Tag Archives: EADD

Heifer Lauded For Helping Cool the Planet

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A new report pinpoints some solutions to the interconnected problems of world hunger and climate change. And of course, Heifer International is among those solutions.

The group of international experts who make up the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change released the report ahead of this month’s big climate change conference in South Africa. 

The report describes how food shortages and global warming exacerbate each other. Poorly-practiced or wasteful agriculture leaves many people unfed, and contributes to the greenhouse effect.  A warmer planet, in turn, makes it much harder to get good yields from certain agricultural lands.

Farming is key in climate change solutions, this panel says. If world leaders keep ignoring the importance of feeding the world’s population sustainably, millions may go hungry and climate change will continue to worsen.

The report has several suggestions, including bigger investments in sustainable agriculture, more efficient food delivery systems, empowering marginalized farmers like women, and better use of technology.  But it emphasizes that smallholder farmers, the ones Heifer works with, are critical to ensuring that all populations are fed without harming the Earth.

The report uses Heifer’s East Africa Dairy Development Project as an example of small farmers becoming more productive without damaging their natural environment. The project uses milk collection hubs to store and chill milk, increasing access to markets.

Here’s hoping the country leaders at the international climate change talks will also see how important it is to feed the world in a sustainable way.

Famine Declared in Somalia—What You Can Do

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Photograph by Geoff Oliver Bugbee

Yesterday, the United Nations officially declared famine in two southern regions of Somalia, brought on by the worst drought there in 60 years.
UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden said that if action isn’t taken now, “famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia in two months due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks.” (Read the entire AFP story on the announcement here.)
While Heifer has no projects in Somalia, about 78,000 Somalis have fled to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where we do work. The influx has placed further strain on those countries, which are also dealing with drought.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation, and will update you on how our projects are faring as soon as we hear from our staff there.
However, about $1.6 billion is needed right now to help combat the crisis. There are a number of organizations already providing aid and relief in the Horn of Africa.
CNN posted this story that includes a number of ways you can help the relief efforts underway. Other organizations assisting in aid and relief can be found here.
We said this a couple of weeks ago, but it bears repeating: If you can’t spare money to donate, share news of this crisis with friends and family. Follow the organizations on the ground via Twitter and Facebook. Even these small actions can make a difference.

Famine will be Declared in Horn of Africa Today

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Below the photo is a news release from InterAction. The gist of it is this: in southern Somalia, drought has given way to famine and will be announced as such by the United Nations sometime today.
While Heifer does not have projects in Somalia, we do work in Kenya, which has been hit hard by the drought as well, particularly as Somalian refugees flood into Kenya seeking relief. In an email from Alex Kirui, our Kenya country director, I have learned our Kenya staff is currently assessing the drought situation in the pastoral parts of the country. We expect to hear back next week, but a bit of good news in the meantime regarding Heifer participants in Kenya is that our dairy project areas have not been affected by the drought, because the region has received normal rains. We will keep you posted on how our project participants are faring. In the meantime, I urge you to a) keep up with news coverage of this crisis, and b) give generously what you are able to organizations who are on the ground providing aid and relief.
We feel lucky to report that our dairy project participants have received enough rain.
Please continue reading to learn more about the drought-turned-famine in East Africa.


U.S. NGOs urge strong global response to East Africa crisis

WASHINGTON (July 19, 2011)—The United Nations is expected to officially declare famine in parts of southern Somalia tomorrow (Wednesday, July 20), marking a new phase in a crisis that has affected the East Africa region.

“Governments need to wake up to the severity of this crisis and meet critical funding needs. Severe malnutrition rates, acute hunger and alarming refugee flows demand an extraordinary international response,” said Samuel A. Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction, an alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs.

At least 25 of InterAction’s members are responding to the crisis in East Africa, which has been hit by the worst drought in 60 years, spiraling food prices and ongoing conflict. More than 11 million people are at risk, according to U.N. estimates, and hundreds of thousands have fled Somalia to overcrowded refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya.

The response by the humanitarian community has been hampered by complex security issues as well as legal restrictions in place to prevent donor funds from reaching extremist groups such as al-Shabaab, which controls much of southern Somalia.

Al-Shabaab has said it will allow international humanitarian groups access to affected areas, a promise it needs to keep if aid is to reach populations most in need.

“For aid to flow into southern Somalia at the levels required, al-Shabaab will have to cease its harassment of international aid agencies and staff, while the U.S. and other donor governments will have to trust the procedures of experienced aid organizations to ensure that aid reaches vulnerable people without diversion,” said Worthington.

The U.S. government has provided $383 million in fiscal year 2011, including emergency food, water and hygiene supplies.

“While the United States has been more generous than other nations, we need to do more. We appeal to U.S. lawmakers not to cut budgets that could affect millions affected by this crisis. It is the right thing to do,” said Worthington.

In East Africa, Farmers Become Entrepreneurs

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The Kiboga West Dairy Plant, which processes 8,000 litres of milk per day and serves 1,500 farmers

This morning, Moses Nyabila shared a remarkable story of transformation that’s taking place in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda through Heifer’s East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project. Moses has been the regional director for EADD since 2008, and he spoke to a diverse group of representatives of numerous non-governmental organizations and agencies at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) offices in Washington, DC.

The EADD program began in 2008 when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a five-year, $42.8 million grant to Heifer with the goal of doubling the income of 179,000 farming families in three East African countries over 10 years. EADD is now in its fourth year, and we’re analyzing the program’s results and discussing phase two of the project.

And the results are impressive, to say the least. Here are some key points from Moses’s presentation:
  • Before the program, millions of dairy farmers were disfranchised, without any say in the direction of the dairy industry in their area. Now, 142,000 farmers are mobilized into more than 3,000 active communities of producers.
  • In the past, few women were willing to take up leadership positions within their communities. After implementation of EADD, 26 percent of the program’s local leaders are women. 
  • Before EADD, less than 10 percent of farmers in the three EADD countries banked or had access to credit. Now, 80 percent of the 90,000 participant farmers in Kenya have bank accounts in communities once considered too poor for sound investing or bank financing.

At today’s event, Heifer CEO Pierre Ferrari told the attendees about his trip this past December to visit some of the EADD projects. Pierre holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and he said he was impressed with the farmers he met. Through EADD, these burgeoning entrepreneurs were selling their surplus milk and participating in the regional economy. “The rapidity at which they were learning and implementing these business practices was remarkable,” Pierre said.

You can join an ongoing conversation about food security and related issues at USAID’s new Agrilinks Blog. There, you can also view and download today’s presentation.

And now it’s your turn. Should programs like this East Africa dairy initiative be implemented elsewhere? Could this same model be applied to other food commodities? Leave your ideas in the comments below.   

Smallholder Farmers Are the Answer

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Farmers pedal away after delivering milk to the Kiboga West Livestock Cooperative chilling plant in Uganda.

Today on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog, Bill Gates makes a powerful statement: Smallholder farmers are the solution to the global hunger epidemic.

We agree wholeheartedly. Since its inception in 1944, Heifer International’s mission has been to end hunger and poverty by working directly with smallholder farmers, providing gifts of livestock and training that improve nutrition and cultivate individual entrepreneurship.

But, why farming? Gates explains in his post...

“Many people don’t realize it, but most of the world’s poorest people are small farmers. They get their food and income farming small plots of land. These farming families often don’t have good seeds, equipment, reliable markets, or money to invest that helps them get the most out of their land. So they work hard, but they get no traction, and more often than not, they stay hungry and poor.”

He goes on to state, “smart investments in farming families help them become more self sufficient.” Heifer’s model of sustainable development has proven this approach works.

This is a message the world needs to hear, and we need your help in sharing it. The Gates Foundation is issuing a challenge for you to create a compelling message – using your design, film making, or writing skills – that shows why investing in small farmers is good for the world, then submit your work for possible inclusion in the Gates Foundation website, blog or social media platforms. 

How would you share this message? Please share your ideas in the comments.

The Economist Mentions Heifer Participant

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I had quite the surprise the other day when I sat down to read it: “Hey, I met that man!”

Posing with Heifer Africa staff and Laban Talam (on my left).
If you click over to this section, you’ll see mentioned Kabiyet Dairies and Laban Talam. Kabiyet Dairies is part of our East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) Project, and I met Talam on my visit to Kenya this past December. Talam’s farm and family are indeed as prosperous as The Economist mentions. When I asked Talam if he would be willing to come to the U.S. to provide testimony to the difference Heifer has made for his family and community, he gave me an enthusiastic, “Yes!”

Laban Talam (center in gray shirt) shows us around his farm.

Biogas is Important for Rural Children

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From my trip to Uganda, I was able to see firsthand why biogas is so important in poor rural communities. So far, I’ve shown you why it’s important for women and for the environment. Now, I’d like to show you why it’s important for rural children.

The very first farm we visited was that of Miriam and Wilberforce Muwonge in the Ntaawo Ward, Mukono District. Miriam and Wilberforce live with their three children and six grandchildren on about one acre of land. The family had already participated in a Heifer project, from which they received one dairy cow. They had little money for fuel for cooking and lighting, but they had plenty of cow manure. Since Heifer Uganda installed their biogas unit, they have been saving the equivalent of U.S. $10 a month on fuel costs. The children are not only able to attend school, but they are also able to study at night in their home.
In contrast, while driving to another field visit the next day, we passed three boys carrying loads of firewood on their heads. These were not the children or grandchildren of Heifer participants. They most likely do not get to attend school, because they are busy gathering firewood and probably water.
As a mother, I was understandably drawn to the children I saw on this trip. To see the difference Heifer makes in the lives of children was amazing. They look healthy, their clothes are cleaner, they go to school, they read books. The gifts of a dairy cow and a biogas unit, and the accompanying training, sure go a long way.

Biogas is Important for the Environment.

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According to Mongabay:


From 1971 to 1987, Uganda lost 50 percent of its forests, including virtually all of its primary forests.

Between 1990 and 2005, Uganda lost 26.3 percent of its remaining forest cover, and deforestation continues today at a rate of 2.2 percent per year, mostly due to subsistence farming, cutting for fuelwood, and colonization by the burgeoning population.

While Uganda is famous for its mountain gorillas, it is home to some of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in Africa. More than 5,000 plant species are found in the country along with 345 mammals, 1,015 birds, 165 reptiles, and 43 amphibians.

We definitely saw evidence of deforestation and land clearing for fuelwood.
Here’s the healthy side of the road.
And here’s the clearcut side of the road.
The fence is kind of ironic, no?

A stash of wood.
Pierre Ferrari

A video to show the scope of the pile:



These five-foot bags are full of charcoal,
which is made from the wood that’s been cut.
A bag of coal might last a family a few weeks.

According to the UN Population Fund, Uganda’s population is predicted to double by 2025 and available wood will reduce by a third per person. According to the Uganda National Forestry Authority, 97 percent of the population uses charcoal and firewood for cooking.

Alternative fuel sources, such as biogas, are critical to protecting Uganda’s environment.
I promise, only one more demonstration of why biogas is an excellent, appropriate alternative source of cooking and lighting fuel in countries like Uganda. And then, I’ll show you biogas in action!
(Photos by Dero Sanford.)

The Roads of Uganda

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The roads in Kampala, Uganda, really weren’t all that bad. I was told by lots of folks that Kenya is far worse off in the road department. But take a look at this video, and see what you think.

This is on our way from Kampala to one of the field visits. Again, I’m sure this isn’t the worst road in the world, but it’s one of the worst I’ve personally ever been on. Imagine having an emergency. Imagine being a dairy farmer and needing to get your milk to the chilling station in a short amount of time. For our project participants, these are issues they face all the time. I don’t know enough about the Ugandan infrastructure system to really make a statement here, but I do know lives would be easier if the roads were better. Can you imagine?
Oh, and if you made it to the end of the video, those are native Ankole cattle. Beautiful, but not the most productive for dairy (another post for another time).

Appropriate Technology Keeps Your Hands Clean

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I know I seem to keep harping on about biogas (and there’s more to come!), but that’s not the only form of appropriate technology we saw in Uganda. Here’s a clever hand-washing station on a farm we visited. It’s called a Tippy Tap, and it allows you to wash your hands without touching anything in the process.

We saw a couple of these on our trip, and they really make sense when running water isn’t available. Much better than a bucket, that’s for certain. We all know hand washing is a key way to stop the spread of many diseases. In a country like Uganda, which has a life expectancy of 52.98 years (yes, in large part a result of HIV/AIDS), avoiding disease like bacterial diarrhea is of the utmost importance.
Under Heifer Uganda’s holistic farmer training curriculum, families participate in a course on home hygiene. Farmers are trained to keep their homesteads clean and tidy and to ensure reasonable hygiene and sanitation. This practice goes on in many of Heifer’s projects worldwide.
The Tippy Tap is a local, cheap device that is affordable by all families. It was initiated by Heifer Uganda at this farm and others as one way of ensuring that family members and their visitors wash their hands with soap each time they use the pit latrine. In so doing, the possibility of spreading disease is minimized. The training and demonstration on how to make and use the Tippy Tap is done at one participant farmer’s home, and thereafter each participant goes back home and makes one for the family.
The water used is clean and safe, drawn from individual roof water tanks–simple water harvesting techniques introduced to families by Heifer Uganda. When available, community protected wells, communal boreholes, natural springs and sometimes piped water may be the family’s water source. The water sources, in most cases, are within walkable distances, and families ensure that the container has water in it at all times.