While tempting to believe, farmed animals do not just live off the land consuming only grass and scraps that dont compete with human consumption. Animals used for food require up to 10 times the water needed to grow crops for direct human consumption. It is not so easy to make more land. Bill, charitys executive compensation is often high because they must compete for talent with the private sector, where executive compensation is outrageously high. But we wonder whether these measures are effective, and whether training plus livestock gifts are the most cost-effective ways to help people. Learn more about Free Tote + First Year Matched for 2X the Impact!. This search returns results from both GiveWell's main site and from the GiveWell Blog. It has declined to share this (basic, in our view) information in repeated exchanges. Much of their resource use must be focused on these cattle. P4H provides plant-based, vegan food aid and sustainable community farming to save animals while better feeding poor communities. This website uses standard, nonpersonalized cookies for best experience. This is wholly unacceptable if not pernicious. Some children have even had to sleep in the barn with animals to prevent theft. Full participation is expected within the groups that Heifer works with. The same applies to charity organisations. They include enhanced farming techniques, animal well being, agro-ecology and gender equityensuring that all project participants, especially women who throughout much of the world are denied many opportunities that men take for granted, such as land ownership. Heifer International boasts that their projects produced 3.6 million gallons of milk in one year in Uganda, and developed a national dairy program in Tanzania. 3.2.) T-shirts, stickers, wall art, home decor, and more designed and sold by independent artists. So, for example, I would consider an organizations rating by GiveWell, then use Charity Navigator to evaluate what it pays its executives. I also think the head of the paid staff is paid too much, based on the income of the group. I understand that they make a good ad campaign, possibly because they draw peoples attention to the possibility of using a one-time gift to permanently escape from poverty (even though a cash gift can just as easily lead to a story like this, and could also lead to a lot of other positive stories that we simply havent considered). Animals must be provided food and water in areas where these resources are already scarce. In 1992, Heifer International appointed Jo Luck to its helm as CEO. Animals Eat Other Animals, So Why Shouldnt We? A new video shot in India details just a few of the horrors that these animals endure, including wooden pegs put through their noses to stop them from drinking their mothers milk, injuries and maggot-filled wounds that go untreated, and slaughter. Will they meet recipients expectations, or will they die or underproduce, potentially causing people to make bad plans and investments? Can they do without these luxuries, YES. Would you expect a doctor to recommend a cancer drug based on reading an abstract? More than once medical treatment advanced past, and scorned, folk medicine and old wives tales, only to find that there was wisdom therein (I am specifically thinking of the many potions wise women dispensed, which then turned out to have sound reasons for working. These charities generate a lot of enthusiasm by their participants (I know several personally), but universally fail when it comes to cost effectiveness. Hold Illinois Governor Pritzker Accountable for his Huge New Investment in Animal Ag. WebHeifer Project International; Heifers for Relief (19441953) Heifer International (also known as Heifer Project International ) is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty Many of the goats provided by the program as well as their offspring are added to others already kept by farmers and are used for breeding. U.S. only. This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 22:48. Joedy, thanks for the link. [15], Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, Heifer International started with a shipment of 17 heifers to Puerto Rico in 1944. Logically, this makes sense but rarely is it fully considered. Most of it goes toward their own infrastructure, which means rent, staff, travel and investigation This is cynical exploitation of animals and poor people.. Those dollars should be going to where they are most needed. First, Heifer is not just donating livestock; it is also donating expertise to go with the livestock. I have seen the Western Michigan University evaluation you cite. Heifer International already has such programs in place and caneasily shift its focus away from providing animals to instead supporting those other initiatives, including the following: PETA is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation. Gifts of livestock (e.g., Heifer International) It seems particularly hard to find information about the past impact of gifts of livestock programs (such as those promoted by Heifer International ). Working with Quakers and Mennonites, West directed a program where hungry children were given rations of milk. I have worked with Heifer Albania on a project together with Rotary International in the Zal Bastari region of Albania. can be looked after by the children in a family, which allows even young children to contribute to the family well-fare without working outside the home. In Food Choice and Sustainability (2013), Dr. Richard Oppenlander writes:In Ethiopia, over 40 percent of the population is considered hungry or starving, yet the country has 50 million cattle (one of the largest herds in the world), as well as almost 50 million sheep and goats, and 35 million chickens, unnecessarily consuming the food, land and water [P]oorly managed cattle grazing has caused severe overgrazing, deforestation, and then subsequent erosion and eventual desertification. However, one important difference is that people who buy Nike shoes do eventually figure out what they actually did and didnt get for their money. Its a scary thought, but it seems possible to me that these programs exist entirely because of how they can be marketed to donors, instead of for any reasons relating to maximizing good accomplished. A goat destroys the fertility of land and [the value of] any milk or dung it may give is very little compared to the havoc it wreaks, within two years, the people who get goats have an even poorer lifestyle. Re: executive compensation. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons, minimize the time spent on opaque or otherwise lackluster ones, GiveWell Board member Tim Ogdens summary of the recent discussion/controversy, have major concerns about supporting any but the most outstanding microfinance institutions, concerns about Kivas due diligence process specifically, general concerns about microfinance charities, rarely even clear about what their value-added is, disappointing (and eye-opening) evaluation of the Village Phone program, concerns about giving livestock specifically, recent removal of the charts we questioned, own explanation of why it is giving grants to other major charities, suspect that this offer is a donor illusion, UNICEF provides almost no information at all about its huge variety of activities and how they are going, CARE coming the closest to meaningful transparency, we see no substantive available information about its track record, is unwilling to share any information about the results of its grantmaking, http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.5647733/?msource=XS2M090001&utm_source=Heifer&utm_medium=Website_Banner&utm_campaign=ImpactStudy, the overhead ratio issue is usually a distraction, http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/salaries.html, http://www.heifer.org/ending-hunger/accomplishments/measure-of-success.html, Staff members personal donations for giving season 2022, The winners of the Change Our Mind Contestand some reflections, Answering some questions about water quality programs, The Maximum Impact Fund is now the Top Charities Fund, Announcing the Change Our Mind Contest for critiques of our cost-effectiveness analyses, Our UK supporters can now make tax-deductible donations through GiveWell UK. Concerns about the priorities and appropriate use of donations apply to all animal gifting programs, but Heifer International raises particular concerns because of their annual budget which exceeds $100 million a year, and luxury spending such as on their headquarters pictured here. Passing on the gift allows families and individuals who have received animals to be donors themselves. Terms for automated texts/calls from PETA: http://peta.vg/txt. WebHeifer Internationals work in Japan is widely viewed as the start of their modern factory-style dairy industry. In the early 1970s, Heifer consolidated its U.S. distribution network by buying several large farms, including a 1,200-acre ranch in Perryville, Arkansas, as livestock holding facilities. The argument of this post, though, is that livestock programs raise challenges that giving out cash does not, while still raising all the challenges that giving out cash raises. Do the recipients of livestock gifts have the ability, in terms of knowledge and resources, to take care of the livestock well? Training and education include formal sessions as well as informal farm visits and demonstrations. Such resources can be in critically short supply in places such as Africa (a major recipient of animal-giving charities). Furthermore, extra animals can reduce the amount of farmland available to local people and exacerbate desertification. As of 2018, Charity Navigator scored Heifer International as a 3-star (out of four) charity with 84.71 points out of 100. PETA Offers Animal-Free Ways to Assist Marginalized Communities. We ultimately see a Kiva loan as a gift to a microfinance institution, and we have major concerns about supporting any but the most outstanding microfinance institutions as well as concerns about Kivas due diligence process specifically. 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