Heifer International

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when Por Mom barely spoke up in public. Today, she leads one of Cambodia’s most dynamic and rapidly growing agricultural cooperatives, Rith Chamroun Toul Ampil Agricultural Cooperative. Her story is one of courage, determination and community, mirroring the journey of the cooperative she helped build from the ground up.

Anta Gueye Engl works tirelessly to support her fourteen children and grandchildren, all of whom live with her on a modest compound on the outskirts of Thiès, Senegal’s third largest city. She raises chickens, goats, horses and sheep, while juggling farming, tailoring and carrying out her role as the matriarch of her sprawling family. Life is busy and often difficult. For as long as she can remember, Anta has faced the harsh realities of food insecurity and poverty. Anta isn’t alone.

From breakfast tables to business meetings, study sessions and casual catch-ups with friends, millions of cups of coffee are consumed globally every day. Yet few coffee drinkers choosing between Colombian and Brazilian beans realize that coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia, which continues to be one of the top five coffee producers in the world. Similarly, many shoppers will not know that sugar can be traced back to New Guinea, or that oranges originated in China and Southeast Asia.

Workeye Endris, a 29-year-old mother of six from Asosa, Abrahamo Woreda, is breaking long-standing gender barriers in beekeeping. Asosa, located in western Ethiopia near the Sudanese border, is known for its rich biodiversity and ideal conditions for beekeeping. However, traditional norms have often made this practice inaccessible to women.

An estimated 600 million low-income smallholder farmers globally earn their primary livelihood from raising livestock. Yet often they do not have access to quality veterinary care, which boosts food security and helps ensure not only the health of animals but also the well-being of communities and the environment.

Each year on April 22, the world celebrates and recognizes Earth Day by recommitting to protect the planet and its ecosystems, counteract climate change and stop the collapse of biodiversity. But this Earth Day, my celebration will include a thoughtful mindfulness practice to celebrate our beautiful planet. I will find a place to sit and use all my senses to just take in nature in my surroundings. It might be a bench by a lake, a back desk looking out at the garden, a rock along a walk or a park.

In a lush field in the Jashore district of southwestern Bangladesh, tomato plants, spinach, cauliflower and cabbages are planted in long, raised rows. Every few feet, knee-high wooden sticks adorned with vivid yellow cards extend from the ground. Mosammat Laboni Khatun, a petite 30-year-old whose bright hijab matches her demeanor, is the force behind this thriving market garden.

Inside the Atipriya Social Entrepreneur Women’s Cooperative, the air buzzes with anticipation. This is not just a cooperative; it is a movement — one that has been transforming lives since its inception on January 14, 2016, under Heifer International’s Strengthening Smallholder Livestock Value Chains program. Atipriya Cooperative was founded in Bhimad, a village in Tanahu district, Gandaki province, Nepal, with a vision to uplift communities in the area through collective strength.

In much of the world, including the United States, outbreaks of bird flu are a significant and growing threat, with implications for human health, animal welfare and food systems. While large agricultural producers can sometimes be protected by the scale of their operations, smallholder farmers and backyard poultry producers in the communities where Heifer works are often far less resilient to shocks like an outbreak.

In south-central Nepal, nestled among the lush greenery, lies the small village Kamalamai, part of the Sindhuli district. This village is home to Rukhmini Adhikari, a smallholder dairy farmer whose life, like many others in her community, was once confined to the boundaries of her household.