Gates Foundation to add support to Heifer International

Heifer International has received an $8.5-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for project work on the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project. The grant will support existing projects in Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda and explore possibilities for expansion in Ethiopia and Tanzania between July 1, 2012, and June 30, 2013.

“We are excited for the opportunity to continue serving dairy farming families and grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their support,” said Elizabeth Bintliff, vice president of Heifer International’s Africa area program.

EADD began in 2008 as a four-year, $42.8 million project funded by the Gates Foundation to help about 179,000 smallholder dairy farmer families to double their household income, create, connect and expand dairy market infrastructure, and sustainably increase dairy productivity and efficiency. Currently in its final year of the pilot phase, EADD has grown to be one of the leading market-oriented agro-livestock development initiatives in East Africa, earning the farming families more than $35 million.

The project, implemented by Heifer International, is in partnership with TechnoServe, The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), World Agroforestry Research Institute and Africa Breeders Services.