Page 3 - The Daily Builder - Day 11

FraMEwork oF a hEiFEr projEct

Heifer International projects are large-scale, multifaceted programs designed to give participants a
foundation on which to build their success. Each country has its own Heifer team, made up of people who
grew up there and best know the culture and local communities. Since thousands of people are involved in
each project, Heifer needs to be smart and consistent when they plan. Here’s a quick breakdown of the basic
outline Heifer follows to implement each project.

Belice Kimanthi talks about how taking part in Heifer International’s East Africa Dairy Development program The Heifer Malawi team, with a few Americans thrown in. The Malawi team oversees every single Heifer project
has changed her life, and the lives of her family and community.
in that country, from conservation agriculture, to dairy farmers’ organizations, women’s groups, clean water, and
much more.
a littlE MorE Fair STAGE 1: SITUATION ANALYSIS/HOLISTIC APPRAISAL

A situation analysis gives clear understanding of the multiple factors causing the problems and provides
familiarity with cultural gender and power dimensions.
By Heifer International Tanzania) so they can lift their initiatives in eastern Africa.
communities out of hunger and Belice is chairwoman of the STAGE 2: PLANNING
Belice Kimanthi is part of the poverty. women’s community group This stage starts with developing a framework that provides a clear and precise description of what the
East Africa Dairy Development In its first five years, EADD formed with guidance from project intends to achieve and how.
(EADD) program in Kenya, an provided extensive training Heifer.
ambitious Heifer project that on dairy husbandry, business Being part of the Heifer project STAGE 3: EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION
groups family farmers into practices and operation, and has meant more than an income
cooperatives and connects them marketing of dairy products to boost for Belice and her fellow Once the conceptual framework is developed and agreed upon by key stakeholders, the plan is put into
with large markets. the 179,000 farming families in self-help group members. She is action. A detailed activity plan with common strategies and approaches required to achieve the desired
Receiving a dairy cow and the program. now able to save money for the results is crucial.
getting training from Heifer Heifer and its partners also first time, and nutrition education
helped her gain respect from her developed 27 milk collection has better equipped the group to STAGE 4: MONITORING AND EVALUATION
community and hatch a plan for hubs, strengthened 10 existing take care of the people in their An effective monitoring and evaluation system keeps the project on track and performing as expected.
her future. hubs, and formed 68 farmer community suffering from AIDS.
The EADD program is designed business associations to manage Thanks to Heifer International for STAGE 5: REFLECTION, LEARNING AND SHARING
to boost the milk yields and the plants. Since then, EADD has letting us share Belice’s story. You Learning from both our successes and setbacks allows us to carry that knowledge and experience into
incomes of small-scale farmers grown to be one of the leading can find out more about the EADD other projects so that we may improve their quality and effectiveness and achieve greater impact.
in Africa (Kenya, Uganda and market-oriented development project here.HeiHei

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