1940年代末內地政局動盪，大批難民湧入戰後元氣未復的香港。不少人散居新界，務農為生。羅蘭士及賀理士嘉道理兄弟關注到這批農民生活艱苦，遂於1951年成立嘉道理農業輔助會，協助農戶「自助人助」，自力更生。 嘉道理農業輔助會並非一般慈善機構。它旨在積極與農戶合作，並配合政府漁農政策，開展養豬計劃、贈送禽畜、提供低息或免息貸款及工務建材、設立實驗農場 (現嘉道理農場暨植物園) 等。輔助會的工作得到國際認同，曾被形容為「當世最具效益的私人慈善項目之一」。 Political instability in the Mainland since the late 1940s triggered an influx of immigrants into a war-ravaged Hong Kong. In 1951, the Kadoorie brothers established the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association (KAAA, now the Kadoorie Farm), with the aim of giving those who were willing to work a chance to help themselves. The KAAA was no ordinary charity. Launching what was to become a long-lasting "partnership with the people", the brothers established pig raising schemes, distributed livestock, gave interest-free loans and established an experimental and extension farm in line with government policy, to create a unique Association described as "one of the most effective privately-sponsored onslaughts on human need anywhere in the world".

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