MISSION and VISION
Healthy animals produce healthy products like milk, meat and eggs. Since last century, the use of medicines and crop protection products has risen sharply. This has greatly stimulated livestock production. However, we also see the drawbacks of heavy use of drugs on the animals themselves, on the environment and on human health.
Many centuries before this, livestock keepers have kept their animals healthy by taking advantage of the opportunities that nature offered them. We are in danger of losing the knowledge of our ancestors due to the ease of using drugs from the pharmaceutical industry.
HOW?
NLF aims to safeguard, expand and spread knowledge about healthy animals based on what the natural environment has to offer, by:
- Building on a variety of knowledge systems in the world
- Combining grass-root expertise, especially from farmers & veterinarians – with scientific backup
- Multi country program, combining expertise from countries with a variety of farming system
- Using the systemic NLF-5-layer strategy, including good animal management, strategic breeding, use of herbs, food quality control and better farm income.
The final goal is to promote food security, food quality and sustainable agriculture by reducing the use of antibiotics and other chemicals in dairy farming. NLF contributes to a better world in which milk and other livestock products are produced in a sustainable way: a way in which soil is enriched, animals live well, farmers get a decent income and milk is healthy and without chemicals.
ACTIVITIES
- Local pilots for local cattle health challenges
- Participatory action-research on NLF strategy
- Exchange programs and peer-to-peer learning
- Consolidation of experiences
- Technical support to dairy projects and programs
- Training programs (live and e-learning)
- Scientific and popular publications
- MSc and PhD student research
- Course materials for universities and schools
HERE OVERVIEW OF NLF BACKGROUND AND STRATEGY (DEC2020)