Tag Archives: Celebration

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

How Heifer Projects Are Promoting a Healthy Environment

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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’ll do this in three separate posts, matching five Heifer projects with the corresponding Nourishing the Planet concepts.


1. Guaranteeing the Right to Food
The goals of the National More Organic for Everyone (MORE) Project are to increase organic producers’ supply, improve access to high-quality organic food by underserved communities in Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas City, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin and identify opportunities to strengthen the linkages between organic producers and communities in food desert areas. This project is helping 60 farmers initiate or make the transition to organic production while providing organic food to 600 food-insecure families.
In the words of a MORE Project participant in Georgia:
My name is Alfred, 64 and a half years young. And having lost my job, this is the best thing that could have ever happened to me, preparing myself to become an organic backyard gardener. The experiences and classes I am having I would have never gotten from books alone. Specifically when working hand-in-hand with the volunteer farmers, I am learning to do various things in different ways and learning to adapt them to my specific needs and requirements.

Since I started the project, I finished building several raised and standard beds, which are planted, harvested and producing already. I’ve improved my methods of seeding, learned the proper way to compost and learned the principles of crop rotation, planning and companion planting. I’ve also started building a walk-in hoop-house. And if everything works out okay, I’m planning to sell at local farmers markets soon.



2. Harnessing the Nutritional and Economic Potential of Vegetables.

Heifer’s Empowering Marginalized Communities in Northern Thailand Project assists 1,170 minority families in nine poor communities. Families receive sows, piglets, fruit saplings, crop seeds and vegetable seeds. In this project, kitchen gardens are one of the activities that help villagers reduce daily food expenses.
Mr. Alu and Mrs. Muba Yaesaw are participants of the project. Before, the family made their living from selling wild products at Wednesday and Saturday markets. But after becoming project participants, they began growing a kitchen garden for home consumption and sale. They grow both native and wild vegetables. Their family’s nutrition has improved from the more diverse diet. In addition to selling at the market two days a week, they sell their vegetables from a mobile shop within the village and nearby villages and at special events. Mr. Alu said that after growing their own vegetables, they did not have to buy vegetables for more than a year. They also shared vegetables with their neighbors and guests who came to their village.

3. Reducing Food Waste

To diversify the income streams of families benefiting from the gift of livestock, Heifer Sierra Leone entered into a partnership in 2010 with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). This partnership has resulted in the distribution of high-yielding cassava varieties to supplement project families’ agricultural inputs, diet and income. Cassava, also called yuca or manoic, is a woody shrub native to South America. Cassava is the third-largest source of carbohydrates for meals in the world. However, one of the challenges of cassava production is its relatively short post-harvest storage capacity. To preserve this staple food year-round in areas where there is no refrigeration, it is often processed into garri, a kind of cereal that keeps for long period. It is sometimes turned into fried chips and eaten as a snack. An additional benefit of cassava is that the peels are good for feeding animals, and the leaves are made into a nutritious stew.
The Tongea Women Farmers in Kailahun district are one of the groups that has benefitted from Heifer’s partnership with IITA. Along with various trainings they received from Heifer, the group also received cassava cuttings, which they planted in a group garden. Because their cassava production was so successful, IITA contributed further to the project by having two cassava-processing centers built. These facilities have become a resource for the women who engage in homemade garri processing and other cassava products. Garri and other foods processed from cassava sell at higher market value than the cassava plant itself, and the women are now learning that by adding value to their farm products, they are able to generate real income to improve their livelihoods and those of their family members.
4. Feeding Cities.
The population of El Alto in La Paz, Bolivia, largely consists of families who have migrated from the Bolivian highlands. As part of the rural-to-urban migration process, these families often exchange their healthy, traditional diets of Andean crops for por quality, highly processed and carbohydrate-rich foods, resulting in the high rates of both malnutrition and obesity among the urban poor. Heifer’s Restoring the Consumption of Native Foods in El Alto, La Paz Project promotes food security in eight peri-urban communities in El Alto. Heifer works to improve the eating habits of school children and their families through advocacy with local decision-makers, strengthening of the network of social control of the School Boards, and community awareness-raising as a strategy to recover and consume the vast diversity of healthy traditional Andean products.
5. Getting More Crop per Drop.
Small farmers in the Piura region of Peru live in poverty. Approximately 35,000 families live in this territory, and their livelihoods are vitally dependent on the region’s ecosystem. They are affected by El Nino floods, which deteriorate roads and isolate communities. They are equally affected by subsequent drought years, which come as regularly as El Nino and bring with them forest fires. The Building a Sustainable Way of Life Project is turning the threat of El Nino into a major opportunity for families living in the dry forest. During the yet years, the project replants trees, bushes and pastures; builds grain storage sheds and improves housing conditions to protect against heavy rains. Communal wells are being improved, and equipment is provided to ensure the availability and quality of water in yet years and dry.

From the Soil

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How are you celebrating Earth Day? In this clip from the Nourish Video Encyclopedia, author Michael Pollan describes how the simple act of eating offers us an intimate connection with the soil. From supporting local and organic farms to gardening and composting, we can nourish the Earth through our everyday food choices and practices.

Michael Pollan is the author of In Defense of Food, Food Rules, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and other best-selling books. Pollan currently serves as the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.
Stay tuned for more selections from the Nourish Video Encyclopedia, a collection of short films that explore the story of our food.
Nourish is a national educational initiative designed to open a meaningful conversation about food and sustainability, particularly in schools and communities. Explore the Nourish website at www.nourishlife.org. Follow Nourish on Twitter and Facebook.
Be part of the food revolution. Nourish yourself. Nourish the world.
Nourish is a program of WorldLink, a non-profit organization dedicated to education for sustainability. Heifer International is a sponsor of the Nourish initiative.

Investing in Success: Heifer Salutes the Women It Empowers

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Meet Mandira Bote of Sarlahi, Nepal. She and others in her community near the Bagmati River belong to a marginalized, nearly extinct caste of landless fishermen. Before Heifer came into the community in late 2006, the women there suffered greatly. This photo of her was taken at the beginning of the project by Heifer’s partner, the Bagmati Welfare Society of Nepal. Make a note of what’s missing or hiding: No goats, no smile, and just the tiniest hint of the confidence, determination and lifelong dream of learning that had yet to be realized.

The women in the Heifer group talked about how before they started the values training and joined the self-help group, their husbands drank away their earnings, forcing them to work crushing stones in a quarry to provide food for their families. Their huts were very small and leaked when it rained. They had tried to raise animals, but didn’t know how, and their hard-earned money was lost when the animals died without the proper care.
Now I’d like you to meet the Mandira Bote of February 2011, several years into a Heifer goat project. She stands boldly in front of a community meeting, with visitors from Heifer headquarters in attendance, and beams with pride when it is announced she is the very first woman of her village to finish high school.
“Now with the goat project, I finally have the resources to educate my children and myself,” Bote said. “I’m very proud and happy to be the first here to finish high school. Now I want to go to college; I have always wanted to. I would like to be a teacher.”
After the meeting, she leads us to the construction site of her new brick home, being built directly in front of her old hut. She cradles a goat, but explains that it isn’t just the animals and income from them that transformed her. It was also the values training that helped her and her fellow members see that they were strong enough and smart enough to achieve their dreams.
She holds the hand of her son, Sanam Bote, age 7, and talks excitedly about her plans for her own future as well as her children’s. Daughter Basha, now just over 1 year old, will have every opportunity, she promises.
“I am more determined to send her to college than my son,” she said. “Daughters are always looked down upon, seen as lesser than sons. I want to give my daughter the same chance as the boys.”

Photos by Geoff Oliver Bugbee

Our Thoughts About International Women’s Day

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“Women and girls are not the problem,” Kristof said. “They are the solution.”

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof tells a story about an African girl who, because of donations through Heifer International, was the first of her village to study abroad and graduate from the Connecticut College. (Photo by Max Reed, Alligator Staff)
Nicholas Kristof, a renowned columnist for the New York Times and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, recently spoke to a group of people at the event, “Women: Holding Up Half the Sky,” hosted by the Bob Graham Center for Public Service in Florida.
Throughout his presentation, Kristof spoke about the fact that women still face oppression in the 21st century with gender discrimination and violence. The best way to fight poverty and extremism is to educate and empower women and girls, Kristof explained.
International Women’s Day 2011 is March 8 and will be celebrated with scheduled events globally. Heifer has projects specifically focused on women in a number of countries, including India, Nepal and Laos.
Photos by Geoff Oliver Bugbee
CEO Pierre Ferrari and Heifer staff recently traveled to Nepal where they saw first hand how families, communities and villages can dramatically change when women are given opportunities to make decisions, run businesses and take charge of their circumstances.
Villages like Khayarmara in Nepal are seeing dramatic change. Life was once much harder for women who spent four hours or more to get water. Now they have water pipes and organic vegetable gardens.
Pierre and the team also visited a 3-year-old buffalo and goat project in Pooja Swavalambhi where women are determined to bring their community out of poverty.
Video by Geoff Oliver Bugbee
“When we were gathered with the whole community, the women of the Pooja women’s group started talking and describing their experience of the change in their lives, which is pretty radical,” Ferrari said. “It suddenly all came together and was a very powerful experience.”
In December 2010, Madeleine Albright, first women Secretary of State for the United States, spoke at a TEDWomen’s conference where she said, “Women’s issues are the hardest issues.” She went on to speak about how it’s important for women to have a voice in political affairs and to become business leaders in their communities, making it much more likely they’ll be treated as equals.
“I believe that societies are better off when women are politically and economically empowered, that values are passed down, the health situation is better, education is better, there is a greater economic prosperity.”
This spring, in celebration of Women’s History Month, our 2011 Pass on the Gift campaign is going WiLD (Women in Lifestock Development). You can help Heifer transform the lives of struggling women around the world. Read more here: www.heifer.org/pog.

To celebrate a Women’s International Day in your area, please visit http://www.internationalwomensday.com. To learn more about how Heifer is working with women please visit www.heifer.org.

Triumphing In Spite of AIDS

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Christine Aanyu remains relatively healthy despite being HIV positive. Oxen from Heifer help her cultivate nutritious food to eat and sell.


Today is World AIDS Day, and one of the countries hit hardest by the ravaging effects of this disease is Uganda. Last year Austin Bailey visited a village where nearly every family is effected by the disease, and she captured their stories for World Ark magazine. What better way to observe World AIDS Day than to read an inspiring story of how these families are overcoming hunger and poverty in spite of the disease’s aftermath.

Uganda was among the first sub-Saharan countries to fall victim to the AIDS epidemic. The country’s first case was diagnosed in 1982, and by 1992 the prevalence rate climbed to 18 percent. That number is down to roughly 5.4 percent among adults in Uganda now. It’s progress, but it still seems high compared with the United States’ 0.6 percent rate of adult HIV/AIDS infections.

In Abokakwap, a village hit especially hard by the AIDS epidemic, people are hopeful. Because the Ugandan government and nonprofit groups subsidize anti-retroviral treatments, and because infection rates are dropping, the sickness is not the menace it once was. Still, the villagers of Abokakwap deal with HIV and AIDS daily. When the epidemic was new, people were afraid to admit they were infected or even seek treatment because of the stigma that was attached. Today, that stigma is largely gone, especially in places like Abokakwap where just about every family is affected. Most households include at least one orphan taken in when the parents died of AIDS.

Christine Aanyu, 37, is both lucky and unlucky when it comes to AIDS. She’s unlucky because both she and her husband are HIV positive. She’s lucky because she remains in good health for the most part, despite some joint pain and aches in her chest. She’s also lucky that none of her eight children, ages 20 months to 17 years, have tested positive for HIV. Last year Aanyu’s family received oxen as part of a heifer project. They use them to cultivate cabbages, cowpeas and peanuts so they can eat healthfully and make some extra money at the markets.

Aanyu isn’t shy about revealing her status, and she’s hopeful enough to make plans for herself and her family for years down the road. Like many of the women of Abokakwap village, Aanyu carves out four hours a week for a literacy class. She enrolled because she couldn’t understand her children’s schoolbooks, and she wanted to one day be able to read the Bible for herself.

Aanyu is a strong student, as are most of her classmates, teacher Harriet Adong reported. “They are good learners, and they are so much united. When they are digging, they are working in one garden. They are always together,” she said.

The students help each other as much as they can, but sometimes it’s not enough. Aanyu asked to send a message to people in the United States in hopes of helping them understand a bit more about what her life is like.

“Please tell them that people in Africa try their best, but we don’t have every resource we need,” she said through a translator. “If you can help, then I would appreciate it very much.”

Austin Bailey is a senior editor for Heifer International’s World Ark magazine. This post is an excerpt of “After The Animals” from the Holiday 2009 issue.

Click here to learn how you can help Heifer fund a project in Uganda.

Ugandan women participate in a literacy class. One of their exercises is learning to spell the names of the crops they grow in their gardens.

The Importance of Livestock

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In the wake of last week’s World Food Prize Symposium, new attention is being given to livestock’s place in development. Just this morning, Christie Peacock, CEO of Farm-Africa, wrote a post for the Poverty Matters blog entitled “It’s time to recognise the important role livestock play in tackle poverty.”

Livestock finally made it on to the agenda of the World Food Prize meeting in Des Moines, Iowa, last week. Livestock and the people who keep them are usually neglected by aid experts all over the world, including the eminent agronomists who dominate this event. …

The contribution of livestock to the wider rural economy remains under-appreciated by all players in development, except farmers. This leads to the current absurd under-investment in the livestock sector as a whole. Barely 0.4% of the aid budget is spent on developing the livestock sector and yet, for example, in India the dairy sector alone is the most valuable part of the whole agricultural sector, creating more value than all rice production.

Heifer International was an integral part of this discussion last week, as Heifer President Jo Luck was co-recipient of the World Food Prize. Heifer has practiced its own unique livestock-based approach to poverty alleviation and development for more than 65 years. Learn more about Heifer’s successes around the world.

It’s World Egg Day!

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The second Friday of October is World Egg Day, and that’s today. To celebrate, we thought we’d regale you with some incredible facts about eggs, like the fact that China produces 160 billion eggs each year. And egg yolks are one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D. Read more at World Ark online or click on the image below for a printable version.
eggs