For the past three decades, a Japanese nongovernmental organization has been supporting farmers in the Philippines by providing them with the workhorse of Southeast Asia: the water buffalo.
To date, Carabao Family has donated around 100 of the animals to farmers on Leyte Island, where they use them to plow the earth. The carabao is a water buffalo native to the Philippines.
"Providing tractors may be one option, but if they break down then technology for making repairs and parts become necessary," said freelance journalist Chieko Takemi, who organizes the program. "In contrast, water buffaloes help the farmers with feed and water, and they reproduce themselves."