own”, he says.

As Karen now has the calf of his own he becomes concerned with the agricultural and animal-breeding problems that the Agarak villagers share in common. “For example, there aren’t enough pastures in our village to graze cattle. I would have never thought about it until I faced the problem on my own”, he explains.

“I have become much more disciplined than I was before”, says Gurgen Chatinyan, 14, who has also received a calf. “It is like a little pet, you should take care after it so that it doesn’t catch any disease, you should feed it and clean the cattle shed it lives in”, he explains. “You just feel responsible for the animal you have tamed”, Gurgen adds.

As the beneficiaries get used to their new occupation and gain more experience in animal breeding, an exhibition will take place, and the project participants will be evaluated based on their achievements in animal breeding.