Heifer International ^® (Heifer),  Founded in 1944, Heifer International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending world hunger by providing people in poor communities with gifts of livestock and training in environmentally sound agriculture. Heifer International and GMCR share a commitment to empowering individuals and helping communities become self-reliant. In partnership with Heifer International, we help coffee growers diversify their incomes and improve their diets.

In FY ’09, we pledged to fund a five-year Heifer International project in and around Jaltenango, Chiapas, Mexico – the home of CESMACH, a fair trade coffee cooperative, and the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve.  This project is implementing a variety of agroecological activities that may serve as an alternative to coffee production including providing livestock, beehives, fish, vegetable seeds, fruit trees, and the components for mushroom production.  Over the five year project period, 500 families will participate and increase their capacity for food production and their income by selling the surplus. 

The three primary areas of focus in this project are:

• The diversification of agro-ecologic production and food consumption
• Increased income through the sale of surplus production of at least one item in the project
• Strengthening organizational processes and the families’ participation in the cooperative