Heifer International maintains commitment to support African smallholder farmers

By Cynthia Ezekwe

In  line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Heifer International has reaffirmed its commitment to facilitate 10 million smallholder farmers globally, and elevate them into economic self-reliance by 2030.

Surita Sandosham, Heifer’s new president and CEO, disclosed this during a recent visit  to  Heifer International’s operations in Africa.

Sandosham’s visit to Africa gave her an opportunity to discuss with African  team members at the regional headquarters in Lagos, where she  shared her vision and expressed her delight  for the work Heifer Africa is doing in the region

 The CEO also reaffirmed  Heifer’s commitment to work with the  youths  to transform Africa’s food systems, as well as working alongside smallholder farmers, producers, cooperatives and others to ensure sustainable agricultural interventions.

Addressing the  stakeholders, Sandosham said, “Heifer believes that smallholder farmers hold the key to transforming Africa’s food insecurity. With food importation across Africa averaging over $43 billion annually. We believe that access to finance, access to innovation, access to infrastructure and access to training, can increase food production and strengthen local food systems, reducing vulnerability to climate shocks and long-term dependency on imports.”

As part of her trip to Africa, Sandosham also visited Heifer’s country operations in Rwanda where  she met with  Geraldine Mukeshimana, the Rwandan minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), development partners, and other key stakeholders to discuss the progress of Heifer Rwanda partner projects and explore other potential collaborations in the country.

 “It has been a pleasure visiting Heifer’s country operation in Rwanda, meeting with the regional team and other key stakeholder partners in our mission to end hunger and poverty in Africa,” said Sandosham.

She also remarked that  Heifer has been in Africa for the last 48 years, working with both government and development partners to enable smallholder farmers and farming communities to build successful businesses, drive self-reliance and improve their living income.

 “It was inspiring to see that the passion to make this a reality is palpable across the Heifer Africa region and our partners. Through the Heifer programs currently running in Africa, it is clear that we remain resolute in our mission to uplift smallholder farmers and their communities out of poverty,” she added.

Speaking on the CEO’s visit to the region, AdeIfedi suwa, Heifer International senior vice president for Africa Programmes, noted that the CEO’s visit to the region and meeting with the partners and key stakeholders, was critical to restating its position that for Africa’s food systems to thrive, the combination of interventions and partnerships at all levels is needed.

According to her, the  strategic goal for the  region in the next eight years is to assist more than six million farmers to reach a sustainable living income by 2030, through strategic private and public sector partnerships to reach transformational scale.

She further reaffirmed the organisation’s  unwavering  mission and work to build resilience in agriculture which is  a major sector for Africa’s food security, workforce and economy to flourish.

Heifer International has worked with more than 39 million people around the world since 1944 to end hunger and poverty in a sustainable way. It has also worked with rural communities across Africa for 48 years, where it supports  farmers and local food producers to strengthen local economies and build secure livelihoods that provide a living income.