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Heifer International proudly releases its State of the African Farmer report as a contribution to the great debate on agriculture and food security in Africa. It is a compilation of views and voices of farmers, practitioners, policymakers and academics across Africa and beyond, each speaking from the heart and sharing their experience.
Elizabeth Bintliff, vice president of Heifer’s Africa Program, is an African born in Cameroon, and brings her own perspective to the contents of this book. Although she recognized the need for statistics and data, she is a passionate advocate of the personal stories she sees everyday in her work, and is concerned that Africans often become an impersonal statistic that doesn’t give the complete story.
“African farmers, specifically, who are the people I most often come across in my work, are victims of this phenomenon. Worse still, the statistics are dire, ominous, and dismal,” said Bintliff.
This report puts smallholder farmers at the center of the dialog about agriculture in Africa. Too often, the conversation about farming is conceptual and macroeconomic in scale, she said. In this report, Heifer and other respected contributors go beyond the numbers and data to discuss the farmer as a person, engaging in agriculture, faced daily with both opportunities and challenges.
Contributors include Christian Aid & Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Grameen Foundation, International Development Research Centre, Lutheran World Relief, Michigan State University, ONE and Winrock International
“There is a great interconnectedness that exists between producers and ourselves, whether it is because they produce the foods that go into agricultural supply chains, or because we are all stakeholders in the evolving global climate. But ultimately, it is our futures that are linked together, and will remain inextricable until the end of poverty and until Africa is fed,” Bintliff said.
If you are interested in receiving a print edition of this book, please email media@heifer.org. You may also download a PDF through Heifer’s blog at http://www.heifer.org/join-the-conversation/blog/2014/October/state-of-the-african-farmer.html.
ABOUT HEIFER INTERNATIONAL
Heifer’s mission is to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. For 70 years, Heifer has provided livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Heifer is currently working in more than 30 countries, including the United States, to help families and communities become more self-reliant. For more information, visit www.heifer.org, read our blog, follow us on Facebook or Twitter or call 888.5HUNGER (888.548.6437).
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MEDIA CONTACT
Allison Stephens
Public Relations
allison.stephens@heifer.org
501.889.5124
