Tag Archives: cooperatives

Hope and Heart in the Ukraine

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Editor’s note: The following post is by Heifer International Executive Vice President of Marketing and Resource Development, Cindy Jones-Nyland.

I recently had the wonderful opportunity to visit Heifer International’s country office in Ukraine. It was an intense trip but I left feeling inspired and intrigued by the work our team at Community Wellbeing/Heifer Ukraine are building in their country.

Cindy Jones-Nyland in Ukraine

Standing in a Ukrainian strawberry field. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

The change they are creating in Ukraine isn’t just poverty alleviation; it is long-term, sustainable change. It is a true example of our efforts to scale up our impact and increase our ability to touch families in exponential ways. Before the visit it was difficult to understand the context of Heifer’s work with smallholder farmers in Ukraine. As a U.S. citizen who lived through the last phase and ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union, I did not appreciate the profound ways that the 70 years of Soviet rule destroyed trust, initiative and even basic farming skills for which the region was once renowned.

Global partners and local governments believe in our model of work within Ukraine. They believe in the values-based development framework that shapes all of our work. It is what makes true change possible; the social fabric of the communities evolves. As a result, the pride and commitment of the farmers is infectious. These are spirits that believe in change. They know it is possible.

We witnessed farmer cooperatives growing strawberries as red as Crayons. They are working collectively to cultivate 10 hectares of land, but have another 40 hectares identified to grow in the first phase of the Danone/Heifer-Ukraine Ecofruit project. These strawberries connect many families and co-op members, who take great pride in ensuring the crops are properly cultivated and cared for. For them, the strawberries represent jobs, nutritious food, education, futures and access to services they wouldn’t have otherwise.

Milk plant in Ukraine.

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

We also visited a milk processing plant in the Bukovyna region, where the members have already developed a marketing plan led by two women, named Halyna Kushnir and Iryna Pavliuk, and the plant manager, Viktor Ivashko. They have dreams and aspirations of making it the largest milk plant in the region. Twelve tons of milk per day – this is the plant’s capacity. It is a new model of dairy cooperation, which aims to ensure sustainable price and continuity. The raw milk producers, many of them women, are the owners of the enterprise. The milk and future dairy products will be supplied to over 50 schools, and more than 9,000 children will receive higher quality dairy in preschools, orphanages and local communities. This provides additional jobs for the community, medicine and access for children and change for a community that was once without hope. And the commitment and belief they have to this dream is filled with passion and heart. Many of the families involved started with one or two animals. The hope is to someday grow that number to 5-10.

We also visited the official opening of the Cooperative Learning and Service Farm project that will unite 1,100 members, the largest co-op union in the Ukraine. Together with local governments, Danone, SOCODEVI, CIDA, Community Wellbeing/Heifer Ukraine lives are being transformed in ways never thought possible. The learning center will enable local small shareholder farmers’ access to modern milk production and animal breeding methods. Local families will have increased income, improved services, social changes in local governance and increased nutrition. Collectively the project will revive the small shareholder farm development in this region.

Tea cooperative in Ukraine.

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Finally, we also visited an herbal tea cooperative in the Carpathian region. The marketer in me left feeling inspired. The small shareholder farmers in this region have united to develop a marketing plan for their products – the Carpathian brand. It is certified by private standards as “natural,” and they have developed a brand strategy and plan for distribution. This group of small shareholder farmers who make apple juice, honey, cheese, milk products, tea, etc. are so proud of the products they have created, they want to collectively brand them and sell them around the world. They have built community trust, improved nutrition, improved income and assets for local families, and now they are interested in building it for the longer term. And it started with placements of animals and training. It gave them hope and a dream.

All of these projects are enabling innovation and change. These methods are then shared amongst communities, and small shareholder farmers are uniting to make change. Heifer International is providing livestock and training as part of these efforts, and it is working.

These projects also represent the spirit and resiliency of this country. The priorities are changing. Communities are uniting. They are not only feeding their families, but also supplying local schools, orphanages and preschools. This changes the landscape of a country. The fabric of Ukraine is rich with soil and agricultural potential. Heifer International, along with many other global and local partners, is creating change in these communities; enabling the Passing on the Gift of potatoes, or seedlings, or knowledge, or skills, or livestock. It is an exciting time.

I have had the good fortune of spending time now with our teams in Peru and Ukraine. I feel blessed to witness the amazing work and transformational change that is occurring around the globe to end hunger and poverty.

A New Cooperative Helps Qinghua’s Family Prosper

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It started becoming chilly when we made our latest visit to Wang Qinghua’s house. Wearing red a shirt, dark blue pants and cloth shoes, she was busy serving guests at her small restaurant.

She is standing in front of her restaurant.

Qinghua stands in front of her restaurant.

The life of her family is changing with the help of Heifer International.

Her calves, which were born in April to three cows, are well cared for, and her restaurant is also running well. By Sept. 15, her restaurant had earned 30,000 yuan (about  US $4,800), half of which has been spent on daily expenses and her son’s tuition, and the other half will be spent on investments and her son’s college savings. Since Qinghua’s family income has increased, their nutrient intake has also been improved: they can now have some meat once or twice a week instead of only once a week as they did before. Because they have a garden, they also have enough fruits and vegetables.

When the training of cow raising and bean planting is done, Ms. Wang’s family registered a marketing course and learned how to find market information. Now with the help of the computer they bought, they can learn the value of their farm products in order to bargain, and even look for buyers directly.

Her cattle

Qinghua's family's cattle.

In terms of community work, the workshop Qinghua has joined always holds discussions and communications on bean plantation skills and sale information. In order to sell more vegetables, she and others founded Deli Vegetables Plantation Cooperative, which has solved the problem of finding buyers by centralizing their purchasing and selling. With the dogged efforts of this group, a 220 square meter office building and a 600 square meter facility for their cooperative have both been constructed. In addition, the harvest of beans has brought 2 million yuan (about US $321,000).

“By joining the Heifer program, my family and I had the opportunity to go out. We have seen more and we have learned more. We are passionate to do something,” Qinghua says.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Our colleagues in the field have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. You can read past posts about Wang Qinghua and her family here.

A Visit to Turpan Brings New Understanding

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Earlier this year, Tuerdi paid a visit to Turpan. It was not his first time to visit this city in China’s Xinjiang region, but this was his first time to visit as the farmer representative of Heifer China’s Shache project.

Tuerdi's notes during his visit in Turpan

Heifer began working in Turpan early in 1989, and many local project farmers walked out of poverty by taking part in Heifer’s programs. Some of them even became animal rearing experts, and some community self-help groups developed into cooperatives. During his four-day visit, Tuerdi made detailed notes about the advanced livestock rearing technology and concepts he saw.

“What I learned here is very valuable to share with other farmers in my village,” Tuerdi says. “I will participate in Heifer projects with more initiatives and at the same time encourage more families to join Heifer.”

Heifer China's country director Chen Taiyong with Tuerdi

Heifer China’s country director, Chen Taiyong, also joined in the visit. When he heard Tuerdi’s son, Hasanjan, won “Three Good Student,” he donated RMB 200 Yuan (about US $32) to Tuerdi for buying books and stationery for Hasanjan.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. You can read previous posts about Tuerdi and his family here.

CSA Model Helps Feed the World

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Editor’s note: Today is World Food Day. This year’s theme is “Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world.” The following post is from Ryan Neal, who runs the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) garden at Heifer’s Learning Center at Heifer Ranch.

CSA volunteers on harvest day

Heifer Ranch CSA helpers with a bountiful harvest. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

There are probably as many types of agricultural cooperatives as varieties of tomatoes.  Whether consumer- or producer-run, cooperatives are a major player in feeding the globe.  Locally run examples include your local agriculture co-op where farmers purchase supplies, or even farmers markets where those same farmers get together to sell their products. Cooperatives have proven to be successful models in development when small farmers can get together in order to fill large orders needed by grocery stores.

Our model here at Heifer Ranch is commonly referred to as Community Supported Agriculture or CSA. The basic premise of this type of cooperative is participants, or “shareholders,” buy a share of our garden for the spring and summer growing seasons.  They do this in advance of the harvest in order to cover some of our upfront costs such as seeds, organic fertilizer, etc. In exchange we deliver to these shareholders a variety (typically seven to nine types) of vegetables each week, which changes as the weather warms. This type of cooperation allows the consumers a real connection to a farm and gives the farmer a chance to focus on production rather than marketing during the busy season.

Harvesting day on a CSA is a group effort.

Harvesting day at the Heifer Ranch CSA is a group effort. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Feeding the world’s expected 9 billion people in 2050 will take more than a one-size-fits-all approach, and local cooperatives such as the one supported at Heifer Ranch might prove critical in supplying the sufficient quality and quantity of food we have come to expect. CSAs are present in many communities around the United States as well as the world. In fact, this model originated in Europe and Japan more than 50 years ago. CSAs can be found that support multiple farmers as well as multiple types of farmers.  A recent winter CSA started in the Little Rock, Arkansas, area, for example, includes meat, vegetables and eggs from three different farms.

CSA helpers at Heifer Ranch

Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Check out localharvest.org/csa/ for examples in your area.

Are you a CSA member? Tell us about your CSA in the comments section below.

Read more of Heifer’s coverage of World Food Day 2012 here.

Leading the Poverty Fight in Nepal

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Heifer's President and CEO Pierre Ferrari meets with Jag Kuwen Magar (left) and Khir Bahadar Magar in Shaktikhor, Nepal, a few weeks ago.

Heifer International’s President and CEO Pierre Ferrari visited Nepal in late August with Mahendra Lohani, Heifer’s vice president of Asia and South Pacific programs. Reporters Bijay Ghimire and Pushparaj Acharya interviewed Ferrari for the Nepalese Karobar National Economic Daily during that visit. Below is an excerpt from the interview. To visit the online Nepalese news site for the article, click here.

Q:             Heifer Nepal has been working in Nepal for the past 15 years. How would you rate the situation in Nepal?

A:             Lots of significant work has been done in Nepal to alleviate poverty. The transformation that I have witnessed in the community is amazing. Poor farmers’ livelihoods have improved. Agricultural and livestock-keeping techniques have improved. We have taught farmers about value chains. We encourage smallholder farmers to connect to markets and become entrepreneurs. The conditions here are favorable enough for people involved primarily in agriculture to not have to be poor. Changes are not only material, they are also social. There’s material growth and there’s social growth.

Q:             What is social growth?

A:             We work with communities to increase their income, to improve their food security and nutrition and provide trainings to help them adopt environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural practices. We teach them about the value chain. After one group achieves its goals of improved income and better livelihoods, they teach other groups in the same way, hence fulfilling their social responsibility. The families also receive micro-finance support for bio-gas and toilets, anything they need to help them overcome poverty. Inputs and support that Heifer provides for one group is passed on to the next group. The first group undertakes the responsibility of making this second group equally capable. This ensures continuation of the work even after Heifer completes a project.

Q:             Is it easy to work this way?

A:             The target community, after they benefit from the inputs, form cooperatives. One group has to support the other to ensure income, food security and empowerment. We end a project only after incorporating all these groups into a cooperative. This way, a group of 25 will become a group of 400. Heifer has incorporated almost 71,000 families in this model. This allows them to continue seeking and receiving government and non-government support even after the project has ended. They are able to mobilize their resources better. This way the project never ends, it is continued by the participants themselves. Cooperatives are the best tool to work with resource-poor families.

Q:             How many districts do you work in now?

A:             We work in 38 districts. We have just started a new project focusing on goat farming and dairy. We have realized that if you just make the poor capable enough to earn two meals and day and have a roof over their heads, even the smallest fluctuation will take them back to absolute poverty. We cannot leave them so vulnerable. We have currently been working on creating market reach for farmers. Our main support is targeted toward bringing them above the poverty line.

Q:             In many cases income increases, but poverty still remains. What can we do to improve living standards?

A:             We are focusing on market access and enterprise. We want to assure that this process does not stop after the project. That is why the cooperatives are important. First we bring hope into people’s lives through social and economic support. After this, they will be able to move ahead and access markets with financial incentives. Enterprise will assure regular income, and they will be able to increase their income as the market grows.

Q:             Isn’t it strange for an American NGO to be working through cooperatives and microfinance to improve livelihoods?

A:             We have been doing this for the past 70 years. After the Second World War we distributed cattle to various parts of the world from America and Ireland. This started in 1944. We started in India in 1942 and in Nepal we provided Jersey cows in 1947. We have also provided chicken and chicks. The Tribhuvan highway was just being constructed and was not net open to the public at the time. USAID received special permission from the Royal Palace to use the road to transport the animals. They were delivered to Delhi in a ship and brought from there to Kathmandu in trucks. It was expensive, but we did this work of transporting improved animal breeds all over the world.

Q:             You talked about women’s empowerment. What about the men?

A:             We also train men, but some move to Saudi Arabia and other countries for work. Women live in the village throughout their lives. But our projects are not just for the women. When women are successful, the benefits and income flow throughout the family. Empowering women does not necessarily mean the man’s influence is reduced. Empowering women means empowering the family. This model’s success is proven.

Q:             How did you continue to work even during the [Nepalese rebel] conflict when most international agencies, especially American agencies, were not allowed to work?

A:             Our greatest strength is the families we work with. They represented us and supported us if there were problems in implementation during the conflict. They told the rebels, you are rebelling for better livelihoods for us, so is Heifer, so why do you want to stop the good work? International nongovernmental agencies are often accused of not being transparent. But we were transparent throughout. What amount is allocated to livestock, what amount is allocated to trainings, what amount is allocated to social mobilization, everything is open and clear.

Q:             Why do you think Nepal is poor?

A:             There are limited resources and tools in the country. But I don’t think Nepal is poor. It has a lot of potential to develop in the hydro-power and agricultural sectors.

Q:            What kind of programs will be implemented in Nepal in the future?

A:             Our current project aims to involve smallholders in the goat value chain. It also has a small dairy component. Along with this, we will also focus on strengthening the cooperatives.

Cooperatives and Their Contribution to Development in Peru

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In Peru, 85 percent of farmers and ranchers produce at the family level, with net incomes that are insufficient to raise them above the poverty line. Three million Peruvians depend on coffee, the largest agricultural export in the world, which generates wages for direct labor and services in the production chain. Four hundred and five thousand hectares of coffee is cultivated by 165,000 families (the plantations are spread across 340 rural districts that are situated in poverty or extreme poverty), of which only 28 percent are organized into cooperatives, associations, committees or community enterprises according to the National Coffee Board [1].

The organizations that are the most entrepreneurially dynamic and have developed programs to address the economic crisis are the centrally integrated coffee cooperatives, some of which have operated for three decades in the production and export of high quality coffee. More and more, coffee-growing families are joining coffee cooperatives and associations, not just because of commercial interests (greater profits, increased access to competitive markets) but because of learning opportunities (not just based on production) and social inclusion, especially for those in previously excluded groups, like women and youth.

The history of cooperatives in our country, especially during good years for coffee prices, has motivated producers to revive and strengthen cooperatives. This motivation is supported by the high quality of coffee in Peru, especially that of organically produced coffee, which in recent years has achieved record production and export value.

Since 2010, Heifer Peru has worked with coffee cooperatives to promote the diversification of their production and to strengthen their organizations; in one project executed in northern Peru (Cajamarca and Lambayeque), 1,057 coffee-growing families participated. Taking into account their needs and abilities, training and assistance was provided to improve their food security, diversify their production system, strengthen the capacities of women and men, improve living conditions and expand opportunities for development.

Coffee cooperatives have improved their management and in many cases have achieved direct commercialization, which generates more income for families and gives them a sense of well-being that allows them to focus on other dimensions of their development; for example, revenue can be channeled to education for children.

Cooperatives as a form of association contribute to social inclusion and poverty reduction, in particular for developing countries (UN, Rio+20, June 2012), and allow the exchange of information between partners and peer organizations, the development of commercial initiatives, capacity building, the promotion of food security while creating opportunities for family farmers and energizing local development. Cooperatives are an opportunity for development, not only for families but the community in general. It is important to demand policies that recognize the importance of cooperatives and support their efforts in terms of access to credit, land ownership, organizational strengthening and actual inclusion in the country’s development.

Read more about how Heifer International uses cooperatives in our work around the world.

[1] Founded in 1993, the National Organization of Coffee Growers brings together 236 coffee-growing organizations that represent 40,000 small farmer families organized into cooperatives, associations, committees of producers, community businesses, etc.

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Las cooperativas y su aporte al desarrollo

En el Perú, el 85% de los agricultores y ganaderos son productores familiares, con ingresos netos insuficientes para salir del umbral de la pobreza. Tres millones de peruanos dependen del café- principal producto agrícola de exportación que genera jornales por trabajo directo y por servicios en la cadena productiva. 405 mil hectáreas de esta producción son cultivadas por 165 mil familias (las plantaciones se extienden a lo largo de 340 distritos rurales que se encuentran en situación de pobreza y pobreza y extrema), de éstas apenas el 28% están organizadas en cooperativas, asociaciones, comités y empresas comunales como señala la Junta Nacional del Café (1).

Las organizaciones con mayor dinámica empresarial, y que han desarrollado programas para enfrentar la crisis económica, corresponden a las cooperativas cafetaleras integradas a centrales, algunas de ellas operan hace tres décadas, involucradas en la producción y exportación de café de alta calidad. Cada vez son más las familias cafetaleras que se vinculan a estas asociaciones o cooperativas cafetaleras y no solo con un afán comercial (pues pueden conseguir mayor rentabilidad y el acceso a mercados competitivos) sino por las oportunidades que generan en torno a la mejora de los conocimientos (no solo productivos) y la inclusión social, pues reparan en grupos que anteriormente han sido excluidos, las mujeres y los jóvenes.

La historia cooperativista en nuestro país, sobre todo aquella referida a los beneficios obtenidos en las épocas de buenos precios del café, ha motivado a los y las productoras a la reactivación de sus cooperativas y en muchos casos a su fortalecimiento buscando una gestión efectiva. Esta motivación es respaldada por la oferta importante de café de calidad en el Peru, sobre todo la derivada de producción ecológica, que ha logrado en los últimos años récord de producción y valor de exportaciones.

Desde el 2010, Heifer Perú trabaja con cooperativas cafetaleras promoviendo la diversificación de su producción y el fortalecimiento de sus organizaciones; en el proyecto, que se ejecuta en el norte del Peru, específicamente en Cajamarca y Lambayeque, participan 1057 familias cafetaleras. Tomando en cuenta sus necesidades y potencialidades se brinda capacitación y asistencia para mejorar su seguridad alimentaria, diversificar su sistema de producción, fortalecer las capacidades de varones y sobre todo mujeres, mejorar sus condiciones de habitabilidad y ampliar sus oportunidades de desarrollo.

Las cooperativas cafetaleras han mejorado su gestión y en muchos casos han logrado una comercialización directa, generando mayores ingresos para las familias productoras que les significa un sentido de bienestar que les permite pensar en otras dimensiones de su desarrollo; los ingresos por ejemplo, han sido destinados a la educación de sus hijos que a su vez se constituye en un paso adelante para que la cooperativa se asegure o renueve cuadros administrativos y dirigenciales.

Las cooperativas como forma de asociatividad contribuyen a la inclusión social y reducción de la pobreza en particular en los países en desarrollo (NNUU, Rio+20, junio 2012), permiten el intercambio de información entre los asociados y entre organizaciones pares, el desarrollo de iniciativas comerciales y el fortalecimiento de las capacidades, fomentan la seguridad alimentaria, crean oportunidades para los productores familiares y dinamizan el desarrollo local. Son una oportunidad de desarrollo no solo para las familias que la conforman sino para la comunidad en general, por lo que se demandan políticas que reconozcan su importancia pero sobretodo que apoyen sus esfuerzos en términos de acceso al crédito, la propiedad de sus tierras, el fortalecimiento de sus organizaciones y su inclusión real en el desarrollo del país.

[1] Desde 1993 es la Organización Nacional de Cafetaleros que agrupa a 236 organizaciones empresariales cafetaleras que representan a 40,000 familias de pequeños productores organizados en cooperativas, asociaciones, comités de productores, empresas comunales, etc.

Heifer Cooperatives in Nepal Bring Lasting Changes

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Nepal celebrates the United Nations International Day of Cooperatives with the rest of the developing world. In Heifer communities throughout Nepal a new wave of cooperatives is promising lasting impacts in battling hunger and poverty and caring for the Earth.

Why cooperatives?

Cooperatives have been marked as one of the pillars for Nepal’s economic transformation after it was declared a people’s republic; the other two being the state and the private sector. Recent development discourse has also shown keen interest in promotion of community based cooperatives focused on production and market establishment.

How are Heifer Cooperatives different?

Successful cooperatives depict strong cohesion, mutual prosperity and a strong ability to capture social capital. The values-based foundation that Heifer lays through intensive social mobilization has resulted in strong social capital induced sustainability. Under the flagship of Social Entrepreneurial Women’s Cooperative Limited, Heifer’s cooperatives aim to be value positive, power negative and politically neutral with strong emphasis in capacity building for production and marketing as per market signals and value addition while building institutional capacity and ensuring effective and efficient management. The services provided by the cooperatives will benefit farmers who don’t have easy access to formal financial services and lead investment in income generation activities and micro enterprises. The cooperatives will also be in a better positioned to advocate for effective services from the government to small farmers, benefitting more farmers in the longer run. Managed and led by women, the cooperative will create opportunities for other women like them.

How are we doing this?

Fifty-five such cooperatives have been formed throughout Nepal incorporating Heifer families and other farmers in the community who are exploring different agricultural enterprising avenues. One such cooperative is the Laganshil Social Entrepreneurial Women’s Cooperative in Shaktikhor. With close to 300 members in and around the area, the cooperative specializes in goat farming. Goats are the most preferred meat in Nepal with the country importing a major chunk of its consumption from India. Smallholder farmers, although capable of ramping-up production to meet growing market demands, are limited from commercial markets and necessary capital. Laganshil cooperative has ventured to strategically increase production from individual farmers and sell to consumers directly and indirectly acting as a marketing entity, hence bridging the gap between producers and consumers and ensuring the producers a decent share of the profit.

What are the ripple effects?

Now Laganshil cooperative is incorporating smallholder farmers from surrounding villages like Siddhi, which is cut-off from any market, to ensure they have a channel to sell their produce. The cooperative will partner with private and public banks to assure the flow of capital, will have a stake in channeling the various factors of production, in their case, feed and fodder for the goats and will liaison with government and non-government development partners. “We are doing what each goat farmer in every household spent a decent amount of time engaging in. It benefits all when these things (market access and access to factors of production) are managed by one entity. Our aim is to make Laganshil cooperative the go-to place for meat goats in the region,” said Chammi Magar, the President of the cooperative.

How will this be sustainable?

When farmers get a fair share in market profits, it not only ensures food security but also encourages small enterprises that are paramount to a healthy economy. With its strong values-base foundations, these cooperatives will put social values into commercial enterprises making it both socially responsible economically viable. Cooperatives in Chitwan and Nawalparasi have already been united into district unions who are influencing district level policies and coordination that favor smallholder farmers. These district unions are already voicing the needs of small holder farmers and shaping the landscape so that they are not left behind when the country moves forward economically. This is crucial to battling poverty in Nepal where 80 percent of the population are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture in the country. “I hope someday we will have good profits from goat farming so my children don’t have to leave the country to get jobs,” said Ganga Magar. Her hopes are similar to the hope of thousands in Nepal.

Cooperatives in Nepal

Cooperative members hold a meeting in the shade to escape the grueling summer heat. Photo courtesy of Heifer Nepal.

Nepal Cooperatives

The village of Shakitkhor sits at the heart of a radical cooperative movement. Photo courtesy of Heifer Nepal.

Read more about how Heifer International uses cooperatives in our work around the world.

East African Value-Added Cooperatives Rock

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Today, July 7 is United Nations International Day of Cooperatives. Join us as we highlight how Heifer International uses cooperatives in our work around the world.

Cooperatives rock! Wait a minute, as a Kenyan who grew up in Kenya, I hesitate… a bit. Given, it was a sad state of affairs for cooperatives in Kenya and larger East Africa, as we grew up. In the late 90’s the dairy cooperative industry in Kenya, for example collapsed, taking with it millions of farmer’s shillings and crushing their dreams, their family’s futures, their life worth investments. Farmers were left at the mercies of middle-men; known best for their knack of taking the products and not paying, or inconsistencies in collection of the products. It has taken a long time for farmers in the dairy sector to regain their confidence in cooperatives.

But…

Kenya EADD

Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International.

Today is a new dawn. As we celebrate UN Day of Cooperatives, we also celebrate a new revolution in dairy cooperative development that is taking shape in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. This is a revolution championed by Heifer International through its East Africa Dairy Development Project (EADD) and embraced by farmers in selected districts of the three countries. The project funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the inspiring initiatives turning around the lives of over 176 000 farmers who are spread out in 68 innovative, value-added cooperatives partnering with EADD in the three countries. Farmers like Eliud Wanderi, 35, who today milks over 100 litres of milk from five Friesian dairy cows and makes a $900 every month. Five years ago, Eliud had one cow that produced 5 litres of milk at its best. On average, today, he supplies 110 litres of milk daily to the Mweiga Cooperative Society and neighbouring schools. Eliud is just one of the 2,275 members of Mweiga Cooperative Society in Kieni West, Nyeri County, Central province of Kenya who are making millions of shillings by pooling their efforts.

Agnes Mulindwa, a mother of five from Uganda, testifies to the improvement of her life since joining a cooperative that partners with EADD. “I recently built a new three-bedroom house, and my income has grown.” Stories like these can be heard throughout most of the project areas. Both Agnes and Eliud echo the feelings of their fellow farmers that the EADD hub model, which empowers and adds value to cooperatives, has enabled them access to extension services, markets and knowledge in animal husbandry. Such services had remained inaccessible to many small holder farmers previously.

This is how the revolution begins; cooperatives like Mweiga in Kenya are given a new lease on life, or Bubusi in Uganda are strengthened by partnering with EADD. EADD facilitates them to develop milk collection centers -some with chilling facilities- that hold milk for pickup by commercial dairy processors and traders. These cooperative businesses have created market opportunities by negotiating for better contracts with formal sector processors and traders. As a result, they have earned more than $58 million in milk sales over a three-year period. Linked to 15 affiliated savings and credit cooperatives, the farmers had made dairy related investments worth more than $5 million from 2008 to 2011. In addition, the cooperatives provide comprehensive input and advisory services to farmers, including financial services, feed and fodder, extension services, health insurance for members and animal health services.

The farmers have proven that with concerted efforts, cooperatives are indeed a crucial means for poverty alleviation in Africa and other developing countries. They are milking for profits, building wealth and fostering robust health for their families as they take care of their environment. As a result of interventions, formerly quiet villages are now abuzz with economic activities as early as 2:00 a.m., as farmers awake to their milk production businesses. Women like Agnes are able to sell their milk at all times, thus provide food, school fees and clothing for their families. Young men like Eliud have found alternative source of employment through their dairy businesses, carving out a brighter future for their children; and no longer idle in towns. In fact, EADD, the success of the cooperative and the opportunities created have inspired the EADD project to roll out a strategy to further engage youth in the East Africa dairy value chain, be it in feed production, transport or value addition of milk. The beauty of it is that the value-added cooperatives create a chain reaction of economic activities in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Increasingly, farmers within these cooperatives are accessing credit from banks to improve their farms or invest in other ventures, unlike before when commercial banks were very reluctant to lend to farmers, as they were perceived to engage in farming as a way of life and not as a business.

We would then confidently say, even in an East African setting, that value-added cooperatives truly rock!

Cooperatives in Ukraine: A Step Toward Sustainability

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Today, July 7, is United Nations International Day of Cooperatives. From United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: 

The global financial and economic crisis has also demonstrated the resilience of alternative financial institutions such as cooperative [...] I encourage all stakeholders to continue building awareness and pursuing policies to strengthen cooperatives everywhere. By contributing to human dignity and global solidarity, cooperatives truly do build a better world.

Heifer International uses cooperatives in our projects around the world. Today we will highlight our work with cooperatives with blog posts from field staff. This first post is by Anna Karnaukh, communications and PR coordinator for our Heifer International Ukraine office.

Cooperative milk collection

Men load a truck with milk at a collection point in Zavii. Photo courtesy of Heifer International Ukraine.

During the period from 2009 to 2012, the number of agricultural service cooperatives in Ukraine grew from 500 to 774. Heifer International Ukraine currently works with more than 60 of the most promising and active co-ops in the country. Heifer Ukraine’s significant contribution to the development of cooperation in Ukraine led the critical mass of active cooperatives to be noticed by the government officials. The state started to move its focus from large-scale production enterprises to small-scale producers. The government started designing a state target program for the development of cooperatives.

By providing capacity building and financial support to cooperatives, Heifer has managed to transform several into the first cooperative union in Ukraine, which is already launching the country’s first cooperative milk processing plant.

“I’m pleased to say that Chernivtsi oblast became a leader of agricultural service cooperation development,” said Mykhaylo Haynychery, Head of Chernivtsi oblast state administration. “Collaboration between local government and Heifer Ukraine gave an opportunity to involve most of the produced goods into active economic turnover and continue this chain with launching a cooperative milk processing enterprise. I would like to express my gratitude to Heifer Ukraine and Heifer International for the support provided for the approval of this one-of-a-kind project in our region, and hopefully not the last one.”

Pass on the Gift in Ukraine

Passing on the Gift ceremony. Photo courtesy of Heifer International Ukraine.

With the help of cooperatives, families from different parts of Ukraine scale up their household production and develop into family-type farms with 8-10 cows, which helps co-ops increase volume of produced milk and brings them closer to sustainability and economic independence, as well as helps maintain good milk quality.

“We understood that cooperatives have great potential, and people should not be afraid to join them. This is in no way a return to soviet model of life, but the right way to unite efforts in order to help each other. In a while, people will realize the advantages of cooperatives, and we will establish our co-op in my home village of Verhnie. We are extremely grateful that Heifer came into our lives and gave us resources and faith for a better future,” said Mykola and Kateryna Horbei, members of Vulkan co-op in Turka village, Lviv Oblast.

A Just Life for Honduran Coffee Farmers

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Heifer International Senior Grant Writer Catherine Scott recently spent time in Honduras visiting some of our projects. Below, Catherine shares with us a little about her visit.


“I wanted to come back to work with people in my own community” – Jonan Daniel, agricultural advisor.
Jonan Daniel.
Jonan Daniel is a young, enthusiastic, and highly trained agricultural advisor whose role is to visit 60 RAOS Coffee Cooperative member families per month. As part of the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters partnership aimed at “Improving the Sustainable Production and Food Systems of Small-Scale Organic Coffee Farming Families in Honduras,” Daniel visits these families to ensure they are meeting not only their own family food security needs, but also to ensure they are receiving the necessary training in organic coffee production to meet the RAOS coffee co-op standards.

Since 2002, Heifer has had a valued corporate partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). Most recently, GMCR has partnered with Heifer International to provide income diversification for small holder family farmers in the coffee production supply chain in Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Nicaragua. After the coffee harvest, farmers have a hard time making ends meet. This period, from April to September, is called the “thin months” – when it becomes necessary to find another source of income. This is where Heifer comes in. We are working with families who supply coffee to GMCR to help the farmers through the thin months. By providing livestock, seeds, training and equipment, the farmers are able to better sustain their families and produce an income throughout the year.

Harvested coffee beans.
GMCR works with the RAOS co-op in Honduras. RAOS’ vision is to produce healthy, ecologically sustainable food – but also to gain a “just life” for its members. They want to be able to share the fruits of their labor amongst member families and the wider community. Their work is conducted in harmony with nature, while working towards economic, social, physical, and spiritual health.

The co-op started with just 16 men and 4 women. Over the past few years, the co-op has grown to include 123 families (200 individuals); they receive 10-20 applications for membership per week! Accountability was also readily apparent, with an elected co-op board that includes a specific Gender Committee to ensure the inclusion of women.

Preparing the coffee for shipment.
Why does RAOS exist? Because its producers know that there can be strength in numbers. Without the co-op working to secure fair trade pricing, the coffee producers and ‘’cutters’’ (those who harvest the beans) are at the mercy of the buyers. An average 100 lb bag of beans fetches a price of $6/bag. A fair trade bag? That garners the producer $20/bag. In a country where many people exist on less than $2/day, getting fair trade prices makes a huge difference in a family’s income.

During the project site visit, several Heifer staff members tried their hand at harvesting the beans. Within a 30 minute period, we harvested a paltry sum. Many jokes ensued over how many Americans it takes to harvest a single coffee plant! Our host, and one of the original members of RAOS, teased us that he had a quota and if we didn’t meet it, we couldn’t leave the farm! In contrast to our untrained hands, a skilled cutter can harvest 250 lbs of coffee per day. It is back-breaking work.

RAOS co-op president with eggs from
his Heifer chickens.
When we asked Daniel why he had returned when so many young adults leave the rural areas, he replied simply that he grew up in this area harvesting coffee. Now, by working with Green Mountain Coffee Roaster and Heifer International he has the opportunity and the training to Pass on the Gift to members of his own community. Through this partnership, families in the RAOS co-op (and others in Honduras) have a better chance at moving beyond subsistence and creating strong economic futures for their children.