Dierenartsen Zonder Grenzen

Frequently Asked Questions

What does VSF Belgium do?

In poor African regions, where rain is very scarce, livestock breeding is an indispensable source of food. Cows, sheep, goats and chickens provide the population with the most essential food items, such as milk, meat and eggs. When the herd is sick, the entire village is in danger. VSF Belgium helps to establish and strengthen veterinary networks in areas where they hardly exist. We support local farmers with training, medicines and vaccinations, and inform them about animal production (milk, eggs), animal health, and the market for livestock and animal products.


Why do you help the animals? Aren’t people more important?

VSF Belgium's overarching goal is to help people. We do this in a very specific manner: by ensuring that their livestock remain healthy. In the areas where we operate, man and animal depend on each other. Livestock is an indispensable source of livelihood. If the cows, goats, camels and chickens are healthy, people have more food and income. It enables them to save money, or send their children to school. Therefore healthy livestock breeding contributes to the health and the well-being of the population.


Who is your target group?

VSF Belgium targets three population groups directly connected to livestock breeding. They are nomadic livestock breeders, settled smallholders with a small herd and urban and suburban farmers. VSF Belgium targets vulnerable family farmers who do small livestock husbandry in the poorest and most remote regions in Africa. Frequently these people live in semi-arid areas, where they must face long-term droughts and/or conflicts.


Do you also care for wild animals?

No. We only work on the improvement of livestock breeding. Our target animals are cows, sheep, goats, camels and poultry. We do not treat tigers, dogs or elephants.


Is livestock-farming not bad for the environment and CO2-emission?

Livestock breeding has indeed an important ecological footprint and contributes to climate changes and pollution. For this reason the sector suffers from tentative attitudes from society and governments. In the report "Livestock’s long shadow," of the foods and agriculture organisation of the United Nations, all aspects of livestock-farming’s impact on the climate are described. However, people rarely make a clear distinction between large and small-scale breeding. When we talk about the impact of livestock breeding on global warming, it must be clear that there exist several levels of intensity. There is an enormous difference between the environmental effects caused by industrialized agriculture and that of family farms. They each have distinct levels of methane emission, use of fossil fuels, deforestation, land use, and carbon footprints. Animal husbandry plays a very important role in the fight against hunger and poverty for the poorest families in Africa. Livestock breeding should not be decreased in Africa, but rather in the rich industrialised countries, where over consumption of fuel/energy is the rule. The current food production chains, both in the north and the south, must pay more attention to familial small-scale agriculture, in order to narrow the gap between the poor and the rich and decrease highly pollutant intensive livestock farming.


I would gladly go to Africa as a volunteer. What do I have to do?

VSF Belgium unfortunately has limited budgets for volunteers. Nevertheless have a regular look at the job page of this website. From time to time we are looking for volunteers for specific projects. On the ‘volunteers’ page you will find further information about travel grants.


How can I help VSF Belgium?

You can help our organisation in several ways. By making a donation, you help our development projects in Africa and give local farmers hope for a better future. You can also help as a volunteer, by making translations, helping on grants, by talking to others about our work in Africa… You can find more about this on the “you can help” page.