How UNDP is Lowering Oil Prices with Buffalo

Tractors are becoming too expensive due to fuel prices; therefore, buffalo are again being widely used for ploughing, for manure in light of expensive chemical fertilizers, and also for cash when needed.

“King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has for years said buffalo were integral to a sustainable agricultural policy and since 2000, Thai NGOs, with the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme, have been working with farm groups to boost output and cut back on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The buffalo has been crucial to that strategy” according to IRIN.

From 2000, the programme began donating buffaloes to 11 different communities throughout Thailand. In batches of 10 to 27, they have over time led to sizeable numbers of offspring on farms throughout the country.