For decades, the problem of African children suffering from severe malnutrition has been haunting the minds of the global thinking community, encompassing both the young and old, male and female, rich and poor. This time, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates offered a brand new solution to help Africans living in extreme poverty. The world’s richest man decided to tackle the issue with his trademark practicality. He did not open yet another charity fund to support Africa’s poor families nor did he start a money-raising campaign on TV or the Internet. Instead, the legendary tech billionaire is going to approach the problem of hunger in Africa in a strategic manner by launching a chicken plan. Gates claims that poultry farming can not only save Africa from hunger but also help its poorest rural residents. Currently, only 5% of African households breed chickens, according to official statistics. Bill Gates is convinced that this initiative has a huge potential. Families that keep just 5 hens will have a total of 40 chickens in a mere 3 months.
In this case, simple math turned out to be much more helpful than myriads of words spoken at charity dinners and auctions. Instead of sending traditional shipments of humanitarian aid to African countries, Bill Gates is planning to establish large-scale poultry farming across the continent by donating 100,000 vaccinated chickens to African households. Chicken breeding does not require much cash from farmers. At the same time, the plan provides a decent income opportunity for the region’s poor families. Besides, fresh chicken eggs are a nutritious and organic meal, so the number of undernourished people in Africa is expected to decrease sharply at a relatively low cost. Speaking of money, one hen can be sold for around 5 dollars in West Africa, so the annual income of a chicken farmer will exceed 1,000 dollars, which is higher than the average cost of living set at 700 dollars per year.
By the way, this is not the first time Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation takes innovative steps to help relieve poverty and malnutrition worldwide. The couple’s philanthropic venture has long been working on improved varieties of staple food crops hoping to end world hunger once and for all.
