Tag Archives: biodiversity

From the Field: Heifer Improves the Environment

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Improving the EnviornmentThis weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field” section.

Because the Earth sustains us, environmental responsibility is of the utmost value to Heifer International. Improving the environment, one of Heifer’s 12 Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, means that our projects do not contribute to soil erosion, increase pollution, or cause or worsen environmental problems. Rather, Heifer projects have a positive impact on biodiversity, local wildlife, watershed conditions, sanitation and soil fertility.

Improving the Environment

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Heifer tailors its projects to work with the local environment, creating projects that enrich it and can thrive in that region’s conditions. In Central and South America, Heifer has organized its projects around regional conditions. In the Andes, for example, project participants raise camelids, using them as draft animals and harvesting their wool. These domesticated creatures thrive in the local conditions, and their padded feet don’t damage delicate mountainous foliage. Similarly, Heifer works with farmers in dry forest areas, teaching them to grow crops while avoiding soil erosion, increasing soil fertility and maximizing water resources. We also work with coffee, coca and cardamom farmers in our Americas-area programs. Working with a region’s environmental conditions ensures that the land will be productive for its future tenants.

Heifer Armenia and the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (CARD) joint program works with farmers to breed cattle in the Syunik region. The organizations choose to work in the Syunik region because high-quality grass for animal feed is abundant, while in other communities, such as Armavir, Lori, Ararat and Shirak, securing feed is a problem.

Heifer Armenia’s YES! Youth Club Student Avet Grigoryan decided to launch a garlic business. The 16 year-old surveyed the land available to him. He consulted his uncle, also a garlic producer, who advised him to find sandy soil to plant in. After learning about Heifer’s Cornerstones, Avet knew that finding a patch of sandy soil would mean that his plants would thrive and that he wouldn’t have to use large amounts of chemical fertilizer and pesticides. He found that the soil at his home was unsuitable for growing and used his grandfather’s plot to raise his crops.

Help more families by donating now.

 

This is what an Agroecological Banana Farm Looks Like

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Yesterday, I posted a couple of pictures I took of conventional banana plantations outside Machala, Ecuador. I think probably my favorite day in Ecuador was the day we visited Wilson Sanchez’s agroecological banana farm, which was about as opposite from those plantations as you could get. It was so tropical, so diverse. Visually, it was the most interesting place I’ve ever been.

Driving to the farm. It’s amazing how quickly the landscape changes in Ecuador.
A line up of the produce grown on the farms in the area
 at the processing station of the small-farmer group. It was a total feast of the senses.
The trucks took us as far as they could;
we were on our own to muck the rest of the way up to Sanchez’s farm. 
You can see, there’s a wide variety of trees and shrubs growing here.
Here is a banana plant (they’re not actually trees) with a banana heart.
I’ll show you a video of what happens at this stage tomorrow. 
Tropical paradise, no?
I couldn’t stop taking pictures to remember how beautiful it all was.
Hello, frog.
Cocoa!
Up close.
Pigs (from Heifer).
Fermenting liquid compost, to be used as fertilizer.
Wild ducks! On clear water.

Ecuador: Diverse and Dynamic

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Before digging into the Ecuador leg of our South American trip, I thought it might be helpful to describe the situation here, which is complex, to say the least.

Ecuador is fantastically biodiverse. I’ve never seen so many different plants in my life. It is also culturally and geographically diverse–there are 13 different indigenous nationalities living in the Andean highlands, the Amazon, the coastal areas and the Galapagos Islands. Migration out of rural areas has left the cities of Quito (the capital) and Guayaquil crowded. Poverty is everywhere, but highly concentrated in rural areas. In the rural highlands, 78 percent of the population lives in poverty; on the rural coast, the poverty rate is as high as 86 percent. A whopping 40 percent of rural indigenous people are malnourished.

To the logical mind, this doesn’t seem to make sense. Why, in a place so rich in biodiversity with thousands of years of ancestral agricultural knowledge, are so many people poor and hungry?

Here is just a sample of the contributing factors:

  • Land and water distribution are inequitable. Large agribusinesses growing cash crops for export, like bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice and potatoes are on the best, easiest to farm land and use the vast majority of the water available for agriculture.
  • At the same time, the major food crops consumed by Ecuadorians in-country are largely grown on farms 50 acres or smaller. Agriculture policies, however, are primarily focused on export growth.
  • Access to things like irrigation and credit for small farmers is dismally low, so it is difficult for small farmers to get ahead.
  • Predatory extraction of natural resources (petroleum, shrimp, metals).
So what’s the solution? Heifer’s view, which is in line with the findings of the United Nations Special Rapporteur’s Report on Agroecology and the Right to Food, is that agroecology applied by rural communities working together will end hunger and poverty here in Ecuador while caring for the Earth.

Lucio of Peru: Part 2 of 2

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Yesterday I told you part of the story of Lucio Mandura, and here is the other part. (The bulk of this story was written by Maureen Goal, a volunteer with Heifer Peru.)

Lucio attended trainings from Heifer Peru, which, when combined with his diligent experimentation, a lot of his alpacas are already highly valued. He said, “Now my alpacas are the champions of any competition.” One of his alpacas recently won the colored male category at the Ocongate District Alpaca Fair.

Some of Lucio’s alpacas grazing in pastures.
Lucio uses a pasture rotation method with his livestock.

Lucio recalls a time when he only had a few alpacas, which were all from his father: all of poor genetic makeup and poor wool quality. He said, “Before, we had a very low socioeconomic status, and I could only afford shorts, not pants, and sandals made from discarded tires. But now we are better off and have better food.

In stark comparison to Lucio’s practically nonexistent production of vegetables and fruits five years ago, through his organic experimentations, he is now also a champion vegetable and fruit grower. He grows an amazing array of produce, such as a variety of lettuces, peppers, carrots, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, celery, tomatoes, melon, strawberries and an assortment of herbs. He has been dabbling in growing pineapple.

Lucio grows lettuce and fruit, among other things, in his greenhouse.
He has begun building a second greenhouse on his farm.

One final example of Lucio’s amazing drive are the biogas experimentations he has conducted over the past two years to improve cooking conditions in his home. He uses his animals’ manure in a homemade solar model oven he was inspired by his friend (an engineer) to make. This economical method, which does not require purchasing gas or electricity, is more sustainable and a lot healthier for the family, since the kitchen is no longer filled with smoke.

Lucio demonstrating his workshop skills for us on his farm lookout point.

Now Lucio facilitates workshops on his property to, in a sense, Pass on the Gift of his knowledge gained through Heifer and his own experiments to his peers so that they, too, can live a better life. Through the support Heifer has provided Lucio, not only have his experiments literally blossomed, but so has his experience-sharing. In this manner, Lucio and his family have increased their own self-sufficiency and quality of life–they have also passed on these gifts to others. He said that he and his wife, both of whom did not complete their educations past third grade, are dedicating their new earnings to the education of their children so that ”they will be able to have a better future,” just as he hopes who attend his workshops will.

Lucio fixes a sprinkler head in one of his pastures

Lucio of Peru: Part 1 of 2

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I’ve already told you a bit about Lucio Mandura, but I thought I’d share a little bit more. (The bulk of this story was written by Maureen Goal, a volunteer with Heifer Peru.)


Lucio Mandura Crispin (40) lives with his wife, Sebastiana Pacce Jora (36) and their five children, Justa Martina (14), Celia (12), Jose (9) and Vilma (3, also known as “The Queen of the House.” Lucio and his family lived in a small Quechua-speaking community in the barren Peruvian Andes. The Crispin family lives in the community of Fundo Tumpata, Pacchanta, which is about three hours by car from Cusco. The village is approximately 13,000 feet above sea level. Traditionally the harsh environment could only support potatoes and the wild grasses eaten by alpacas and llamas. Recently, though, Lucio began to experiment with greenhouses for growing vegetables and fruit, and experimenting with improving the genetic make-up of his alpacas and pastures (both sparked by Heifer’s help over the past two years. He also has a biogas unit (a nice thing about alpacas is that they tend to poop in the same place over and over, which makes collecting it pretty easy).

Lucio’s herd of female alpacas.

 Today, the majority of the family’s income comes from selling the improved alpacas and vegetables. Although his wife mainly works at home and weaves crafts, and the children attend school, the whole family participates in the housework and work with the alpacas and greenhouse. Despite the rigorous work, the family’s overall nutrition has improved. Before Heifer’s involvement–combined with the family’s hard work and initiative–the family’s life was difficult and impoverished. This was back when they were beholden to the alpaca wool factories, before Lucio’s experimentation and greenhouse.

Lucio shows us a sub-par alpaca.
This animal has three colors of wool on its body.

As the alpaca wool industry burgeoned in Peru, factories became increasingly interested in only purchasing white alpaca wool since it is easier to dye. Following the market’s demand, small alpaca breeders have bred out the darker animals. However, it is the darker animals that have better wool and are more resilient to the harsh conditions of the Andes. Heifer is helping reverse this trend and to bring purebred, colored alpacas back into the region.

Now the family has about 100 alpacas, of which 20 are “competition caliber” due to their improved genetic makeup. The rest are still “intermediates,” signifying they still have llama-like qualities. The family sells their competition-caliber sires in addition to entering them in contests, because “this is where the money is.”
These improved alpacas not only come from better breeding methods, a skill first introduced to Lucio in Heifer workshops. In total, Lucio has learned from Heifer how to improve his alpaca herd through trainings  on controlled mating and care for pregnant alpacas, how to improve the cultivated grasses the alpacas eat, and more sustainable grazing methods.

This is one of Lucio’s prize-winning alpacas.
Her wool is dark, thick and curly,
all desirable traits.

In addition to receiving a pair of colored male alpacas of improved genetic quality from Heifer, Lucio received cultivated grass seeds to improve his pastures. Lucio said, “Now I have separate corrals for the fathers and the offspring,” which is a much better and more secure breeding method. He also now has well-marked pastures that he uses on a rotating scheme to graze his alpacas. He is currently making his own investment of $364 to buy his own pasture seeds.

Allin Kausay

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Good Living. That’s what Allin Kausay means. It’s the name of a Heifer Peru project in the Cusco region of Peru. This project, which is only about five months in, plans to contribute to improved food systems and living conditions for 1,540 families. Heifer does this by helping them plan the management of their resources, implement agroecology, link to local markets, and involve them in processes that impact local and regional policies for rural families.

Friday morning we visited Dolores Delgado on her farm in the Huachanccay community about an hour from Cusco. Dolores’ farm is small, but very well organized and well-kept. In just the short five-month life of the project’s activities, the practical benefits of agroecological production are clear. In the next four or five years, Dolores intends to be a certified agroecological producer. She is already one of the biggest sellers of guinea pigs in the areal. Right now, she gets about $8 per guinea pig. Once she’s certified, she’ll get nearly $15 per. To earn even higher an income, Dolores will be able to sell an organic breeding male guinea pig for $36 each.

Have a look at her farm:

Heifer Peru and Headquarters staff arrive at Dolores’ farm.

Common on Heifer participants’ farms are project-related murals,
painted with colored clays. A plastered building for guinea pigs is a big deal here.

Cuy Breeding “Happy Little Farm”
A sign welcomes us into Delores’ guinea pig room.

We must step in ash before entering the guinea pig house so we don’t bring in contaminants.

Wire on the ceiling helps keep rats and weasels away from the guinea pigs.

Dolores shows us her guinea pig cages, which her son helped her build.
There are metal pans under all of the cages to allow for the collection of manure.

The pipes in the back allow Dolores to capture urine, which is high in nitrogen.

Dolores shows us a breakdown of her guinea pig production in terms of inputs, costs and profits.

Dolores shows us the nutritional breakdown of guinea pigs, which are highly nutritious.

Dolores grows fodder for her guinea pigs. She has a basket of ryegrass and barley.

Dolores also makes regular feed for her animals.

In addition to saving money by growing and processing fodder and food for her guinea pigs,
Dolores also cuts costs by making her own medecine. She keeps her animals very healthy,
so they don’t often require medecine at all. What she’s holding is a salve for grass cuts they sometimes get.

Pierre Ferrari gets to hold a guinea pig.

Dolores is so proud of her farm and pleased to show it off to us.

Dolores practices worm composting with guinea pig manure.

Once the compost is ready, Dolores ferments it with water in a drum.
The jug is full of what we would call “compost tea.”

Dolores’ husband uses a basic sprayer to distribute the compost tea.

Using organic fertilizer is already paying off. These are fodder crops for the guinea pigs.

They’ve also used the fertilizer on their family vegetable garden with great success.

And what would a Peruvian farm (or street, for that matter) be without a sleeping dog?

How Heifer Projects Are Promoting a Healthy Environment: Part 3

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On April 18, Worldwatch Institute’s blog, Nourishing the Planet, published a list of 15 ways agriculture can “promote a healthier environment and a more food-secure future.” In honor of Earth Day 2011, we would like to explore these 15 ways and how Heifer’s projects around the world are addressing these issues. We are doing this in three separate posts, matching five Heifer projects with the corresponding Nourishing the Planet concepts. Read 1-5 here and 6-10 here.

11. Investing in Africa’s Land: Crisis and Opportunity
Okay, so we’re not doing EVERYTHING on this list. But while we may not be creating collaborations between African farmers and foreign entities, land grabbing is on our radar. And we are absolutely working to help farmers in Africa hold onto and make the most of their land.
Fund a Project in Rwanda, where only 32.7 percent of the land is suitable for farming.
12. Charting a New Path to Eliminating Hunger
Have I ever mentioned how much I like biogas? The connection between biogas and eliminating hunger might not be obvious, but it’s certainly there. I’ve written before about the Uganda Domestic Biogas Program, which is targeting 12,160 families over the five-year project period. Not only is the project helping farmers install biogas units on their farms, it is actually establishing a market for domestic biogas installations and accessories, which builds local economies.
Biogas (as compared to charcoal or wood) cooks faster and burns cleaner, which is important for rural women. Healthy women are more productive, for one thing. In addition to being better for the environment, no longer purchasing charcoal or wood for cooking frees up income to be spent on education and health care. And children whose families have biogas lanterns can stay at home and study for school, which could impact their overall success.


Another alternative to traditional stoves are improved cook stoves (ICS), which are smokeless and use considerably less wood. Fund a Project in India that will, in addition to livestock, distribute ICS to participating families.

13. Moving Ecoagriculture into the Mainstream
Heifer began practicing agroecology with our participants since the mid-1980s and officially established an Agroecology Initiative in 2000 to place a greater emphasis on environmental protection as part of our work. Methods used on Heifer’s project participants’ farms include planting trees, using manure and other sources of natural fertilizer, zero- or managed-grazing techniques, contour planting and terracing, and improved cooking stoves or biogas units.
In fact, pick any one of these projects, and you’ll be helping move ecoagriculture into the mainstream.
14. Improving Food Production from Livestock
In many of the places Heifer works, pastureland for livestock may either be limited or poor in quality. By helping farmers build zero-grazing pens and by helping farmers identify and improved grow fodder crops, Heifer helps farmers increase the yields of their dairy animals.
While in Uganda, I had the chance to see zero-grazing in practice. Here’s a little footage:
Read about Huruma Mhapa from Tanzania, a 2011 Women in Livestock Development Award winner, and her plans for an improved zero-grazing pen for her cows. What’s remarkable is that more than 9,000 people have visited her farm for training and to learn about zero-grazing and organic farming.
Heifer also improves food production from livestock by teaching and building capacity for crossbreeding and artificial insemination to improve the productivity of local livestock.
15. Going Beyond Production
In the interest of diversity, I’m going to take this one in a slightly different direction, because although we’ve dealt with dairy surplus with our East Africa Dairy Development Project, and we’ve connected these farmers to the dairy value chain, I think “going beyond production” can be interpreted in more than one way.
For example, Heifer Poland’s Agriculture and Tourism Development Project is helping farmers who live within the boundaries of the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, which protects the ecosystem but also limits certain agricultural activities. Through the project, farmers are becoming beekeepers, converting their dairy cattle herds into beef production (EU restrictions make small-scale dairy farming difficult), and learning to become hosts for tourists interested in the reserve and in other features of agrotourism.

How Heifer Projects Are Promoting a Healthy Environment: Part 2

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On April 18, Worldwatch Institute’s blog, Nourishing the Planet, published a list of 15 ways agriculture can “promote a healthier environment and a more food-secure future.” In honor of Earth Day 2011, we would like to explore these 15 ways and how Heifer’s projects around the world are addressing these issues. We are doing this in three separate posts, matching five Heifer projects with the corresponding Nourishing the Planet concepts. Read 1-5 here.


6. Using Farmers’ Knowledge in Research and Development

Heifer Lithuania’s Cooperation and Development of Farmers for Poultry and Rabbits in Plunge Project is increasing entrepreneurship among rural people living near Zemaitija National Park by first creating sources of income for the local community and then providing the foundation for local business creation. Last April, project participants went to a hands-on training on rabbit breeding and keeping on a local, modern rabbit farm. The farmer had received his own training in Spain and was very kind to show his farm, share his experiences and answer project participants’ questions. The farmer had 500 female rabbits, some of which were pregnant, while others already had offspring. The farmer shared his expertise in making rabbit hutches. Upon returning home, project participants were inspired to make their own farms as productive as the one they had visited.
7. Improving Soil Fertility
Heifer project participants around the world use a number of soil-enriching agricultural practices. Compost, animal manure and even worms (and their castings) can be used to build the soil. Some of our projects are located in valleys with rich, fertile soil. Other projects, including those in cities, must improve their soil before they can begin to grow anything.
Do this experiment to learn how earthworms act as nature’s plows and add nutrients to soil and build your own worm bin.
Fund a Project in Oregon that will provide earthworms, among other things, to participants.
8. Safeguarding Local Food Biodiversity
Heifer’s Sustainable Food Systems in Copan and Lempira, Honduras Project will benefit 2,058 families in western Honduras. Families here struggle with poverty that is exacerbated by farming steeply sloping land with low fertility. This project provides cows, hens, fish, goats, sheep, rabbits, bee hives and fruit trees. In addition to promoting agroecological practices, this project is help;ing families establish food gardens with local crops to feed people and livestock, for natural medicine and to protect the environment. The project also works to recover and promote the use of local seeds.
9. Coping with Climate Change and Building Resilience

Read this post on how Heifer’s projects improve local ecosystems, help families out of poverty and cope with the changing environment.
10. Harnessing the Knowledge and Skills of Women Farmers
Much of Heifer’s work, particularly in Asia/South Pacific, is done through women’s groups. Women are severely marginalized in many countries here, but it is the women who are the communities’ best bets. Here’s the story of a project participant from Nepal:

I am Tika Mahato, a member of the Daunnedevi Women’s Group. As the eldest of three sisters in a poor family where both parents worked from morning to night, I was burdened with the responsibility of taking care of my siblings. My father was ver encouraging about my education, but he was also pressured by society’s norms about women.

I come from a marginalized ethnic group in Nepal, the tharu, in which women are considered the family’s honor and treasure. We are not allowed to tread outside of our houses, talk to strangers or voice our thoughts on family matters. Girls from the age of 10 are encouraged to find partners and get married. I was married at the age of 15 and bore two children by the time I was 19. My in-laws were not very well off. The family struggled to provide for every meal. All of us worked as laborers, but money was never enough. In 2006, an incident changed my life as I knew it; my husband passed away, leaving me with two children.

Having always been dependent on him for everything, I was in a state of shock for a long time. I stopped caring for my two children. What would I do with my life? The question and its unknown answers plagued my mind. My mother says I used to stare at nothing for hours. During that time, a group was being formed. Seeing this as an opportunity to engage me, my mother forced me to join. Reluctant to focus on anything except my misery, I did go to the meetings but never took part in any discussions. Slowly, the members started becoming my friends. I felt like I had someone to count on in the time of need.

My group then took the Cornerstones training — it was like four days of continuous awakening. I felt like all my questions after my husband’s death were being answered. I was overcome with guilt for abandoning my children. Yet instead of looking ahead in life, I was burying myself in the sorrows of my past. Though fully capable of working and providing for my family, I was becoming a burden for my parents with whom my children and I lived after the death of my husband.


I now have a renewed sense of faith and belief in myself. I have my goats that I received as gifts from Heifer, and my life has found a purpose with the goats. I plan to be independent and raise my children without the shadow of poverty.

Fund a Project working with women’s groups in India, Nepal, Laos or Cambodia

Saving Animals, Plants and People At the Same Time

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This week, members of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity are meeting in Japan to talk about how to protect the planet’s flora and fauna. It’s a noble and challenging goal, especially considering that they hope to do it without displacing or disenfranchising any of the world’s poor, 70 percent of whom live in rural areas and are therefore more likely to look to hunting, fishing and resource extraction for their livelihoods.

The online magazine Slate takes a look at this challenge today and considers ways that biodiversity can be preserved at the same time poverty is reduced. Agroforestry, in which trees and agriculture are integrated, is one solution that Heifer promotes in many of its projects. Protecting soil by planting trees simply makes sense for the farmers who rely on healthy soil to produce healthy crops. You can learn more about some Heifer’s work with partner Green Mountain Coffee to preserve biodiversity in Mexico in the Winter 2010 issue of World Ark magazine.

Read more about the Convention on Biological Diversity here.

Honey, They’re on to Something

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Army scientists and bee experts who teamed up to figure out why so many bees are mysteriously dying announced a big breakthrough this week. They believe a fungus and virus working together may be responsible for colony collapse disorder, which is a major threat to both bees and the crops that rely on them for pollination.

According to a New York Times story, the breakthrough came when the Army used a software system designed to help identify threatening biological agents to try to figure out what’s killing so many bees. The team of Army and academic researchers were able to show that the virus-fungus combo was found in every collapsed colony they studied.

Their results aren’t the final word, though. The scientists are still trying to figure out if the fungus or the virus gets there first and what can be done to prevent infections in the future. But it’s a big step for farmers and eaters around the world who need bees to keep our fruits and vegetables growing.

Learn more about colony collapse disorder in Heifer’s World Ark magazine.