Partners for a Better Future

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Pierre Ferrari

So often my colleagues and I travel to meet with potential partners that will help Heifer International fulfill its mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. This week, however, Heifer hosted our first corporate partnership conference, attended by representatives from companies such as Green Mountain, Danone, ELANCO, Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, Acxiom, Novus and many more.

Each company brought a unique perspective to the gathering, with the unified belief that truly sustainable development requires collaboration across sectors, among organizations and between individuals.

Passing on the Gift Ceremony in Bangladesh

Women in Bangladesh participating in Passing on the Gift Ceremony. Photograph by Geoff Bugbee, courtesy of Heifer International.

I know we are all aware of the challenges the world faces – hunger, poverty, resource scarcity, climate change, social unrest… and the list goes on and on. But I know, and I am driven by, the fact that it is imperative to quickly increase our impact to help more families than ever before. While Heifer has a proven model, we cannot do this work alone.

With these businesses, we explored the opportunities and obstacles of public -private partnerships. We also discussed emerging trends and best practices in corporate philanthropy, cause-related marketing, employee engagement and impact measurement.

We were pleased to welcome John Elkington as our keynote speaker for this event. John is a founding partner and executive chairman of Volans. John shared with conference participants how current shifts and pressures are forcing transformation of thinking in corporations, governments, NGOs, etc. Social entrepreneurs are pushing the boundaries of traditional markets and thinking: they are lighting a path that benefits not just a few stakeholders or the company, but also the communities and environment in which it operates.

Three key themes surfaced throughout the discussions: shared value, social capital and scale. Shared value means companies engaging in practices and operations that not only support the competitiveness of the company, but at the same time benefit the social and economic conditions of the communities in which it operates. It means placing a market value on societal issues.

Promotion of Food Sovereignty Honduras. Photograph by

Women in Honduras processing cashews. Photo by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International.

I have written about social capital in one of my previous blog posts. The World Bank defines social capital as the institutions, relationships, networks and norms that underpin and shape the social interactions and well-being of communities and societies. When we talk about levels of trust in business and government, community involvement and civic engagement, we are talking about social capital.

Cashews from Honduras. Photograph by Russell Powell, courtesy of Heifer International.

At Heifer, building and leveraging social capital is an indispensable component of our community-based, holistic development model and a pillar of our Theory of Change. As we think about the intersection between values-based and market-driven development, social capital is an essential concept to grasp. Our nearly 70 years of experience have proven that, without social capital, development efforts are simply not sustainable.

The final key theme that emerged during our conversations was scale. Transformational change is required, and that means all of us—business, government, NGOs—must accelerate and scale up our work. We have already begun to incorporate scale into our project work, which can be seen in Nepal’s “Goat’s Give Back” project.

I am pleased Heifer brought so many different players together to discuss how we can work in collaboration to change the lives of so many families in need. I know good things are to come!

Ghana’s Young Entrepreneur

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Annie Bergman

Alexander Appiah, 32, joined a farmers group in the village of Nkwabeng, Ghana, four years ago. He was among the youngest of those Heifer Ghana staff had seen apply to Heifer for assistance. Most young men his age were abandoning their villages in favor of nearby cities of Techiman or Kumasi and the promise of more work and better wages.

But Alexander didn’t want to give up on his village. When he began trainings he said he learned that Heifer “brings a lot of unity and togetherness to a community.” An important trait to him because one often needs the help of neighbors.

When he joined the group, Alexander farmed a quarter-acre of cassava and yams. It was subsistence-level farming. He also worked as a farm laborer during the regular farming season, which left Alexander and his wife scraping by during the off season.

From his initial gift of five beehives and 20 laying hens, Alexander is now one of the villages more successful poultry farmers. He has signed a contract with Heifer to brood and provide pullets to the organization for placement with other families in need. He’s also been elected the Vice Secretary of the farmers group, and is in charge of mobilization—or helping spread the word—about the groups activities and services.

He is also a role model in his small village. Young men look to him and see that a life can be made in agriculture. Alexander trains these men and others in what he learned from Heifer, he said. As one Heifer staffer said, “Alexander is a good teacher because he started from nothing. He can relate to them.”

Where he and his wife once shared a mud-walled and roofed home with their two daughters, Alexander has now built them a concrete home with iron roofing. He’s also in the process of building a new home for his parents to improve their standard of living. And that’s not all.

Alexander now makes nearly $200 a month from just his chickens alone. He has put his two daughters into private schools and is saving for their college educations. And he still dreams of owning his own agricultural general store, as well.

If I learned one thing about the Ghanaian farmers I spoke with, it’s that they possess an amazing work ethic. Alexander’s whole village considers him a success; his parents are proud of him. Yet, he’s not done. While he’s helping others fulfill their dreams, he knows there’s more out there for him.

Q&A with an 11-Year-Old Social Entrepreneur

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Maegan Clark

Hats for Hunger was founded in 2008 by Andrew Castle when he was 9 years old. He was inspired by a Heifer International catalog, and decided to make a difference himself. He combined his love of animals and knitting to start Hats for Hunger. We asked Andrew a few questions about his 2010 goal to raise $5,000 for a Gift Ark:

-Why did you choose Heifer International? For Christmas 2007, my grandparents let us chose an animal from the Heifer catalog. That was the first I had heard of Heifer and I loved the concept of providing people with the tools to improve their lives. Rather than a food handout, the gift of animals creates self-sustainability. A gift to Heifer has an exponential impact on the lives of communities. -How did you come up with the goal of 5k? The first year of Hats for Hunger, I raised $1,500. The second year, I had a lot of academic commitments and only raised $700 which I donated to the Vermont Foodbank. For 2010, I had a goal of $3,000, but Noland Hoshino (lead Heifer volunteer in Portland) got me excited about the idea of raising $5,000 to buy a gift ark.

-How did you learn to knit hats? I learned to knit when I was 7 as part of a school project. -Just how many hats have you made this past year? This past year, I haven’t knit any because the volunteer knitters have done such an amazing job! The first year of Hats for Hunger, my brother, mother and I knit all of the hats and it was overwhelming. $1,500 of hats is a LOT of hats! Many were custom hats, but the most fun was creating new designs. The most popular hat that year was the “valentine hat” with a heart on top.

-How many volunteer knitters are there? We have over 80 volunteer knitters/crocheters around the country (and one in England). They are an amazing group of people and have given so generously of their time and effort. We have a group on Ravelry.com which was started by Hannah, an amazing 9 year old in Minnesota. She and her family have donated over 100 hand knit hats to Hats for Hunger. Also, a group of knitters in Virginia called K1-D2 did a hat drive throughout the state at yarn stores and collected 297 hats. Fortunately, they arrived the day after Thanksgiving because they took over our dining room. -What is your favorite part about H4H? At first, it was knitting the hats and getting H4H started that was the most fun. Now it’s watching the growth of the company and seeing how many people are excited to get involved. In just a few months, we went from 150 Facebook friends to over 1,000! That has been pretty cool. (www.facebook.com/hatsforhunger)

-What goals do you have for 2011? My goal is to raise $10,000 for Heifer International. Also, I’d like to introduce a “Premium” line of hats this year. Many of the donated hats are made with high-end fibers (alpaca, cashmere, merino wool, etc) and have incredible handwork. They should sell for more than $20. I’d like to add a chart to the website to show how each hat helps to pay for animals via Heifer. For example, a $20 hat pays for a flock of chicks or ducks. A $30 hat pays for honeybees. A $10 hat buys a share of a pig, etc.

-If there is any additional information you’d like to add that would be great, too. 100% of profits goes directly to Heifer International. We have virtually no overhead since almost all of the hats and yarn are donated. Someone who buys a $20 hat is essentially getting a two for one deal. $20 goes to Heifer AND they get a cool hat. Also, our customers often buy extra hats to donate to homeless shelters and children’s homes.