Azerbaijan: Geese have given us a better life

Elkhan, Maisa and their two children live in Aghdam, a village in the district of Tovuz. Aghdam is located on the international border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have been locked in conflict over Nagorny Karabakh for more than twenty years. Aghdam is so close to the front line that when there is shooting the entire village feels it; people stay indoors, trying to protect children and the elderly. But with the help of an ICRC grant Elkhan and Maisa are now breeding geese, bringing them not only an income but renewed self-confidence.

Elkhan and Maisa had been doing their best to support their children for many years, but things were not improving. So when they saw their names on the list of families selected for an ICRC grant they saw this as the chance they had been hoping for. The next step was to propose a business plan to the ICRC. The couple had long discussions about how they should spend the money, but in the end they decided to breed geese.

They knew that breeding geese would require a lot of work, but hard work never hurt anyone! Elkhan and Maisa bought 200 special geese from Ganja in November 2014. The geese they invested in need careful attention and rich feed that is only produced in Imishli. The family took great care of the birds, only allowing them to graze where it was safe. Despite their efforts, they lost some of the geese to disease after just a few days, making them wonder whether they had made the right choice. But they were able to stop the spread of the disease, thanks to the advice of a vet from the Agro Information Centre. After just one month, Maisa and Elkhan started earning an income from the geese, when they sold 30 kilogrammes of feathers in Baku.

With that first experience behind them, the family is planning to produce eggs by replacing 30 male geese with some high-quality female geese. Their goal is to sell 4,500 eggs per year.

The eggs will be placed in a hatchery in Tovuz and Maisa plans to sell most of the chicks after they hatch. The family hopes to expand and diversify their goose business.

Now, Maisa feels more self-confident. She is more involved in the "bread-winning" activities of the family and her opinion is taken into consideration more and more. "These geese have given us a better life. They've made a big difference to me," she says. "I feel more secure and more able to face life's difficulties."