Are you an annual report junkie? No? How about a sucker for great design, photography and writing? Either way, look no further than Heifer International’s 2012 annual report.
Click the cover to go straight to the PDF.
Learn more about Heifer’s work around the world ending hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. See a snapshot of what we accomplished in 2012. Read about some of our largest current projects and approaches to our work.
Maybe you’ve already read the bad news about food waste: The world (that’s all of us) is throwing away about half the food produced on our Earth, according to a new report from the United Kingdom’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), titled “Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not.”
Photo courtesy of Heifer International.
Tim Fox of IMechE said:
The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is staggering. This is food that could be used to feed the world’s growing population – as well as those in hunger today. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that were used in the production, processing and distribution of this food.
Ending food waste is more important than ever. If you really stretch your brain, the “children are starving in Ethiopia” argument your parents used at the dinner table might have some merit to it. Food waste happens at every single level (though for different reasons): farms, food producers, grocery stores, restaurants, families, individuals. As our population and lifestyles stretch what the Earth is capable of handling, the impacts of food waste at each of these levels is becoming more evident. The water used to grow the celery wilting away in my refrigerator, the fuels used to transport it to my neighborhood grocery store, the energy used to keep it cold both at the store and in my home: they all go to waste if I don’t eat that celery in time. Not to mention, that’s money spent I’ll never get back. The effects aren’t just suffered by my pocketbook. They’re suffered by the Earth and the global population. We’re just that interconnected at this point.
Food waste is a complex issue. We’ve written about it on the Heifer Blog in a number of posts:
Wherever you fit into the chain of food waste, pledge to do better. Have any tips? Share them in the comments section.
Fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss’s yearly fundraiser for Heifer International, Worldbuilders, is quickly coming to a close on January 21, 2013 with a goal of $500,000.
Rothfuss has a broad following of gamers, sci-fi fans, comic-book collectors and fantasy lovers; and he cheerfully urges this fanbase to give through lotteries, giveaways, auctions and product sales. Worldbuilders, started in 2008, has raised more than $1 million for Heifer International. As of this morning, Worldbuilders raised an impressive $310,854 and counting, but hopes for a big push this week to reach its goal.
In 2008, Rothfuss wrote to his blog readers, “If we raise a couple thousand dollars for them, it will make peoples’ lives better. A couple thousand dollars means little kids get milk to drink. It means families get sheep, which means wool for warm blankets and clothes. It means better wells, so moms with babies can have clean water to drink. I think this is something we can all get behind, can’t we?”
To help him reach his goal this year, Rothfuss is offering the chance to play Dungeons & Dragons with him and other authors, or spend a weekend this spring with him and some of his staff at Heifer Ranch, or even a cameo appearance in an upcoming book. Check out Rothfuss’s blog and his eBay auction site for more information on how to support Worldbuilders, or donate straight to the cause on the Worldbuilders Team Heifer page.
Explaining why he chose Heifer International, Rothfuss said, “Heifer International is my favorite charity. It helps people raise themselves up out of poverty and starvation. All over the world Heifer promotes education, sustainable agriculture, local industry, and clean water. They don’t just keep kids from starving, they make it so families can take care of themselves. They give goats, sheep, and chickens to families so their children have milk to drink, warm clothes to wear, and eggs to eat.”
If you are interested in being a part of this fundraiser and helping Worldbuilders reach the $500,000 goal, or for more information, go to www.worldbuilders.org.
It’s not news: the world’s poor are the most vulnerable to natural disasters. The 2010 Haiti earthquake highlighted this truth to a shocking degree. There are many factors that contribute to the dire poverty that exists in places like Haiti. Heifer International’s work is to help farming families build resilient livelihoods, making them less vulnerable to natural disasters, economic changes (like rising commodity food prices) and political shocks.
What does a farm family with a sustainable and resilient livelihood look like? They:
Jean Pierre jumped out of a third-story apartment just before the building collapsed into rubble, one of many destroyed during the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010. She is photographed here, sitting in a field in Cance, in rural western Haiti, a year and a half later. Photo by Geoff Oliver Bugbee, courtesy of Heifer International.
Heifer’s Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti Project (REACH) is making the above a reality for more than 100,000 Haitians. It’s our largest project in Haiti to date, and it will help participating families and communities far less vulnerable to events like the Haiti earthquake of 2010, because they will have the resiliency to bounce back with minimal assistance.
We need help fulfilling our fundraising goals, and you can give directly to REACH today. What will your gift do? This:
A Haiti REACH goat breeding center. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.
We cannot predict the next time a major natural disaster like the 2010 Haiti earthquake will strike. Through REACH, however, we can help ensure at least 100,000 Haitians will be less vulnerable.
Photo by JasonTromm, used under Creative Commons.
One of the identifiable turning points in my young adult life was a course I took as a sophomore in college called “Food and American Culture,” taught by Allison Wallace. It was one of those classes where you learn things you almost immediately wish you could unlearn, but of course can’t. It was the first time the concept of self-reliance was introduced to me, though it took a long time for me to internalize exactly what that looks like.
Last month there was a major snowstorm in central Arkansas (if you don’t live here, you possibly heard about it on the news). Thundersnow and Snowpocalypse were a couple of nicknames it earned. My family and I missed it, spending the holidays in the typically-snowy, but snow-bereft on that visit, foothills of the Smoky Mountains.
Every time there’s a storm like this, where thousands of people lose power and grocery store shelves are shopped bare, I remember a particular story Professor Wallace (well, we actually called her Allison, such was the culture of the College) told. Though I don’t remember all of the details so well–Allison, if you read this, please forgive any creative license I take with your story–the overall message resonated so much it sticks with me nearly 13 years later.
Photo by jball359, used under Creative Commons
Allison had lived in Maine, where the winters are typically harsher than in Arkansas. A snowstorm had hit, and many in her community were without electricity and other resources. As time passed and people continued to go without power and access to things like grocery stores, one community member in particular, an older woman, became the boon of the neighborhood.
Did she have an all-terrain vehicle that could drive everyone to the store? Nope. She had skills. A variety of skills once known by many and now forgotten by most. In fact, I’ve forgotten her list of skills. The two that stuck out for me were: She knew how to grow food and, importantly, how to preserve it.
Photo by Pip_Wilson, used under Creative Commons.
As a college sophomore who lived on cafeteria baked potatoes and 10-cent ramen back in the dorm room, the thought of growing my own food and “living off the land” seemed remarkable. Completely unattainable. As a somewhat older and wiser person, I now see it’s not just doable, at least to some degree, it may be the key.
Having visited Heifer project families in Uganda, Peru and Ecuador, I have seen the difference between families who cannot provide for their own needs and those who go beyond that and can enjoy true security as they build income and assets and help their neighbors. One of the linchpins to this security is diversity of resources and skills.
Though I'll never have as much land as Flor and her husband, Don Juan, who live in the Dry Forest in Ecuador, I will remember the diversity of their small farm forever. They grew their own fruits and vegetables, raised their own protein (fish), grew insect-repellent flowers alongside their crops, and produced their own natural fertilizer. Photo by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International.
When I come home and compare these families’ security with that of my own family I see how untenable mine really is. If it came down to it, could my family provide itself, long-term, with food, water, shelter and clothing? As of now we could eat eggs with rosemary and a side of figs (season permitting), cooked over a campfire.
I don’t believe we’re headed for a real cataclysmic shift anytime soon, but as these major storms (not just snow; this is Tornado Alley we’re talking about) happen more frequently, as food and fuel prices continue to rise, I’m more and more seeing the value of being at least a touch more self-reliant and on being part of a community with similar goals.
Photo by jazzijava, used under Creative Commons.
What do you think? Do you have any self-reliance skills already built? Are you learning to sew or grow a garden? Have you made any New Year’s resolutions that fall into this category? Or do you think this is purely the business of hippies and hipsters? Tell us in the comments section.
Photo by Bryan Clifton, courtesy of Heifer International.
Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.
This week we have highlighted the work Heifer has been doing in Haiti both before and since the earthquake. Here’s a quick roundup:
Our current major effort in Haiti is our extensive project called Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti (REACH). The project aims to help 20,250 families with gifts of livestock and by strengthening communities through the construction and management of goat and swine breeding centers, many of which will be owned and operated by women.
Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.
Of course, Heifer’s work alone is not nearly all the help Haiti needs as it continues to recover from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. The good news is that we’re certainly not alone. Here’s a list of recent posts from other great organizations applying their work in what has long been the most impoverished and vulnerable country in the Western Hemisphere:
On the third anniversary of the devastating January 2010 Haiti earthquake, Heifer International remembers the quake’s victims – those killed and those dislocated – and affirms our commitment to help Haitians emerge from the tragedy stronger than before.
Port-au-Prince tent camp almost 8 months after Haiti earthquake in 2010. Photo by Bryan Clifton, courtesy of Heifer International.
The magnitude-7 earthquake affected nearly 3,000 Heifer project families. Since the Haiti earthquake, Heifer has built and repaired dozens of homes; provided water filters and hygiene kits to prevent cholera; and helped rejuvenate rural agricultural activities with training and resources such as animals, equipment and seeds.
Today, Heifer International is implementing an extensive project called REACH (Rural Entrepreneurs for Agricultural Cooperation in Haiti), which is helping Haiti build its agricultural sector and improve the lives of rural Haitians.
Goat breeding center, part of Heifer's Haiti REACH project, in Tet Kole. Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.
The five-year project will assist 20,250 rural households in Haiti through not only the distribution of livestock but also through improved market linkages and construction and management of goat and swine breeding centers.
Heifer will build 97 goat and 50 swine breeding centers that will provide quality livestock for Haitians, and project participants will own the centers. Twenty-five breeding center owners have been selected already, and 19 breeding centers are under construction.
Photo by Jason Woods, courtesy of Heifer International.
Heifer International worked in Haiti for 10 years before the earthquake and is committed to working with families for many years to come. Recently, Heifer provided help to families and communities affected by Hurricane Sandy, which, before striking the northeastern United States as Superstorm Sandy, inundated the struggling island nation.
As the world remembers the catastrophe that occurred on January 12, 2010, and considers how far Haiti has yet to come, Heifer International vows to open a new era of hope in the lives of thousands of Haitian people.
Drought Lingers, Winter Wheat Crop Withers | Mother Jones.
If you’re not a farmer, it might not occur to you to think about drought in January. What’s growing these cold, snowy days anyway? Well, winter wheat, for one, which is planted in fall, harvested early summer and responsible for 70 percent of the United States’s wheat crop. Technically winter wheat is dormant right now and should wake back up in spring to keep growing. But it still needs rain. From the article: “‘About 30 percent of the winter wheat in central Kansas has already failed, with further damage likely unless there is rain.’”
Photo by Per Jensen, used under Creative Commons.
In the U.S., there’s probably not too much to worry about in terms of our pocketbooks. The bread at the grocery store will probably be about the same retail price in 2013. It’s in the developing world, where Heifer works, that price hikes in commodity crops can quickly and significantly raise food prices. When you’re poor and depend on wheat as your largest dietary staple, there are rough times ahead.
Helping farming families diversify what they grow is an important component of our work at Heifer International. We aim to help families build resiliency against external “shocks” exactly like this. Families raising their own protein sources and multiple varieties of nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits are much less likely to struggle when commodity crop prices raise beyond what’s affordable. Families who are able to grow more than they consume are in an even better position to both earn additional income with the surplus and help their neighbors who may be struggling.
A diverse and flourishing garden of Heifer participant in Tanzania. Photo by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International.
Are you following Heifer on Twitter? If not, you sure should! Just to toot Heifer’s horn a little, here’s an article in a local (central Arkansas, that is) weekly publication that highlights @Heifer as one of the most influential social media accounts, according to the analytics site Klout.com.
What will you find on Heifer’s Twitter stream? Brief updates about what’s going on here at Headquarters and in the field, fun animal facts (one chicken can lay an average of 257 eggs a year), ideas for supporting Heifer’s work, new job listings and much more!
So join the fun and engage in the dialogue.
Are you one of the nearly 100,000 Heifer Facebook Fans? If not, head on over and become one now (Heifer International on Facebook). Better yet, check out our new Facebook app, Heifer $10 Impact, and donate $10 today to help us reach our $1,000,000 goal for 2013. Curious what that kind of money can do in just one year? Check out the infographic below.
