Category Archives: From the CEO

Hope for Children

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As we approach June and the celebration of International Children’s Day in many countries around the world, I started to think of my own family. Tonight I will celebrate my stepdaughter’s graduation from middle school. She’s done so well, and we are so proud. I also thought even farther back about when my children were born and how when I held them in my arms for the first time, a million thoughts raced through my mind. I was fortunate to not ever worry about how I would feed them or where we would live or how I would support them. Unfortunately this is not the case for many families around the world. That is the sad truth.

Children are the most vulnerable among us, this is true from the newborn to the adolescent. Children depend on others to provide for their needs. But in so many of the countries where we work, they are vulnerable to malnutrition, which in turn,  lowers their ability to fight diseases such as malaria and gastrointestinal infections and eventually can cause death to their poor, weary bodies. But malnutrition for these children starts even earlier than we imagine. Children who are not well nourished in the first 1,000 days of their existence, including the time in their mother’s womb, are susceptible to cognitive impairment. But how is a mother supposed to care for her unborn child if she herself does not have access to healthy and nutritional food, doctors, or even clean water? According to the World Health Organization, 25,000 children (under the age of 5) die EVERY DAY, one third of those deaths resulting from malnutrition and 70 percent due to preventable or treatable conditions, given access to simple, affordable interventions. That is such a gruesome reality. Picture a stadium for your favorite sports team and fill the seats with children. All those beautiful faces lost. This is NOT OKAY.

And the children that do survive, they have another battle to fight.  I again think of my stepdaughter. It is normal – expected – that she will graduate from middle school, high school and college. In other parts of the world, many parents cannot afford to send their children to school; and when they can attend, the education is inconsistent, especially for girls. It’s so important for these children to have the opportunity to go to school because without education, these children will never overcome the cycle of poverty.

Photograph by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International

This DOES NOT have to be the reality. All of Heifer’s work centers on families and communities so that resources, food, cash, assets training are available to end this tragedy as rapidly as possible. When I was last in Kenya, I met an incredible man named Laban. Laban was working with Heifer. Laban was determined to create a new life for the orphans suffering from AIDS in his community. With his hard work, and the support of the community, 32 children were given the opportunity to go to school. 32! There is the proof that it does take a village to raise children. And if he can help in his own community, certainly we can help too.

So as we honor Children’s Day this year, let’s remember the children all over the world, because they are our responsibility too.

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Finding the Right Technology to Support Farmers

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Times are quickly changing – I know I don’t have to tell you that, but sometimes, as I travel to our different country programs and visit with donors and partner organizations, I’m still in awe of the amount of work I can accomplish on an electronic device a little over 4 x 2 inches. I can record video and pictures (and upload them to social media sites!), connect with my colleagues, read research articles and engage in discussions about new innovations to help end hunger and poverty.

Technology continues to evolve and has begun to play an important role in agroecology. So how can the right technology benefit the small-scale farmers with whom we work?

For starters, as I just mentioned, the power of cell phones is incredible. More and more farmers around the world have cell phones, putting important information and connectivity at their fingertips. Farmers can exchange texts regarding the different prices for crops and can price their own produce accordingly. Can you picture the impact that this will have on women? For one thing, the possibility of improved literacy. Yes, because like or not, we are becoming more reliant on receiving our information electronically (isn’t that right blog readers?). In fact, this is already happening, and its making a difference in the increased income of these farmers.

Photograph by Dero Sanford, courtesy of Heifer International

At Heifer, we are committed to helping farmers secure a sustainable livelihood, and with that we also commit to finding the right technology to help them achieve their goals.

Energy poverty plays a significant role in keeping rural families poor. To overcome this particular poverty, some of our projects are looking into the power of solar energy. I witnessed this first hand in Haiti, where our participants are using solar energy in their fishing hatcheries.

We still have a lot to learn, and we don’t have all the answers, but that is why we commit to finding and working with people and organizations that are experts where we are not. It is working together that we will achieve Heifer’s mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth.

I am very optimistic that, by harnessing the right technology appropriately, we will have a great impact in eradicating hunger and poverty – and sooner than we think.

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Heifer Welcomes G8 Commitment to Food Security, Nutrition

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Heifer project participant

A member of the Kamuyu Women's Development Organization with her infant among trellised Chinese beans in the collective gardening subsistence plot.

Heifer International applauds President Barack Obama’s announcement today that the Group of Eight Nations (G8) commits to bring the private sector, foundations, governments and civil society together in a New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition for Africa. The commitment will help keep the promise of the 2009 L’Aquila Summit to, “act with the scale and urgency needed to achieve sustainable global food security.”

But more, it is a commitment that, though it begins with Africa and the pledge to lift 50 million people there out of poverty, can provide a global solution. By energizing and allying all sectors, assisted farmers can create a food revolution and help feed a hungry world.

Today, there are nearly three billion people struggling to survive on less than $2 a day—nearly half the world’s population—and 25,000 children continue to die daily needlessly from hunger-related issues.

There is a solution; one the world is finally coming around to—the smallholder farmer. Today there are 650 million limited resource farmers in the world who grow 70 percent of the food eaten every day. If working together we can help them simply double their production, they can feed themselves, their neighbors, the entire world.

The commitment is significant. So, too, must be the execution. The need and opportunity are both too great to fail.

As committed, the new alliance will:

  • Be rooted in partnership
  • Mobilize private capital for food security
  • Take innovation to scale
  • Reduce and manage risk
  • Improve nutritional outcome and reduce child stunting
  • Ensure accountability for results

This is both a critical and opportunistic time. For years, Heifer International has been a leader in what has been called the livestock revolution. We have historically worked on a scale proportional to our limited resources to help demonstrate to the world the power and potential of the rural, smallholder farmer—the majority of them women.

We believe that this commitment, this pledge to think differently, to act differently, will help prioritize investments that improve nutrition and specifically target small-scale farmers, particularly women, who form the backbone of agriculture in many developing nations and who play a critical role in transforming agriculture and building thriving economies.

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From the CEO: Fighting Poverty Locally

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When some people think of hunger and poverty, they picture people struggling in different parts of the world – many of the countries where Heifer is already working. Very rarely do we picture families and individuals that are living in the United States, but it is a reality we need to recognize.

Many Americans are just one major illness or job loss away from sliding below the poverty line, and millions are already there. Roughly 46 million people in the United States live below the official poverty line. One in every five children in the country is food insecure, meaning he or she may have to forgo nutritious foods or meals all together because there’s not enough money to pay for them.

I think we overlook the poverty here in the U.S. because it is difficult to accept and it is even embarrassing. With all the abundance of resources we have, why are people still hungry? Whatever the reason is – perhaps lack of knowledge or lack of access – it is undeniable that families are struggling.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. And it is not a problem that “someone else” can fix. I want to ensure that we rid the world of hunger and poverty, and sometimes that means that the work starts at home.

I’ve received many letters or met with donors that have asked me how they can support Heifer’s work in the United States. Heifer USA recently kicked off Seeds of Change, a five-year project to support and cultivate sustainable community food systems and create jobs in Arkansas and Appalachia. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other partners, Heifer USA will build a food system value chain that connects farmers with businesses , markets and their communities. I’m so excited about the outcomes from this project and most important is that this project links healthy local food and meaningful work.

Photograph by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International

Now this work will not happen overnight. It will take a lot of time, dedication and effort – from ourselves and from our participants – but change is coming.

Hunger and poverty aren’t tomorrow’s problems. We need to address them today, and with your support we can help families and individuals in need become empowered, self-reliant and economically stable.

I invite you to read the latest issue of the World Ark to read more about Heifer’s work in the United States and how you can support Heifer USA’s Seeds of Change.

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Purchasing Fair Trade to Support Families

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May 12th is World Fair Trade Day, and like many celebrated days, I think this is something we should consider every day. Last month we shared with you how to purchase coffee with a conscience, and I wrote about coffee. I mentioned that in my previous life I assumed purchasing fair trade was “enough” to help the farmers move from poverty to a sustainable life.

Fair trade is a wonderful practice – we purchase good, quality products, and the farmers receive a fair price for their product. But another aspect we want to make sure we consider is that we are improving the lives of the farmers. We want the farmers to produce, first for themselves and then to sell the surplus, and through this build their sustainable lives.

Fair trade supports helping farmers, and at Heifer we believe this is an important component of helping more people. But we also need to have an understanding of the big picture and support the full cycle of farmers improving their lives.  We want this practice to be beneficial both ways, for us and the farmers!

Photograph by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International

This is why it is important for Heifer to support organizations such as Fair Trade USA. It’s not just about purchasing fair trade products, but it is also about ensuring that we incorporate different elements while working with the farmers. Protecting the planet, supporting farmers as they build their business, educating and empowering all families members (especially the women!) and fighting poverty are all part of the solution.

As I have mentioned before, I am on the board of Ben and Jerry’s, and one of the plans we are implementing is incorporating fair trade products into our ice cream. I’m pleased to report that by 2013, the products Ben and Jerry’s uses for their ice cream will be 100% fair trade. I’m also excited to mention that in my travels last year to Ecuador we met with a fair trade banana cooperative that is working with Heifer and (coincidentally) provides Ben and Jerry’s with fair trade bananas. What a small world!

Photograph by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International

So yes, it is important to purchase fair trade products – but it’s also important to support organizations like Heifer that are working with farmers to ensure they have the essential tools needed to rise above the struggles of poverty.

So if you’ll excuse me, I’m off now to drink my Yerba Mate (organic, shade grown, reforestation oriented, fairly traded of course!) and contemplate on what more we can do to end hunger and poverty.

 

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Reflections on the Women of My Childhood

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Mother’s Day is approaching, and I’d like to share some stories with you about women that have shaped my life and my world views.

My mother is an incredible woman who instilled in me to care for others. My mother is a twin, and she and her sister have always been very close.  As very young girls (maybe 4 or 5)  they made a pact that when they grew older they would become nuns in the Catholic church.  When they were older, they kept their promise; but soon after joining the novitiate, my mother decided on a different life path and she left, married and had me and my sister. Her sister stayed a while longer, taking her vows; but ultimately left, married and had four children.

Because of my mother and aunt, my early childhood allowed me to be very close and involved with a convent of nuns whose mission was to help the very poor in Africa (Elizabethville, Katanga, Congo). Most of their work was in a small hospital and as teachers, but they also helped through farming. The convent was very active and productive, always joyous about their work.  While my aunt was still in the convent, my mother visited often, volunteering and supporting them financially as best she and my father could. My sister and I came along and were totally spoiled by this sea of nuns, delighted to be able to be with children, a pleasure they had intentionally forgone to help others with no distraction.

Another woman who was impactful in my life was my paternal grandmother. She was a very traditional Italian matriarch, made of very stern stuff, yet she was as loving toward the poor as the nuns we spent time with at the convent.  She founded a vegetable and fruit wholesale and retail business in Elizabethville (Congo).  She worked with a local village teaching them to farm the vegetables and fruits.  My grandmother would buy the products from the small farmers to then sell to the local hotels, restaurants and the more affluent clientele in the town (mostly European families).

I remember riding with her in her pickup to visit the farmers for their produce. They would lay out the crop of the week, washed and ready. She bought what she felt she could sell, spreading her buying to as many families as possible. She was but one market for the farmers, but she paid the best price and got the best produce. There was always time for some laughs, teasing and gossiping, as all this trading was done by the women.  My grandmother cared so much for these women, and if there was ever a sick woman or child, she would take them to the convent for care and healing.

Photograph by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International

My mother and grandmother were wonderful women, and I am who I am today in large part due to the ideas and beliefs they instilled in me. It was important for them to help take care of others and provide opportunities to families.

Working with Heifer, I have had the opportunity to travel to our country programs and meet incredible women–many of them mothers. When I see them and their dedication to their families and communities, I feel connected to them. These women are impacting the world around them. I am in awe of their passion and desire to do for others.

I am forever grateful for the love and care that my mother and grandmother gave to me and for the lessons they taught me. My grandmother is no longer living, but my mother is still kicking in high gear and helping take care of others.

Mothers all over the world give so selflessly. And what do they ask in return? For us to be happy and to help others. Brooke wrote a post earlier this week about passing on your mother’s generosity. As she mentioned, mothers come in many forms – friends, aunts, sisters, grandmothers. This mother’s day, let us honor these women in our lives by helping others.

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