Pfizer Animal Health to expand charitable rural farming support scheme

Pfizer Animal Health has announced the expansion of an ongoing charitable project aimed at aiding the operation of rural farms in poorer countries.

In association with The Resource Foundation, the veterinary medicines company has committed to a ten-year effort to extend a comprehensive education and training programme it has been operating in Latin America to India.

This will involve tailoring the scheme – which has helped to improve the productivity and quality of life for farmers in eight South American nations to date – to meet the needs of agriculture workers in areas such as Madhya Pradesh, Mathura and Orissa.

The firm said this project is essential to maintaining essential animal health standards in these underprivileged areas, with local economic development organisations, universities and government agencies all set to be involved.

Joyce Lee, area president for the Canada and Latin America region at Pfizer Animal Health, said: "As a world leader in animal health, we believe we have a responsibility to help elevate the capacity of all livestock producers, whether they are subsistence livestock farmers or larger professional livestock producers."

This comes after the firm announced a new partnership with Guoyan to support vaccine distribution in China last month.