MJFreeze

(Current note: we had a large debrief after this day, which I think is important to separate. Also someday I’ll actually post these for real. This meeting is generally about Heifer (HPI)’s practices.) Read more if you are interested in dairy, sustainability, Africa, artificial insemination, and the Millennium Development Project.

21,500 families directly affected in Uganda since 1993 (data can’t be traced between 1982 and 1993). Were working through the Church before. Direct impact- cow/goats. ~6-8 animals per family. Indirect- trainings, AI, etc. (2.5 million reached?)

- After HPI is done. TOT= training of trainers

- Train in other communities than HPI is in. 

–> model farmers. Hard to quantify them. Bucks- crossbreeding within a community.

Still monitor given and pass-on as long as there are new phrases. Still passing on after HIP is done. Sometimes follow, sometimes not.

Improving the Environment-

Goreth’s tree nursery-> deforestation -> H20

–> Why would they be buying trees anyway?

- Hospital (MVP?) solar panels

- Plant diversity- improved with HPI. Soil is destroyed with only one kind of plant.

- Recycled rainwater.

- Soil care- urine. Improvements, regeneration.

- Seedlings- advantage over a seed. Cooperatively owned.

- Would they be planting without the nursery? Maybe. Encourage it.

It’s easy to identify a Heifer family from any other. Education about trees? It takes 3 years for a coffee seedling to bear fruit. Here there are modified varieties (GMO!) to grow more quickly. Environmental issues are a general problem. Rural farmers don’t realize the danger. NGOs have to team up with the government.

Provide more papas (papaya) trees for both food and fodder. Beginning an organic coffee project. “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

Fodder trees: Calliamha sesbania (?), pigeo peas, callanas callana, chrysidia (looks like acacia), rukina, rusina. All nitrogen-fixing. Water differences- Phoebe vs. Goreth? Phoebe had much less rainfall. How much longer until that ends? Probably in September. Too wet ad too dry.

Reforestation- less drought? Can you reverse it? Combine the effort. Refugees. Struggle to preserve. Know the value in Uganda. $= timber. WAR. Took advantage in Northern Uganda.

Global warming? Smelling burning wood vs. bio-gas. Didn’t see it but ~600 bio-gas plants. 20k in the next 4 years. Charcoal more efficient? FREE. But why? Why is wood > charcoal? More $… But hotter temperature, less smoke, more heat, used in cities. However, easier to transport charcoal. 

FLOW- Movie. Build pits-> lakes, stabilized. India. Is it economically viable to reforest in a small plot?

- Fruit trees.

- Trying to design a way to work- sustainable? Can’t just give them money for everything.

Emissions: Age, carbon, calculation, etc. Fruit trees- grow more of them, sell fruit. Why wouldn’t they just do it? Fodder, wood, etc. Advantage of diversity. Herbal-> medicinal.

Patrick is happy to work at Heifer

- Sustainability- has previous experience. 

- Can’t find evidence when you go back with them, but when you go back 10 years later you can.

- Exit strategies

- MADDO- weaned them, but now need the support of the Catholic Church? Heifer is back?

- Kisinga- weaned off for a while, went ahead with POG. Especially when it’s so hard to come back and quantify.

Workshops- other NGOs. Don’t utilize knowledge. Cost benefit analysis: 90% of cost is on the farmers. Resources: 1m/1k=1k. Cost/fam. Cow @ 1k, training, agro equipment, monitoring costs raise unit cost. Very rare, usually find reverse (10% training).

Millennium Villages Project (MVP):

Except for HPI, are they sustainable? Brought HPI for creating sustainability. Unlikely for government to help. How ca a program provide land? Less directors, more animals. Children, employees to till/plant, harvest to store. Were any women interested in it? Growth, entrepreneurial. Another level. Is that Heifer? They get the stability. Doesn’t have to be sustained at the same level, have to be able to see upwards. People do for themselves- PRIDE. 

Training- is there anything for after the first step? Can do it by themselves. Growth is complex. Example: buying cows in a goat project. 

MVP used artificial fertilizers what the hell

Failing to involve farmers- MVP just made and imported the design. Listed and prioritized countries. UNDP picked the sample village. Village 1 is research village. Every stakeholder is supposed to cooperate. Village 2 is outside. Village 3 is far away from 1 and 2. Northeast vs. Ruhiira. Can 1-> 2? 3 is the control: no connection. Implications/changes? Any reason/requirement to check on them? Does Heifer recommend involvement in MVPs to other NGOs? Yes, for areas of expertise. Don’t know how the villages were picked. Continue monitoring for ~2 years for exit strategy for pass-on continuation.

Checklist of key elements- leave vs. renew. People at headquarters-> top senior VPs are from the areas.

Desperate need for artificial insemination (AI) funding in East Africa. How does it apply to EADD? Transportation. Government org that, if functioned, would give liquid nitrogen. Plant in Entebbe for 7 years, one 3 year- defunct. Mbarara only plant left, on and off.

One of the key frustrations. Inefficiency. Many farmers haven’t benefited as they would. Sometimes don’t have control. Give up, use a bull. 

“Liquid nitrogen is a critical issue in this country.”

Going to fail.

Alternatives? Looking for other in-country organizations that use it. There are shortages, not real interest. MUSEVENI. Considering repairing Entebbe, but old model. Have to special order spare parts. Very skeptical that they’ll work, lots of $ into it. 

Set up a new plant in Kampala? Know the need. Would give it to ABS for technical work, but ABS has no funding. EADD segments $. Didn’t foresee how bad the project would need. Is it that desperate? Just for Uganda, Rwanda has it, Kenya has it. $200k USD. Just for Heifer? No- can sell to other users. Need to sell to maintain it. User fee? Business plan, bank loan- payoff? After 3 years. Has to be subsidized by the project. Transport it? Rwanda not for export- If they truly fail, then maybe?

Charity- by law not supposed to do bank loan for profit. That’s why EADD plants are owned by the community. Lease it to ABS? Not for profit- don’t want to assume debt. Paying off loans- reconciliation. Don’t have a country-level rescue, just cut 20% budget worldwide. Don’t budget for semen. Plan for 0-interest loan for plant?