Tag Archives: Pierre Ferrari

Agriculture Improves Incomes in Central America

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Heifer's President and CEO Pierre Ferrari celebrates with project participants during a Passing on the Gift® ceremony in Guatemala. Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Heifer’s President and CEO Pierre Ferrari celebrates with project participants during a Passing on the Gift® ceremony in Guatemala. Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Heifer is working with communities in Honduras and Guatemala to create livestock and agriculture businesses, which help residents overcome poverty and malnutrition. Pierre Ferrari, Heifer’s President and CEO, visited these projects in March 2013 and attended a Passing on the Gift® (POG) ceremony in Guatemala. There, project participants gave him a goat to symbolize their gift to Heifer to pass on to communities around the world.

Heifer CEO Ferrari Tours Haiti Ag Sites with President Clinton

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President and CEO Pierre Ferrari talks with President Clinton at North Coast Development farm in Terrier Rouge, Haiti.

President and CEO Pierre Ferrari talks with President Clinton at North Coast Development Corporation’s farm in Terrier Rouge, Haiti.

TERRIER ROUGE, Haiti—Two large U.N. helicopters swooped in last weekend to North Coast Development Corporation‘s farm in northeast Haiti for a visit by President Clinton and a delegation of executives key to agricultural development in Haiti, including Heifer’s President and CEO Pierre Ferrari.

Andy English of North Coast Development and Heifer CEO Pierre Ferrari chat as a U.N. helicopter warms up for departure.

Andy English of North Coast Development and Heifer CEO Pierre Ferrari chat in front of one of the U.N. helicopters that landed on the farm.

The farm is especially close to Heifer’s heart as we work with operator Andy English and owner Ann Piper to offer Heifer training in beekeeping and animal health care. The farm will also build one of three purebred commercial goat breeding centers as part of Heifer Haiti’s $18.7 million REACH project to strengthen the crop- and livestock-based livelihoods of more than 20,000 vulnerable farming families throughout the country.

This doe, named "Gouda," is the model breeder for the farm, English says.

This doe, named “Gouda,” is the model breeder for the farm, English says.

“If you really want to change something in this country that currently has very poor quality animals, you have to invest long-term,” said Country Director Hervil Cherubin. “We’re developing our own high-quality centers to improve the quality of animals throughout Haiti and reduce imports from the Dominican Republic.”

Ferrari agreed. “What we’re doing is addressing the problem immediately and with scale. It’s not just a pilot project. We’re building a system that creates value for everyone in the chain.

heifergroup

From left, Heifer’s Edwin Rocha, Pierre Ferrari and Ewaldy Estil of Heifer Haiti, pose for a photo with animal health care worker Lovely Cledor, age 26. Lovely took the Heifer animal care training and immediately got a job working with the goats on North Coast’s farm. She wants to become a veterinarian and contribute to improving animal production in Haiti.

“It’s slow, you don’t see it right away,” Ferrari said. “But in 10 to 15 years, we can look back and measure the difference in quality and income and economic value created by this project. Many of the complaints about organizations working in Haiti is that they don’t stay long enough to make any real change. Heifer has been here for more than 20 years, and we’re investing in structural change and the long-term success of Haitian agriculture.”

The Clinton Foundation noted that the weekend tours to farms and factories, and related dinners and conversations, were to highlight a variety of Haitian agricultural products and businesses and explore how the government, international community and private sector are finding new opportunities to foster growth and investment in the agricultural sector in Haiti. The foundation also announced more than $700,000 in grants to support small farmers.

President Clinton speaks with Heifer's Pierre Ferrari and other delegates at the Heineken brewery in Port au Prince that produces the Haitian beer Prestige.

President Clinton speaks with Heifer’s Pierre Ferrari and other delegates at the Heineken brewery in Port au Prince that produces the Haitian beer Prestige.

In a wrap-up speech at the Heineken plant in Port au Prince that announced that company’s $40 million investment and commitment to local sourcing of sorghum for the brewery, Clinton thanked Ferrari and Heifer International by name, in addition to others in the delegation, for their contributions in Haiti. He also reinforced the rallying cry of Haiti’s President MIchel Martelly that “Haiti is open for business.”

“This has been a great day,” Clinton said in a press conference at the brewery. “One of the great debates that I hope to see favorably resolved while I’m still alive is whether the world population can go to 8 or 9 billion or wherever it’s going, and we can deal with the challenges of climate change in a way that enhances and empowers smallholder farmers instead of throwing them off their lands with the pipe dream that large-scale mechanized farming can solve that problem. It will be a disaster if it happens.

“We wouldn’t be in the fix we are in today if all the world’s economic powers, including the international organizations, had not made a decision somewhere around 1980 to simply stop supporting smallholder farm agriculture in developing countries,” Clinton said.

“We are trying in Haiti to establish a laboratory to prove that farmers are smart everywhere, they know how to protect their land and make the most of it and all they need is organization, inputs and support.”

Shamshad Akhtar is Right: We Need to End Poverty Faster

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Recently, the United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) appointed Shamshad Akhtar as Assistant Secretary – General for Economic Development.

DESA News interviewed Akhtar, where she shared her thoughts on her new position, the current global situation, and work that still needs to be done. She said, “we need to eradicate poverty at a faster pace.” I couldn’t agree more. There is so much work that needs to be done, and it has been more than once that I’ve mentioned that we can all DO MORE.

We recognize this at Heifer and it’s why we are working (and making progress) at increasing the impact we have in the countries where we work. Why just help 100 families at a time, if, using the same successful model on a larger scale, we can help 1,000 families – or more? Haiti’s REACH project will ultimately help 100,000 people achieve a sustainable livelihood.

Pierre Ferrari participates in a Passing on the gift ceremony in Haiti.

Photograph by Dave Anderson, Courtesy of Heifer International

Akhtar also mentioned potential for new financing and green growth. These are very critical elements that Heifer is paying close attention to and taking action to implement in our project work. At the end of last year, Dr. Mahendra Lohani, Vice President of Asia/South Pacific Program; Dr. Shubh Mahato, Heifer Nepal Country Director; and Neena Joshi, Heifer Nepal Senior Program Manager; met with the CEO and the Chief of the Microfinance Service Department of Rural Microfinance Development Center (RMDC) to discuss how the two organizations can collaborate to speed up the economic development process among the poor and deprived communities in Nepal.

Here in Little Rock, Heifer has installed a 25-kilowatt solar panel array that provides supplemental electric power to Heifer’s headquarters building and the Murphy Keller Education Building (Heifer Village).

Solar Panels installed at Heifer International's headquarters

Photograph Courtesy of Heifer International

The solar panels reduce Heifer’s reliance on fossil fuels and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to caring for the Earth. The array consists of 100 panels, making it one of the largest such systems in Little Rock.

These are steps in the right direction, and there are definitely more to come. But as you’ve heard me say before, we can’t do it alone. I am confident that working with Shamshad Akhtar, the UN, and other like-minded organizations, we will see great reductions in hunger and poverty.

I’m very excited to see and share, Heifer’s progress and the postive movements from around the world. Akhatar said it best:

I think it is a very exciting period for all of us who are engaged in the development business. Our task is to focus on economic, social and environmental sustainability with the objective of reducing poverty, alleviating stress on the basic services and making sure people are fed properly. We cannot achieve these goals unless we equip countries to manage and implement development programs at high governance standards and ensuring programs that benefit people.

To read more of Akhatar’s thoughts on her new role, access the DESA News.

 

 

Lead On!

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Heifer’s leaders have garnered some acclaim in our regional media.

President and CEO Pierre Ferrari at Heifer Ranch

 Heifer International’s President and CEO, Pierre Ferrari, was named one of the Most Powerful Men in Arkansas by AY Magazine. These men were named because of their dedication and ability to effect change.

“The path to deep happiness is working to end the suffering of others,” Ferrari told the magazine.

Executive Vice-President of Marketing and Resource Development Cindy Jones-Nyland

Cindy Jones-Nyland, Heifer International’s new Executive Vice-President of Marketing and Resource Development, shared her insights into the trick of assuming new leadership in Talk Business Quarterly.

“Embracing people’s strengths and weaknesses and allowing them to grow in ways that unleash their best talents is critical to high-performance organizations,” said Jones-Nyland.

We want to congratulate our colleagues; they’re improving the already-excellent work Heifer International does for the poor and hungry.

Let’s Make Every Day Earth Day

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Earth Day will be celebrated this Sunday, and I’ve been doing some reflecting. Taking advantage of the cooler weather, I walked to work this morning and thought about what Earth Day means for me and how Heifer’s mission isn’t just about ending hunger and poverty, but it also includes caring for the Earth.

Tanzanian Garden

Photo by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International

There is no denying that the Earth is in trouble. Most of us are aware of the effects from climate change.  Catastrophic floods in Pakistan, torrential rains in Eastern Uganda, stifling drought in the Horn of Africa, enormous forest fires in Russia, powerful hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, etc. The rhythm of the seasons are disturbed, the web of life is askew; nothing seems quite right anymore. Global warming is frightening; and sadly, humans are contributing to it and destroying the only home we know.

That’s the bad news. But here’s what we can do.

We need to change from the inside – change our thinking and attitude and, most important, our behavior. There’s a connection and an interdependence with the elements that surround us: water, soil, fire and air. When you have this connection with Earth, you are invested.

Honestly, I think every day should be Earth Day. We should always make an effort. Caring for the Earth isn’t something “someone else” will solve. I’m optimistic that together we can save the Earth and live in a world where anyone, anywhere could…

… walk up to a river and drink the water … and feel safe.

… buy and eat fruits and vegetables … and feel safe.

… eat fish or meat … and feel safe.

… take a deep breath of air … and feel safe.

I believe one day we will live in a world where everyone has enough to eat, cherishes their surroundings and lovingly cares for this planet we call home.