One World One Health

Farms for Orphans, Inc fully embraces the One Health Initiative. We recognize that human health, animal health, and environmental health are inextricably linked and believe food security requires a multidisciplinary approach.

The threat of zoonotic diseases (those passed from animal to human) is a very real threat, particularly in developing countries where people live in close proximity to the livestock they depend on. A strong relationship exists between the number of illnesses among family members and the number of livestock sicknesses and deaths in the same household. Three main pathways linking human and animal health have been identified:

• a socio-economic pathway where improved livestock production is associated with healthy livestock leading to improved household incomes and wealth, access to education and health care;
• a nutritional pathway where owning healthy livestock increases access to animal source foods that in turn reduces the risk of malnutrition and disease;
• a zoonotic pathway where healthier livestock are less likely to transmit zoonotic and food-born illnesses (Thumbi et al. 2015).

We Take The Health And Wellbeing Of Our Animals Very Seriously.

Likewise, a healthy environment is necessary to achieve maximum human and animal health and vice versa. Our aim is to produce food as naturally as possible, without the use of pesticides or other environmental toxins. Farms for Orphans is committed to providing a sustainable and nutritious food source for the most disadvantaged children that is environmentally friendly and resource efficient. Our current project- Insect Farming: An Economical and Climate Smart Approach to Food Security for Orphans- aims to maximize orphan nutrition with minimal ecological effects. Insect cultivation requires a fraction of the space, water (which can be a limiting resource in developing countries) and feed (which can be expensive) as traditional livestock species. Furthermore, insect rearing poses little risk for zoonotic disease transmission. We hope to achieve energy independence on our farms through the use of solar pow

Healthy Environments = Healthy Animals = Healthy People

By bringing together a multidisciplinary team of insect, animal, human, crop and environmental health specialists our agricultural learning centers will provide training in environmentally conscious agricultural practices to the next generation of young farmers.