Category Archives: In Context

In Context: Crops of the Sahel

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

The Sahel is home to cowpeas, pigeon peas, groundnut, green grams and chick peas but millet and sorghum are the two most vital food crops of the Sahel.

Millet Photo courtesy of aivo2010, Creative Commons

Millet is a group of annual grasses that are mainly found in arid or semi-arid regions in the world, normally found growing in places that barley and wheat are unable to thrive. The small seeds that come from these grasses are usually cultivated as cereal.

Sorghum, also used in cereal, is the fifth most important cereal after wheat, rice, maize and  barley. Usually grown in areas that is too hot and dry for most crops to produce, it is somewhat more ecologically advanced and is considered to be drought tolerant.

It is easier to grow in drier areas because of the following:

  • Reduced leaf area and thus reduced water loss through transpiration

 

Sorghum Photo courtesy of TREEAid, Creative Commons

  • The above ground parts of the plant grow only after the root system is well established
  • Competes favorably with most weeds

Because sorghum is drought tolerant doesn’t mean that there is plenty of it growing when nothing else will survive. Sorghum remains dormant during drought and will only resume growth when conditions are favorable.

Take a few minutes and watch this video from www.cnn.com. It details the food crisis in the Sahel and shows us what’s being done by agencies like UNICEF to help alleviate malnutrition and hunger caused by the regions most recent drought.

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In Context: Climate Change in the Sahel

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Northern Cameroon lies in the Sahel region. Described as “thirsty“, it has high levels of food insecurity and chronic malnutrition. It is one of the poorest places on Earth. The region, which stretches across northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea has experienced a series of droughts since the 17th century that have served as a catalyst for famine and severe environmental degradation.

Agriculture and livestock have long been a part of the sahelian tradition. However, because of the environmental hits that the area has endured over the years combined with recent drought, the people of the Sahel are more food insecure than before. In northern Cameroon, it is estimated that since 2010, 124,000 children under the age of five and pregnant and lactating women are suffering from acute malnutrition.
Photo by Patrick Hoesly, courtesy of Creative Commons
The Sahel gets about 60 days of rain a year and the region’s farmers need that rain in order to make sure that whatever crops they have planted will grow in time for the dry season. On the flip side, the climate change that is responsible for those very droughts are also responsible for sudden and intense freak rain storms that do more harm than good. Because the land is so dry, it can’t absorb water quickly enough and so the soil erodes. Whatever nutrients that were in the soil are washed away and anything that had been planted will either die or become an unhealthy and underproductive crop.
In an effort to adapt, the Sahelian people are learning new techniques to improve crop yields and to try to slow down the desertification that is hitting the region. Check out this video that demonstrates some techniques that are being implemented by NGOs in the region.

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In Context: Cameroon

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

Population: 20 Million
Native greeting: Bonjour! (Hello!)
Capital: Yaounde (second largest city in Cameroon)
Official language: French and English
Local currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (CFA)


Geography
Cameroon is a central African nation bordered by Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The Gulf of Guinea lies to the southwest of the country and the Sahel region, the zone of transition between the Sahara desert and the Savanna, runs through northern Cameroon. The climate ranges from tropical along the coast to semi-arid and hot in the north.

History
European presence in Cameroon was limited to coastal trade as malaria prevented any significant settlement of the country’s interior. It wasn’t until 1884, after large quantities of Quinine, a malaria suppressant, became available, that Germany colonized and named the country “Kamerun”. Under the League of Nations, post World War I Cameroon was partitioned between France and England, with France given larger geographical share. After a brief armed struggle for independence for French Cameroon in 1955 led by the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon, French Cameroon gained independence in 1960 and was officially named Republic of Cameroon. The following year the largely Muslim northern two-thirds of British Cameroon voted to separate and join Nigeria and the largely Christian southern third voted to join the Republic of Cameroon.
Cameroon is a young country that has yet to establish adequate infrastructure. Roads connecting urban centers to rural areas are far and few. The unemployment rate is at 30% and with 7 out of 10 young people as being under-employed, the Government is making employment, particularly among young people, a priority. Ranked 150th on the 2011 Human Development Index, it is estimated that 48% of the population lives under the poverty line.
Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Poverty in Cameroon is largely a rural phenomenon. 55% of the country’s poor live in rural areas. A 2007 study shows a decline (of about 5 points) of poverty in urban areas whereas as rural areas, especially those in the north saw a rise in poverty by about 3 points. Most affected are women andchildren. About half of the people living in poor households are women and children under the age of 15. A household study conducted in Cameroon in 2007showed that only 18% of rural women have a secondary-level education and 14% of women that are living in the northern parts of the country receiving secondary-level schooling.




Heifer Cameroon
Livestock portfolio: Pigs; dairy cattle; meat goats; sheep; snails; cane rats; poultry; rabbits; guinea pigs and donkeys
Technology portfolio: Integrated crop-livestock agriculture; organic farming; minimum tillage; contour bonds; ethno-veterinary practices; community animal healthcare; bio-sand filters and biogas technology
Issues addressed: Sustainable food systems; income security; nutrition; environment; gender; youth and potable water

Job creation among the rural poor is a step to alleviating poverty in Cameroon. Heifer Cameroon began its work in country by focusing on the dairy industry. Since then, Heifer has expanded to include other livestock species and varied livelihood strategies to assist resource poor families in 6 of Cameroon’s 10 regions.


Photo courtesy of Heifer International
Heifer Cameroon works in collaboration with other NGOs and state institutions like the Ministry of Livestock and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in order to reach even more of the resource-poor and vulnerable population.
Heifer Cameroon is Heifer’s oldest program in West Africa.They began their operations in 1974 and has assisted over 30,000 families.

 

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In Context: Seasonal Eats

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

Photo by Ketowna09 courtesy of Creative Commons

No matter where you live, you can do your part to improve the food system (and your well-being in the process).

This video from www.eatrealeatlocal.ca illustrates what’s happening to the food system in Canada.


An easy way to pitch in and start fixing the problem is to eat local. When you eat local you eat with the seasons; you eat your fruits and vegetables the way they were meant to be eaten.



Benefits include:

Flavor: Fruits and veggies right after they’repicked during their growing season taste fresher and have a lot more flavor.

Environment: When grown in their ideal season,plants are naturally stronger and more resistant to pests and disease so thatthey require fewer pesticides and fertilizers
Nutrition: Certain fruits and vegetables canonly be grown during certain seasons. When you buy them off-season, you’relikely purchasing food that was picked weeks or months, earlier. Since producestarts to lose nutrients shortly after they have been picked meaning out ofseason has lower nutritional values.

And don’t forget,when you eat with the seasons, you keep wealth in your community.

While specific cropsand harvest dates vary by region, here is a sampling of fruits and veggies youcan expect to find at the market this spring.

  • Apricots
  • Asparagus
  • Beets
  • Cherries
  • Fava Beans
  • Greens
  • Lemons
  • Mint
  • Peas
  • Strawberries
  • Turnips

To find out what’s in store for you this spring, check out Locavore on iTunes. It’s an app that tells you what fruits and veggies are available in yourarea.

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In Context: A Passion for Farming

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.


Photo by Heifer Canada
Kalynn Spain and her horse

Kalynn Spain’s passion and enthusiasm for farming isirresistible. In 2009, her uncle helpedto set her farm plans in motion when he offered her space to farm on his landin Manitoba. But for Kalynn, her dreambegan much earlier. “As a kid, I alwayswanted to live in the country. All of mypaintings and drawings were pictures of horses, pigs, and farmyards. That’s where it all started,” Kalynn laughs.

In 2011, Kalynn registered for the Exploring Your Small FarmDream course, offered by the Manitoba Farm Mentorship Program. The course helps aspiring farmers decide ifrunning a farm business is right for them. When asked how it has helped her, Kalynn says, “One thing that reallystuck out for me was quality of life. You need to take care of yourself so you can take care of your land,your animals, and your family.” Thecourse confirmed for Kalynn that farming is her future and inspired her tobegin acquiring start-up resources and gathering people around her to help herfulfill her dream.
After completing the Exploring Your Small Farm Dream course,Kalynn was provided with an internship opportunity through the Manitoba FarmMentorship Program. This initiativeconnects aspiring farmers with experienced mentors and contributes to costsassociated with farmer training. Inreturn for the training she received through the Manitoba Farm MentorshipProgram, Kalynn passed on the gift by interning for 13 weeks on two mentorfarms. The internship helped hone herskills and further develop her farm plans. “I see my farm being very mixed,” Kalynn says about her farm dream, “Isee vegetables. I see chickens and pigsfor sure… After spending a summer on acattle farm, I’m not sure about having cattle, but it’s good that theexperience showed me that early on.”
The Manitoba Farm Mentorship Program is a Heifer Canadaproject that provides training, networking, and resources for new and aspiringfarmers in Manitoba. Kalynn is one of 16interns, 30 Explorer course participants, and over 750 people who have attendedManitoba Farm Mentorship Program courses, workshops, farm tours and othertraining events.
Kalynn’s involvement in the Manitoba Farm Mentorship Programhas only increased her passion for growing and raising food. “It’s changed from a romantic dream tofeeling that it’s something young people should be doing. It will make me happy. I will be contributing to society andimpacting people’s lives.”
“I want to be a role model,” Kalynn says. “I think we need to engage more youngpeople. My generation needs to considerfarming as a career, consider its impact, and realize they can actually doit.”
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In Context: A Spotlight on Poverty in Canada

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.


Photo by Darcy Kiefel, courtesy of Heifer International

Canada has seen some noticeable economic improvements in thelast ten years; however:

  • 1 in 10 Canadians live in poverty
  • 1 in 3 Canadian adults that work full-time do not makeenough money to sustain themselves and their families with a healthy lifestyle

Canada measures poverty in relative terms and does not havean official poverty line. Canadian poverty statistics are calculated byCanada’s Low Income Cut-Offs (LICOs), which is calculated by comparing thepercentage of income individuals and families spend on basic needs with otherCanadians.

Many blame unemployment as the “big, bad” reason for povertyin Canada and other developed countries, but that’s not always the case. As amatter of fact, the Canadian unemployment rate is in decline. An overlooked andunderlying factor of poverty in many of the world’s wealthy, industrializedcountries is income inequality, which is the extent to which income is unevenly distributed in one country.
In 2008, for everydollar the average Canadian family in the poorest 10% of the population had, Canadianfamilies in the richest 10% of the population had 13 times as much.
When income inequality in a country is high, it reflects onhow a country uses its resources. The higher the income inequality in acountry, the slower the economic growth, usually begging the question: “Is thecountry utilizing its citizenship’s skills and capabilities to the fullestextent?”
Measured by the Gini Index (which calculates how far incomedistribution among individuals in a country deviates from an exactly equaldistribution), income inequality in Canada has increased more over the last 20years than in any other country with similar income per capita.
Nearly 400,000 full-time, Canadian adult employees earn lessthan $10 an hour, drawing them and their families deeper into the cycle ofpoverty. And with poverty comes poor health— The World Health Organizationhas named poverty as being the single largest determinant of health.
  • The majority of theworking-poor cannot afford secure and affordable housing and healthy (or inmany instances an adequate amount of) food
  • Parents on limitedincome often skip meals so their children have an adequate diet
  • Limited food budgetsand lack of access to fresh food often results in Type 2 diabetes—which wasformerly seen in adults only, but is now increasing in children

And perhaps one of the scarier statistics to surface:

  • According to a studyconducted by McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, there is a 21-yeardifference in life expectancy between the poorest neighborhood and thewealthiest neighborhood

Research by Poverty is Making Us Sick show that if annualincome were increased by $1,000 a year to the poorest 20% of Canadians, it wouldlead to as many as 10,000 fewer chronic conditions and 6,600 fewer disabilitydays every two weeks.

So, while poverty in Canada doesn’t look like poverty inunindustrialized nations, it exists nonetheless. The difficult decisions familiesmust make (pay rent or buy food) are the same, contributing to a decline inquality of life and degrading the emotional and physical health of a nation.
Photo by Darcy Kiefel courtesy of Heifer International

You can help make a difference and learn more about howHeifer Canada is helping at www.heifercanada.org.


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In Context: Canada

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

Population: 34 million

Native Greeting: Quanuq itpin? (Inuvialuliktum for How areyou?)

Capital: Ottawa

Official language: English and French

Local currency: Canadian dollar


Overview
Canada is the second largest country in the world but thelargest to border only one other country. With the continental United States tothe south, Canada is located in northern North America with the North Atlanticon the east, North Pacific on the west and the Arctic Ocean on the north.

Photo by alexindigo courtesy of Creative Commons
90% of the 34 million people that live there live within 100 miles of the US border where the climate is mostly temperate. Canada reachesarctic and sub-arctic temperature in the north. In the west, the landscape ismostly plains and mountains with lowlands in the south.
Despite Canada being ranked #6 on the Human Development Index, the country has an alarmingly high rate of povertyand homelessness, nearly 16% of Canadians live in poverty and over 3 millionpeople live in food insecure households.
Among the poor, the indigenous populations in particular are at high-riskof malnutrition and hunger due to wage disparity in urban centers coupled withrising unemployment rates, high cost of nutritious food on reservations andlack of education.
Did you know…
  • A basket of healthy food costs twice as much in the norththan in the south.
  • Nearly half of the aboriginal population living in majorCanadian cities live in poverty.
  • In 2001, only 8% of the 25-34age group of Aboriginal peoples had a completed university degree, while 28% ofall Canadians did.
  • Rural farmers are athigh risk of losing their land and livelihoods to largecorporations.
Heifer’s approach in Canada
A growing interest in organic farming and eating local provides a positive opportunity for change.
The Heifer Canada approach has grown and evolved over the years and projects nowspan three primary areas of focus: family farm preservation, First Nationsagriculture, and urban and rural community food security.

The foundationof Heifer’s efforts in Canada has always been the partnerships it establisheswith those in genuine need. This, combined with the rapid decline of farmersacross the country demands a continued strong presence of Heifer’s work inCanada. Heifer Canada began in 1980. They currently have 17 projectsand have assisted more than 2,000 families to date.
Livestock portfolio: Apiaries (bees), chickens, worms, cows,horses, pigs, turkeys, fruit trees and vegetable seeds
Issues addressed: Poverty among the indigenous and urbancommunities, land preservation, loss of biodiversity and environmentaldegradation.
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In Context: Local Eats

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.

Most of the time, eating local is the way to go. Besides theobvious benefits, like boosting the local economy, it just plain tastes better.Produce is fresher and we get to eat with the seasons—tasting fruits andveggies at their peak. In Cambodia, much of the cuisine is focused on locallygrown, locally produced foods.


The Cambodian diet consists of mainly rice and fish although noodles are also popular. Rice, which contributes about 68% of daily caloric intake, is a component of nearly every meal and an essential ingredient in many desserts.

Fish makes up 70% of the protein in the Cambodian diet. In fact, fish is so vital to Cambodian culture that the national currency, the riel, is named after a small silver carp that is a dietary staple for many Cambodians.


The popular breakfast dish Num Bahn Choc or Cambodian Morning Soup varies in taste according to region and season. This noodle dish is a great example of eating local. Thebasic ingredients to this soupy, rice-y noodle dish are the same: fermentedfish paste, rice and noodles. The rest of the ingredients however, are a combination ofherbs, vegetables and greens available at that morning’s market.

A farmer’s market in Cambodia
A Peek Inside the Pantry
Mint, coriander and lemongrass traditionally flavor fish,rice and noodles but a true Cambodian meal also includes:
Prahok, a fermented fish paste, which is used in a varietyof ways and is found in nearly every dish.

Kroeung is a spice paste made up of star anise, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and turmeric.

Morning Glory (also known as swamp cabbage or water spinach)is used as a vegetable but is actually an herb. Grows in marshy areas. Tasteslike spinach.
Cooked Morning Glory
Photo by Andy Wright, courtesy of Creative Commons

Kabocha or “Cambodian Pumpkin” is a winter squash, broughtto Cambodia by the Japanese in the 1500s. It’s sweeter than butternut squashwith a texture that’s a cross between pumpkin and sweet potato.

Kabocha
Photo by The Unseasoned Wok, courtesy of Creative Commons
Slek Bas or Vine vegetable/Ivy gourd is a leafy green looks like a lot like Morning Glory but tastes like a mix of spinach and watercress.


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In Context: Out of the Woods

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Editor’s note: In Context is a new series designed to inform and educate you on Heifer’s work in each country we have a presence. Every two weeks we’ll tackle a different country and examine unique situations related to hunger and poverty, how Heifer works to address them as well as take some time to explore local culture and traditions.


Story by: Chen Dara, Program Officer, Heifer Cambodia

Translated by: Prak Somathy, Communication and Networking Manager, Heifer Cambodia

Photo by Chen Dara courtesy of Heifer International
Mrs. Deng Sou, 48, and her husband Bou Samet, 50, live withtheir five children in Thmei village, Kampong Sela district, Preah Sihanoukprovince, Cambodia. Before becoming a project participant in the Heifer funded Women’s Empowerment and Migration Reduction Project, in partnership withRural Children Saving Association (RCSA), Sou’s family depended solely onincome brought in from forestry and wildlife.

This job faced many risks including malaria. Sometimes, herhusband and son had to escape from home to avoid from being arrested by a WildlifeConservation team as poaching wildlife is illegal.
“One day, when my husband and son were in the forest cuttingtrees and trapping wildlife, villagers told me that a man had died because a treehad fallen down on him,” Sou recalled. “I was very panicked, afraid that itmight be my husband or my son. However, my anxiety disappeared when I knew thatboth of them were safe. Thank God!”

In 2010, RCSA introduced the Heifer project in the village andher family decided to join a self-help group of 21 families. Sou ’s familyreceived two piglets, three chickens, and vegetable seeds as a tool to improvetheir food security and income generation. She attended both technical andnon-technical trainings, including the 12 Cornerstones training. She is excitedto apply the simple techniques that she has learned from the trainings relatedto animal husbandry and management to develop their unused land for plantingvegetables, raising fish in their pond and applying a poultry bio-securitysystem.
Photo by Kheang Sokleng courtesy of Heifer International

As a result, her family saved enough money to buy a sow forreproductive purposes only.
Today, their sow has given birth to 10 piglets,which have been sold. Aside from the pigs, her family also has five hens, 20 chickens,and seven ducks. The family no longer spends money to buy vegetables, fish andmeat as they produce their own. Sou’s family has better nutrition and ishealthier and they no longer work in forestry or wildlife poaching.

Photo by Sok Nom courtesy of Heifer International
“Now, we have a stable job on our farm. Since joining theSHG, we no longer enter the jungle to cut trees and poach wildlife,” said Sou.“We have applied skills and experiences learned from the trainings to raiseanimals and develop our home garden and vegetable productions. The outcome fromhas allowed us to afford scholastic materials for our children. Thanks toHeifer and RCSA for your generous support.”

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