The Heifer Foundation helps underprivileged people to build a life. They do this by donating animals, such as cows, sheep, goats and chickens. These animals, together with training and aftercare, ensure that people can build a life and benefit permanently from the help. The first-born youngster is passed on to a new participant in the project, so that the project is maintained. The Heifer Foundation mainly works in Africa, but also has projects in Romania, Bosnia and Albania.
What does the Heifer Foundation do?
The Hiefer Foundation is a foundation that helps families in the third world to build a life. The foundation does this by donating animals and providing training in the field of keeping animals. Building a life in poor countries can be virtually impossible. By giving people animals that produce food, families and entire communities can pull themselves out of a spiral of poverty. One goat can provide enough products to feed a poor family, but there is still milk left over to sell and buy other products or send children to school.
Where does the Heifer Foundation work?
The Hiefer Foundation mainly works in various African countries. The Heifer Foundation also works in Romania, Bosnia and Albania. Hiefer has projects in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda, among others.
The founding
The American Dan West was a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War. He handed out powdered milk and saw how people waited every day with their bowls. During this work he realized that milk was not the solution, people needed a cow. This is how the Heifer Foundation was born. Heifer Netherlands was founded in 1999. The founder previously worked as a volunteer for the Heifer Cameroon Foundation and decided to bring the project to the Netherlands.
The projects
The Heifer Foundation has 18 projects, spread over 12 countries. In all these countries, both livestock and training are provided. This also includes providing technical support and strengthening the community. Projects are also combined with livestock farming, such as microcredit and HIV projects.
Which animal for whom?
The foundation does not just donate the animals that people ask for. Typically, groups of people, such as churches, farmers’ or women’s organizations, hear about the Hiefer Foundation through others who already have experience with it. The Hiefer employees on site work with the group to find the best animals. A cow, for example, is not suitable for everyone. This one needs a lot of food, space and water. Goats are more tolerant of their environment in this regard. There is no point in donating bees if there are no flowers nearby. After it has been decided in consultation which animals will be donated, it will be determined who will receive the first animal. This is usually the first to have a stable ready and grow food.
Pass on animals
The animals that are donated are not given away without obligation. They can be seen as a living loan; as soon as they have a young one, it is given away to the next participant in the project. This way, only a few people from a group initially receive an animal. Once someone in a group has an animal, it is bred. Pregnant animals are usually donated, so that the first young one arrives quickly. These firstborns are donated to the next participant. In this way the project is maintained and maximum results can be achieved.
Where do the animals come from?
The animals used for the projects are purchased locally as much as possible. This is to stimulate the local economy, but also because the animals are used to the local conditions. Furthermore, it is of course animal-friendly and environmentally friendly not to put the animals through a long journey.
Nature-friendly and environmentally friendly
In order to sustainably maintain the projects, it is important that the projects are nature-friendly and environmentally friendly. This is done not only by using animals from the environment, but also by taking a critical look at animal species, water management, soil erosion and CO2 emissions. For example, in dry areas, goats are often used instead of cows, because they require less water. Cattle are fed in the stable and have limited or no space to graze. This is to prevent overgrazing. Furthermore, all products from the animals, including manure and urine, are used for natural fertilization.
Training and aftercare
Of course, you can’t just give an animal an animal and walk away. This runs the risk that the animal is not properly cared for, which is detrimental to the animal but also to the participants. A sick cow does not produce milk and a chicken that has been laid is of no use to you either. You run the risk of the animals being eaten, which is not the intention of the project, as then it would not be a lasting help. To ensure that the animals are properly cared for and the participants receive maximum yield, training is provided to the program participants. They are helped with the care of animals and the construction of stables. They also learn how to best sell their leftover products.
In each project country, the Heifer Foundation has local partners who have professional knowledge and know the culture. They help the farmers and make visits. The foundation is usually involved in the project for another 5 years before the communities can complete it themselves.
Which animals?
The Heifer Foundation donates various types of animals. All these animals provide different products, such as wool, eggs, milk or manure. The animals the Heifer Foundation works with are:
- Goats
- Chickens
- Pigs
- Sheep
- Cows
- Rabbits
- Bees (beehive)
All these animals have different advantages and disadvantages and are used in different places. Rabbits and pigs, for example, are mainly kept for meat and manure. The parent animals remain, but the young animals grow up to be sold or used for their meat. Goats are excellent for areas with little food and water and a cow produces enough milk to support a family. Bees provide honey and wax to process and are great around orchards as fruit trees will yield more with plenty of bees around to pollinate.
Another option is to donate young trees. This works the same as donating animals, except that seedlings are passed on instead of young animals. Fruit trees not only provide food, but also prevent erosion and improve the climate.
An example – Burkina Faso chicken project
The Heifer Foundation has various projects. One of these is a chicken project in Burkina Faso. In this project, 140 families received chickens from the Heifer Foundation. 233 Families subsequently received chickens from the first group. Donating chickens was accompanied by training in chicken keeping, sustainable agriculture, marketing and building stables. The farmers started with 10 chickens, but this quickly expanded. By breeding and selling chickens they have built a life and a reasonable income. Ultimately, it can be seen that people use the money from sales not only for their own livelihood, but also for the community. Furthermore, many farmers buy other animals to increase their prosperity.
Certification
Stiching Heifer has a CBF certificate for charities.
Help Heifer
Would you like to help Heifer? This can be done via their website by donating an animal. Different animals have different prices. This includes training and aftercare costs. It is also possible to contribute without selecting an animal. This can be done via their website, but also by transferring money to GIRO 4663 in the name of Heifer Nederland, Roosendaal.