Author Archives: Falguni Vyas

About Falguni Vyas

Falguni (sounds like "balcony") Vyas is from Atlanta, Georgia and began working with Heifer International in Little Rock as a copywriter in 2011. She received her master's degree at Istituto Marangoni in Milan, Italy and her bachelor's degree at Franklin College Switzerland in Lugano, Switzerland. She does not like writing about herself in the third person.

In Context: Rural Poor in Romania

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Poverty is most prevalent in rural Romania, where  little less than half of the population lives.  low agricultural productivity is a leading cause of poverty as poor small-scale farmers lack the resources that would let them invest in agricultural inputs and equipment to improve their incomes. And in rural areas there are limited opportunities for formal employment opportunities, partly because of minimum wage regulations, high payroll taxes and the rigid labor code. Inadequate social services, reflected in the poor condition of rural health centers, long distances to schools and poor sanitation facilities, also contribute to rural poverty.

Please visit http://www.heifer.ro/ to learn more about Heifer Romania and their work to help families achieve lives of self-reliance and sustainability.

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In Context: Romanian Cheese

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In rural Romania, especially in the mountains, it is not uncommon to find small roadside vendors selling cheese and honey. One of the most popular (and most traditional) cheese around is a semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese called Kashkaval.

Kashkaval is native to many Balkan countries. It’s a tangy yellow cheese that has the taste of lemons and olives; it must be aged for at least six months.

Brânzá de Burduf, found only in Transylvania is another sheep’s milk cheese made only by the shepherds native to the area. It is a salty cheese with a strong flavor and soft texture. Sometimes the cheese is kept in pine bark and adopts a pine resin flavor. Branza is aged anywhere from 20 days to 2-3 months. The flavor gets increasingly spicy as it ages.

 

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10 Things: Romania

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41% of the Romanian population is at risk of poverty.

The capital of Romania is Bucharest and was once called “Paris of the East”

Agriculture is the primary industry and employs about 29% of the population

The Danube Delta is a World Heritage site and is Europe’s second largest delta.

The average life expectancy is 71 years old

Romania was an imperial colony of ancient Rome

The climate is very similar to the northeastern United States, with four distinct seasons.

Romania joined the European Union in 2007.

The colors of the Romanian flag are red, yellow and blue. They are said to represent the blood of the people that fought for the country (red), the grains that feed the people (yellow) and the sky (blue).

Irish author Bram Stroker based his novel Dracula on fifteenth century Wallachian Prince, Vlad Tepes of Romania.

 

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In Context: Romania

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Population: 23 Million

Native greeting: Buna Ziua (Hello!)

Local currency: Romanian leu

Capital: Bucharest

Overview:

Located on the Lower Danube river, Romania is the ninth largest country in the European Union with the seventh largest population. It borders the Black Sea, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria.

Romania began its transition towards democracy with the fall of the Iron Curtain. Immediately after this transition began, Romania experienced about a decade of economic problems which required extensive reforms by the country’s new government. Romania has since recovered and is on its way to being an upper middle-income country with a high rate of human development.

In the late 2000s, almost 10% of the population lived in absolute poverty, 90% of this population lives in rural areas. The average income of the population living in urban areas is 36% higher than those living in rural Romania. The average monthly household income is around $862.

Heifer’s work in Romania

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heifer Interventions: Dairy cows; beef cattle; water buffaloes; goats; sheep; horses; pigs; poultry; rabbits; fish and apiaries

Issues addressed: Sustainable community development; environment; gender equity; micro-finance; youth and the disadvantaged (Roma)

Heifer Romania is part of the Central and Eastern Europe Program of Heifer International. Along with Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, Heifer Romania helps with the transition from a communist system to a free market economy.

Heifer Romania focuses on assisting small communities in need, in order to improve their living standards, nutrition and income.  In cooperation with other organizations, Heifer Romania promotes among its partners agroecology, market economy, democracy and human values through:

  • Using Heifer International  experience and Cornerstones in building sustainable farming systems,
  • Building durable connections between groups formed by different cultural, ethnic and religious groups,
  • Promoting family harmony and gender equity,
  • Helping children and youth at risk,
  • Improving the environment and promoting organic agriculture,
  • Developing cooperation with CEE country programs.
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10 Things: Inequality in Kenya

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Photo courtesy of Heifer International

1. Income inequality. The top 10 percent richest households in Kenya control more than 40 percent of the country’s income. The poorest 10 percent control less than one percent.

2. Life expectancy inequality. The Nyanza province  has some of the highest poverty rates in Kenya. A person living there can expect to live about 16 years less than someone living in the Central province.

3. Unemployment inequality between men and women. In the 20-24 years age group, there are 274,000 unemployed women compared to 73,000 unemployed men.

4. HIV/AIDS inequality. In Nyanza province, 15 percent of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS as opposed to the North Eastern province, which has an estimated HIV/AIDS rate of zero percent.

5. Education inequality. Nearly every child in the Central province is enrolled in primary school . One out of three children in the North Eastern province go to school.

6. Water inequality. Houses in urban areas are five times as likely to have piped water than those in rural areas.

7. Healthcare inequality. In the Central province, there are about 20,000 people for every doctor while in the North Eastern province there is one doctor for every 120,000 people.

8. Child mortality inequality. In Nyanza province, twice as many children die before their first birthday than children living in the Rift Valley–that’s 133 to 61 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively.

9. Gender outcome inequality. 93 percent of women in the North Eastern province have no education, compared to three percent of women in the Central province.

10. Poverty inequality. Poverty levels in different regions vary greatly. The percentage of people living below the poverty line in Nairobi is 44 percent. However, only eight percent of the population living in Nairobi west, Kibera division, live under the poverty line while 77 percent of the population in Makongeni, Makadara Division live under the line.

For more on Disparity in Kenya, check out this article by the Society for International Development.

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In Context: Did you know?

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Kenya only has two seasons: one is dry and the other is rainy.

Photo courtesy of Cristòfol Josep Bordes i Figuerola Creative Commons

Kenya is named after Mt. Kenya, a significant landmark and one of the country’s three world heritage sites.

Mt. Kenya, photo courtesy of John Spooner, Creative Commons

According to paleontological records, the oldest known history of mankind comes from Kenya. A fossil known as ‘Kenya Man’ has been dated to be 3.5 to 3.2 million years old.

Fossils from Kenya Man aka Millenium Man

Professor Wangari Maathai, a native Kenyan, is the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Professor Maathai, photo courtesy of Time for Climate Justice, Creative Commons

Kenya was a British colony from 1895 to 1963.

Nairobi 1954, photo courtesy of Robin Hutton, Creative Commons

Most of the people in Kenya are either very rich or very poor, there isn’t a true middle class.

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Kenyans prefer drinking tea over coffee and beverages are usually served hot or at room temperature.

Tea filed in Kenya, photo courtesy of Shared Interest, Creative Commons

There are 40 different ethnic groups that call Kenya home.

Maasai Animal Health and Livestock Marketing Project, photo courtesy of Heifer International

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In Context: Kenya

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Population: 43 million 

Native greeting: Jambo (Hello)

Capital: Nairobi

Official language: English, Kiswahili

Local currency: Kenyan shilling

Overview:

The Republic of Kenya is an East African nation that lies on the equator and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north east. Kenya’s climate ranges from tropical to arid.

 

About 24 percent of the GDP is attributed to agriculture. But, due to inefficient farming practices and lack of access to markets, food security remains a major developmental issue. A little more than half of the population live below the poverty line and much of the population is dependent on food aid.

Heifer in Kenya

 

Livestock placed: Dairy cows, dairy goats, meat goats, camels, poultry and oxen

Technologies used: Plows, zero grazing for dairy cows and goats and free range grazing for other livestock

Issues addressed: Enterprise development, strengthening farming institutions, new farming terchniques and linking to private sector

Heifer International Kenya was established in in 1981.  Heifer Kenya focuses on regions with low per capita income, high child mortality due to malnutrition and potential for dairy farming.  These regions are mainly Nyanza, Western and Coast Provinces.

In collaborates with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Heifer provides training and livestock to farmers.  Heifer Kenya also works with other NGO’s to provide  leadership, record keeping and group management training to self help groups.

Heifer Kenya is a part of the East Africa Dairy Development project, which was initiated in  in 2008 as a four-year, $42.8 million project funded by the Gates Foundation to help 179,000 smallholder dairy farmer families to double their household income, create, connect and expand dairy market infrastructure and sustainably increase dairy productivity and efficiency.

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In Context: SMART

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The Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) is a survey method developed by UNICEF and their partners based on the two most vital, basic public health indicators to assess the severity of a humanitarian crisis. The indicators are nutritional status of children under age 5 and the mortality rate of the population. Launched in 2005 and piloted in Ethiopia, the SMART evaluation was recently conducted in Haiti and shows a reduction in the rate of child malnutrition.

The two indicators that are used assess the needs of a country in crisis and help us to see what kind of assistance is most vital. Once relief programs have been put into place, SMART then monitors the extent to which a relief system is meeting the population’s needs and helps us to see the overall impact of relief response.

According to UNICEF, SMART was created to improve the technical capacity of project partners to better carry out their work but has since become a critical tool in improving worldwide emergency evaluation.

Haiti has always been a country in need. Since before the earthquake, Haiti has been victim to government instability, hunger, poverty and various human rights violations. And, considering that Haiti is the third hungriest country in the world after Somalia and Afghanistan and that it is ranked 149 out of 182 on the UN HDI, the latest on child nutrition is a milestone to be proud of.

In 2005, one out of three Haitian children under the age of five were stunted or chronically undernourished. One out of ten was wasted and six out of ten were anemic. About a fourth of all children were born with low birth weights.

Since the earthquake, the SMART survey has shown improvements as a result of humanitarian aid specific to child nutrition. Stunting rates have decreased to 23.4 percent and severe malnutrition has decreased to one percent. The prevalence of underweight children has gone down from 18 percent in 2005 to 10.6 percent in 2012.

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