Heifer International’s work is organized into Signature Programs that are focused on large-scale, measurable and sustainable impact achieved by building partnerships at all levels, including with community organizations, farmer cooperatives, local and national governments, businesses and international funding institutions. Each program supports farmers through time-bound projects designed to increase their household income.
The Restore+ Signature Program aims to support 1 million smallholders in the dairy, poultry, small ruminants and horticulture value chains to attain a sustainable living income by partnering with market actors to address systemic constraints that limit performance.
The Practice for Change Signature Program aims to help 625,000 households achieve a sustainable living income by 2030 through the transformation of agricultural value chains, including beef, dairy, poultry and horticulture.
The Malawi Accelerate Signature Program is focused on building the economic resilience of 500,000 smallholder farmers to achieve a sustainable living income by 2030. The program uses a market-centered approach to improve agricultural efficiency, reduce market failures and create opportunities for smallholder farmers in the beef, dairy, banana, rice, poultry and oilseeds value chains.
The Naija Unlock Signature Program aims to unleash the country’s potential for food self-reliance by increasing agricultural production to meet rising local demands while closing the living income gap for smallholder farmers and households experiencing poverty. The program focuses on three priority value chains — rice, poultry and tomato — and seeks to enable 2 million households, predominantly women and youth, to achieve a sustainable living income by 2030 through better access to premium markets, finance, insurance and climate change adaptation strategies, such as climate-smart agricultural practices.
The Building Women and Youth Economic Resilience in the Sahel Signature Program targets financial stability for 216,000 households in the Sahel region. With a focus on women and youth, the program amplifies their market competitiveness and participation, enabling them to earn enough money to live a dignified life.
The Inclusive Markets for Agribusiness Agenda Signature Program is working to enhance the competitiveness, employability and resilience of 400,000 smallholder farmers in the dairy, oilseeds, poultry and horticulture value chains, with the goal of helping them achieve a sustainable living income and lead dignified lives.
The Future of Food Signature Program aims to build sustainable food systems and reach 189,000 families in urban, peri-urban and rural areas by 2030. The program operates across five ecosystems — coastal marine, dry forest, humid forest, Andean slopes and páramo — to help rural families overcome poverty and reach a living income.
The Promesa Café y Cacao Signature Program strengthens food security for smallholder coffee and cacao producers in Ecuador, the world’s leading exporter of high-quality cacao. This program focuses on reducing reliance on a single seasonal product and generating year-round income to improve producers’ quality of life and livelihood sustainability.
The Green Business Belt Signature Program works closely with farmers and rural entrepreneurs to identify the best opportunities to increase incomes and provides a range of technical assistance and business management training in collaboration with cooperatives, local governments, universities and research centers, and other local, national and international actors. The program encourages environmental stewardship and economic prosperity to demonstrate a path toward a future in which communities thrive and aspire to a productive future on their ancestral lands.
The Haiti Resilience Signature Program seeks to address low productivity, the lack of knowledge of agricultural techniques and severely limited access to inputs. This work supplies farmers with tools and seeds, provides training to increase their productivity and income and supports access to markets where farmers can trade and earn an income.
The Promesa Café y Cacao Signature Program is a regional initiative that plans to support 146,380 smallholder farming families to achieve sustainable incomes by 2030 through coffee and cacao production. The program focuses on enhancing competitiveness, marketing and resilience in these value chains, targeting improved quality and productivity to access high-value markets. The goal is to build robust support systems and partnerships to improve how these products sell, manage climate-related risks and provide opportunities for young people and women in these regions.
The Sustainable Livestock Signature Program is working to boost the livestock and beekeeping sectors in Honduras with the goal of bridging the living income gap for 136,880 families by 2030. The program works with dairy farmers and small and medium-sized dairy processing companies to enhance productivity and expand market access. Simultaneously, the project incorporates climate-smart and regenerative agricultural practices to bolster the resilience of dairy farms while mitigating environmental impacts.
The Promesa Café y Cacao Signature Program is dedicated to improving the lives and livelihood sustainability of smallholder coffee and cacao farmers in Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla and Oaxaca. The program improves productivity, adds value to the supply chain and facilitates better market access, all while encouraging women’s participation and technical skill development. Through inclusive market systems and strategic partnerships, these value chains become more resilient and profitable for smallholder farmers.
The Rural Roots Signature Program aims to help 80,000 rural families reach a sustainable living income by 2030. The program strengthens self-management of organizations, rural agribusinesses and institutions, particularly of women and youth. It also makes market systems more inclusive and increases access to natural resources to benefit smallholder farmers and rural communities.
The Bangladesh Signature Program targets supporting 120,000 smallholder women farmers to achieve a sustainable living income by 2030, primarily through partnering with these farmers to develop agribusinesses that provide sufficient income and build resilience. The program emphasizes women’s inclusion, strengthening social capital and promoting climate- smart agriculture to create sustainable income-generating opportunities in goat, beef, dairy, vegetable and flower production.
Cambodia Vegetable Value Chain Development is designed to reform vegetable farming using sustainable practices and advanced technologies such as superior seeds; solar water pumps; advanced grading, processing and packaging methods; and digital business platforms. By 2027, this program will increase the productivity and market access of 10,150 households, increasing crop yields, promoting environmental sustainability and improving livelihoods.
The Poultry Project of National Pride in Cambodia program is working to restore Cambodia’s poultry industry by developing cooperative networks and integrating them into broader market systems. Targeting 88,300 households by 2026, this program improves the entire value chain from production to sale. It focuses on establishing infrastructure, such as processing operations and hatcheries, and improving poultry health, breeding techniques and market access to raise incomes for smallholder farmers and promote self-reliance in rural communities.
The Accelerating Incomes Signature Program supports enterprise growth of farmer-producer organizations and strengthens poultry and horticulture value chains to be inclusive of smallholder farmers. The program partners with farmer-producer organizations to provide technical training to members, build capacity in business management and expand operations to produce value-added products while collaborating with the government and private sector to improve access to markets and resources.
The Bihar Signature Program works to improve livelihoods and income of women in Bihar state, helping women smallholder farmers improve production of goats, poultry and crops and engage in agribusiness. The program encourages formation of women-led farmer producer organizations, enabling women farmers to access more resources and participate in larger markets.
The Hatching Hope Signature Program, operating under the Hatching Hope global initiative, a program co-created by Heifer International and Cargill, works with farmers, market actors, governments and other partners to improve nutrition and economic livelihoods through the production, promotion and consumption of poultry. The program targets 30,000 farmers in Odisha state, focusing on improved poultry housing, health and feed, and market access.
The Odisha Goat Value Chain Signature Program targets improved goat production and market opportunities for smallholder farmers in Odisha state. The program prioritizes establishing partnerships that connect smallholders to resources, providing specialized livestock and business training and services, and developing farmer-owned enterprises, with the overall goal of lifting 30,000 women farmers to a sustainable living income.
The Milky Way Signature Program is designed to transform Nepal’s dairy sector, significantly improve the livelihoods of over 500,000 smallholder dairy farmers and double domestic milk production by 2030. The initiative collaborates extensively with government bodies, development banks, private sector actors and Korean partners to address systemic barriers across the dairy value chain. By reforming policies and practices crucial for dairy development, the program focuses on creating sustainable institutions and structures within rural economies to ensure permanent impact.
The Strengthening Smallholder Livestock Value Chains Signature Program targets the goat meat and dairy value chains to connect smallholder producers with profitable formal markets. It aims to scale up the enterprises of 125,000 direct participating families and an additional 225,000 families indirectly across 29 districts by incorporating innovative technology and improving access to finance and business development services, including input supply, technical support, market access, insurance and financing.
The Value Chains for Inclusive Transformation of Agriculture Program, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, is set to bolster the capacities of Nepali farmers by building social capital, developing agricultural businesses and strengthening community ties to promote sustainable economic growth. Financial inclusion is a key aspect, facilitated by the Bank Sathi concept — translated as Bank Friends — in which local facilitators assist farmers in accessing necessary financial services like loans.
