A new project has been launched to help the dairy industry in Rwanda with the aid of Jersey cows.
Thousands of straws of Jersey bull semen are being sent to the African country to help breed more productive animals.
It is hoped that future herds will have the same high quality of those in the island as Jersey crossed cows produce up to eight times more milk than native longhorns.
The project, led by Jersey Overseas Aid (JOA), hopes that by 2018 over 200,000 cows will be inseminated annually.
Carolyn Labey, chair of the JOA said: "The programme will also train and equip 200 artificial insemination technicians, as well as assist 12,000 smallholder dairy farmers.
"As a result of this new two-year project, tens of thousands more families in Rwanda will benefit from owning an improved dairy cow, with higher yields and more nutritious milk.
"This is sustainable development at its best, and people in Jersey should be enormously proud of the fact that we are making a permanent improvement to the quality of an entire nation’s dairy herd, and in so doing assisting many people out of poverty with better nutrition and onto better lives."
Jersey and Rwanda first worked together in dairy cow improvement in 2005.
The famous Jersey breed is now widely known and highly valued in the landlocked African country.
