8/4/2019 An NGO's Letter to US Senator Patty Murray
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October 3, 2011
The Honorable Patty Murray, Co-Chair
Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
448 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
Support for a Strong International Affairs Budget
Dear Senator Murray:
As you may know, Heifer International, a 67-year old 501(c)(3) organization based in Little
Rock, Arkansas, works with small farmers in more than 50 countries as well as in the United
States to eliminate hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. Its model organizes the
rural poor and marginalized, engages them to help themselves by marshaling their own
resources in effective ways to improve their nutrition, raise their incomes and create new
livelihood opportunities for themselves. Gifts of livestock, seeds or technical assistance
supplied by Heifer are then “passed on” to others. Farmers accept responsibility, rather than
relief, to first help themselves, and then to help others, through a partnership approach to
joint problem solving.
Over decades, the name “Heifer” has come to be associated with meaningful ways forindividual Americans, their families, churches and school groups to help people who are
willing to invest in their own long-term solutions to global poverty. With more than 500,000
donors from every state in America (most giving less than $200 yearly), 50,000 Facebook
fans, nearly 100,000 Twitter followers and a YouTube channel that has produced 130 videos
with more than 160,000 views, Heifer reaches out to its generous contributors who
enthusiastically respond to the challenge by supporting its self-help model of development.
In recognition of the organization and its leadership, Jo Luck, Heifer’s outgoing CEO and
President was co-awarded the World Food Prize in Des Moines, Iowa last year.
The success of this model does not only attract individuals, but garners significantinstitutional support as well. In 2007, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a
Heifer-led consortium in East Africa its largest program to date—a $44-million, decade-long
investment in a modernized dairy sector in East Africa, allowing 1 million poor farmers in 3
countries to eventually contribute to the economic growth and political stability of their
region. In other countries and regions, corporate partners—Green Mountain Coffee,
Danone, Elanco, Starbucks and the Walmart Foundation, among many—help link our
strengthened farmer groups to emerging markets domestically and internationally.
8/4/2019 An NGO's Letter to US Senator Patty Murray
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It is this partnership approach to development that lies at the heart of USAID’s new
approach to emerging issues—global food security, climate change and disease prevention.
Heifer has welcomed USAID’s new Feed the Future program—an innovative multi-country
investment in improved global agricultural productivity and security for smallholder
farmers, and is already partnering with the agency in selected countries.As you know, programs like Feed the Future are funded through a part of only 1.4% of our
entire federal budget—a modest investment, but one with potentially enormous payoffs in
return. Helping poor farmers to secure food security for themselves and their countries
reduces the need for more expensive, stopgap, short-term relief efforts later on. It lays the
foundation for strong governments, healthy economies and trading partners. It facilitates
leverage for significant investments from other governments and private donors whose
cooperation is needed. Perhaps most importantly, by securing the goodwill of millions, it
shows Americans as participants—rather than bystanders—in building a global future.
Through this letter, Heifer International adds its support to the many voices now calling for
maintaining our country’s robust international engagement. Most of our current and former
military leaders, all current and former Secretaries of State, and more than 50 leading U.S.
businesses—from Caterpillar and PepsiCo to Microsoft and Walmart—have joined in this
call, speaking out powerfully in favor of a strong, secure International Affairs Budget.
I ask you and other members of the Committee to adhere to the State Foreign Operations
Committee-determined level of $53.343 billion for the International Affairs Account for
FY2012. We all understand that meaningful reductions in the deficit are critical for our long-
term economic security, but this small slice of the federal budget has already been asked to
bear huge, disproportionate cuts that entail costs to quality and delivery, while providing
minuscule benefits to lowering the deficit. If the lower House levels are adopted, theresulting 2-year, 20 percent cut to global development programs and the operating funds
needed to sustain them will seriously jeopardize America’s leadership and its ability to
leverage funding from others to fight hunger and poverty all over the world.
Thank you for soliciting this important feedback at this critical time.
Yours sincerely,
Pierre Ferrari, President and CEOHeifer International
PF:cbl
cc: The Honorable John Boozman (R-AR)
The Honorable Mark Pryor (D-AR)