World Ark Magazine - March/April 2009 - (Page 11) seeds, farm management techniques and markets. we have also partnered with the world food programme (wfp) on a groundbreaking initiative to connect farmers to markets. This innovative program, called purchase for progress, will transform the way wfp purchases food in developing countries, giving small-scale farmers access to reliable markets and the opportunity to sell their surplus at competitive prices. we are also very pleased to be supporting heifer international to help 179,000 small farmers in east africa double their dairy-related incomes through increased productivity and market access. last year, i had the opportunity to visit the town of rwamagana in rwanda where i met with a group of women who had each received a cow through the heifer program. a woman named frieda told me the extra milk had helped her feed her children, and the income had helped pay for their clothing. Still, she said she was losing a significant amount to spoilage. This project will help women like her link to reliable markets so they can earn even more income. What projects have meant the most to you in your work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and why? to reaching children with life-saving vaccines. To date, the fund has helped raise more than $5 billion for child immunization. already, the work of the global alliance for Vaccines and immunizations has helped prevent about 1.7 million deaths. few efforts have that kind of impact, and it was an honor to be a part of it. it has also been extremely rewarding to launch the agricultural development initiative at the foundation. Before the global food security crisis, agriculture had fallen off the radar of many governments—in donor and developing countries. Today, momentum is building for a reinvestment in agricultural development. i’m excited about the work we are doing with our private- and public-sector partners all around the world. These kinds of partnerships have tremendous potential to help small-scale farmers and spur transformative change in the developing world. Please share what guides you in your day-to-day work and explain what the foundation’s belief that every life has equal value means to you personally. i helped launch the international finance facility for immunization while i was working in the foundation’s global health program. This was a new way to finance the purchase and distribution of vaccines around the world—and it was designed to help countries invest in building health systems while working better with vaccine manufacturers to develop critically needed new vaccines. it was tremendously gratifying work. i was able to work with hundreds of people around the world who shared a deep commitment many of us in the foundation’s global development program keep a picture in our offices of a young Senegalese girl sitting in a blue washtub. her name is Ndeye, but we call her “the boss.” That picture reminds us of who we work for every day. it reminds us to listen to the people we serve and work hard to build innovative partnerships and projects that will benefit them. it shouldn’t matter whether a child is born in dakar or detroit or the B.r. hills in india. we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to build a healthy, productive life. i’m optimistic that change is possible, and i’m going to keep working on these issues until that vision becomes reality. Rajiv Shah visits a cassava farm and processing center in Karsana, Nigeria, in 2006 as part of his work as director of agricultural development for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. w w w. h e i f e r. o r g march/apri l 2009 | worl d ark 11 http://www.heifer.org
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.