New Heifer Strategy Fights AIDS in Two Ways

Heifer International has a new two-pronged strategy to help fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. This strategy is based on the finding that anti-retroviral drugs used to treat AIDS are ineffective or even harmful in people who are malnourished. Therefore, Heifer will:

1. Provide livestock to increase incomes so impoverished families can afford AIDS medication.
   
2. Teach sustainable farm methods integrating livestock with crop production to add protein to family diets so the AIDS medicine will be more effective.

According to the United Nations, Sub-Saharan Africa has just over 10% of the world's population, but is home to more than 60% of all people living with HIV-25.8 million. In 2005, an estimated 3.2 million people in the region became newly infected, while 2.4 million adults and children died of AIDS.

Animal gifts from Heifer International provides two essential resources for impoverished families in rural Africa who are impacted by HIV/AIDS: needed income and nutrition. Increasing income allows people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS to buy Anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), and better nutrition that includes animal proteins (milk, eggs and meat), helps people tolerate the drugs. This ensures a better quality of life and a more hopeful future for their entire family.

Heifer's approach addresses critical aspects of the pandemic:

• Many of the most productive members of society - adults in their prime-have already been lost to AIDS.  They leave behind their children and elderly parents. 
  
• Currently there are 15 million AIDS orphans around the world. With increased effort to save lives of parents, Heifer provides hope that the families will have a future and that life does not end with AIDS.
  
• Strong immune systems are essential for the survival of those living with HIV and AIDS.  For families lucky enough to have access to treatment, the drugs they're prescribed have serious complications, and when patients are malnourished, the drugs are less effective.
  
• Heifer's methods of integrated farming, growing animals and crops together in agroecology projects, emphasize a diet rich in protein and vitamins for people who are fighting the disease.
  
• In addition to animals that produce milk or eggs, Heifer also provides oxen for draft power to plow fields and take their products to market.
  
• The gift of livestock helps crops get planted; income grows, and communities are strengthened. The goal for most families is to afford education for their children so they have opportunities for a better future.
  
• A single high-production dairy cow such as those provided by Heifer can produce four gallons of milk a day. What's not used by the family can be sold for income so that they can afford ARVs.

Heifer's approach has been endorsed by Dr. Efraim Kabaija, Chief of Staff to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who recently said that Heifer would play an important role in alleviating Rwanda's crisis of malnutrition because livestock, used in an integrated farming approach, can improve land that has been depleted by overfarming: "The livestock is the provider of direct ready-to-use manure for cultivation.  It's the fastest way to get people out of the vicious cycle of hunger.  You are empowering them," he said adding, "It is the best way to fight poverty in the rural population of Rwanda."

Knowing that persons with HIV/AIDS need medicine and proper nutrition for longer, more productive lives is only part of the equation. Merely providing livestock is not the answer. When projects are implemented, they must be holistic and take into account the cultural environment that can impact their success. When implementing projects Heifer always works with communities in full awareness of the local dynamics. Local community groups, empowered to solve their own problems, conceive and manage Heifer International projects, equipping the next generation to face challenges successfully.