Our Goal: Living Incomes

We do more than train farmers. We help them grow their incomes

Woman in Mexico holding a basket of eggs in her chicken house.

Nutritious food. Shelter. Clean water. A decent education. Access to health care. And a safe and secure environment.

All fundamental for a life free from hunger and poverty. Yet millions of people can’t afford them.

Living Income Rawanda

Investing in farmers and business owners with the power to change entire communities.

At Heifer International, we invest in farmers and business owners around the world, because we know that having a secure source of income can be truly transformational for families and their communities.

We work with communities in countries around the world as they strengthen local economies and build secure livelihoods that guarantee a living income to local farmers.
Heifer-Living-Income-Map
Click the map to download living income benchmarks for the countries where Heifer International works.
Farmers Living Income

A living income means thriving, not just surviving.

We define living income as the amount of money each person in a household needs per day to live a dignified life. When we start working with a community, together, we set a living income benchmark using existing data and data we gather from households in our project areas.

Heifer International determines local living income benchmarks during a project’s design stage, taking into account household needs such as a low-cost and nutritious diet, decent housing, other basic needs, and unexpected costs. With support from our in-country teams, project participants build sustainable businesses to close the gap between living incomes and their actual incomes. We convert living incomes benchmarks from local currency to United States Dollars for ease of international understanding.

Learn more about our projects in the field

Learn more about Lenca II Project, Honduras .

Lenca II Project, Honduras

Lempira, located in western Honduras, is the country’s poorest department.

Learn More About Lenca II Project, Honduras
Lenca II, Honduras

Work Areas

Learn more about Environmental Sustainability.
hands planting a crop.

Environmental Sustainability

We believe women-led, small-scale farming is the future of our economy and our relationship with the Earth.

Learn more about Food Security and Nutrition.
mother and child harvesting fruit while laughing

Food Security and Nutrition

With increased productivity of livestock and crops, farmers provide for their families and improve the health of their communities.

Learn more about Risk Mitigation and Resilience.
Man and woman working with bee hives.

Risk Mitigation and Resilience

We help people forge the first connections so that they can shift from subsistence to sustainability – from reliance on others to resilience.

Learn more about Economic Development.
Woman writing in a ledger.

Economic Development

We work with farmers and their communities to identify opportunities within value chains that deliver living incomes.

Learn more about Women's Empowerment and Social Capital.
Women's Empowerment Malawi

Women’s Empowerment and Social Capital

Investing in women is key to ending hunger and poverty. And it’s at the very center of our community development approach.