Heifer International celebrates 20th anniversary in Nepal

Heifer International is celebrating its 20th anniversary in Nepal as a development organization that has worked with hundreds of thousands of farming families across the South Asian nation. 

Since establishing a branch office in Nepal in 1997, Heifer has collaborated with more than 100 implementing partner NGOs and has supported more than 250,000 families in 41 districts. The families have been organized into more than 11,000 self-help groups, 209 social entrepreneurs’ women cooperatives and three district unions.

“We need to move fast and at scale to accelerate large numbers of people out of poverty, and our team in Nepal is doing it,” said Pierre Ferrari, president and CEO of Heifer.


Heifer focuses on the goat and dairy value chains in Nepal and has chosen backyard poultry and horticulture as supplementary value chains. The organization has also been actively engaged in livestock and poultry research projects that yielded findings leading to the development of efficient technologies and increased profits for farmers.

“We’re connecting producers to the market and helping the farmers earn more income from the sales of their goods. It’s really an exciting time,” Mahendra Lohani, senior vice president of programs for Africa, Asia and Europe.

By 2023, Heifer plans to bring 500,000 Nepalese families from a state of poverty and vulnerability to sustainability and resilience through engagement in competitive, sustainable and inclusive goat and dairy value chain enterprises.

“The work now is not only about just helping people to come out of poverty but to help them be resilient,” said Neena Joshi, director of programs for Heifer in Nepal.

Heifer thanks the government of Nepal — officials in the ministries, departments, divisions and districts — for supporting the work. The organization is also grateful for its project participants, donors, collaborators, universities, institutions, implementing partner NGOs, private-sector partners, media and other stakeholders for walking with Heifer during this 20-year journey. 

Heifer is committed to continuing its development journey in Nepal and hopes these partnerships will remain in the years to come.