Writing in this newspaper, Rafia Zakaria made a common, yet inaccurate, case for cash transfers over the livestock transfers made by Heifer International and similar organisations (To help the poor, rich countries should offer them cash, not cows, January 25). Her basic claim is this: organisations give in-kind gifts because they do not trust the poor to make good use of the cash alternative, and that nonprofit organisations should wholly replace assets with cash.
There are many good things to be said about cash transfers in certain circumstances, such as following a natural disaster or for resettling refugees — in other words, when aid is needed, and when the goods and services needed are locally available.
But cash alone will never address the root causes of poverty because extreme poverty is not simply the absence of cash. If it were that easy, the more than $441 billion a year in remittances sent to developing countries would have solved poverty already. Remittances certainly are an important source of income, but my point is that even huge infusions of cash have yet to permanently end poverty.
It’s a false accusation that the primary reason for not giving cash is concern over how recipients will spend it. At Heifer International, we have had success in providing unconditional cash transfers following disasters, such as the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. But our mission is to end hunger and poverty, not to temporarily ameliorate it. Discrimination, marginalisation and inequality, as well as a lack of education, health care and jobs, cannot be solved with cash, even if it looks more cost-effective on the surface.
In her article, Zakaria states: “One crucial caveat is that the people being helped must actually need cash and not something else.” She adds that “solutions that defy market solutions, such as building institutions, cannot be provided with cash”.
These caveats are precisely what we aim to address. Our programmes respond to the demand of our participants. They want high-quality livestock, training in how to maximise their farms for production and profit and access to markets that won’t exploit them. These needs cannot be met with cash alone.
Data supports our model, too. In 2016, researchers from the University of Illinois found that families living in extreme poverty in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia who received livestock donations and training experienced increases in their income, consumption levels and food security quickly and over the long term.
In 2011, Western Michigan University researchers found that for each $1 spent by Heifer in Albania, Nepal and Uganda, families had income gains of $2.35, $1.19 and $1.25 per year, respectively, and total asset gains of $3.37, $3.18 and $2.81, respectively. By contrast, in an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Kevin Starr and Laura Hattendorf profiled a cash transfer programme in Uganda that gave grants to Ugandan youth in exchange for a business plan. When calculated for three-year gains, the cost effectiveness of that programme was only $1.03 for every $1 of grant money received.
We aren’t worried that recipients will spend cash on “temptation goods”. Rather, we are addressing the root causes of the problems our participants report. They can’t afford high quality livestock. Improved breeds and artificial insemination materials aren’t consistently available. They haven’t been trained in animal welfare or environmentally sensitive animal husbandry. They don’t have access to veterinarians. They are struggling to adapt to farming in the face of climate change.
When our participants follow our animal management practices, cows, for example, can produce up to 15 litres of milk a day compared to one litre produced per day by local breeds. Of course, there is a cost associated with improved livestock and the training we provide, but the benefits carry forward for generations as farmers pass on their knowledge, not to mention the passing on of livestock offspring. Additionally, the biggest hurdle for poor farmers to surmount is often a lack of access to markets. We help farmers create farmer-owned cooperatives and link them to markets where they can collectively bargain for better prices and share the costs of getting to market.
I would also like to turn the tables on the discussion and ask why self-reliance is not being considered as a measure of success for cash transfers. Children’s diets can certainly improve when their families are given cash. But how long can those improvements be sustained when the community is underdeveloped? Does giving a family $1,000 mean that the seven-year-old daughter will still be receiving adequate nutrition when she is of childbearing age? That’s research I would like to see.
Continually pitting cash against cows is unproductive. There are times when cash transfers are more appropriate, and times when livestock is the most fitting gift we can give. Donors must examine what effect they wish to make and give accordingly. But disparaging organisations such as Heifer International to make the case for giving cash does nothing to benefit people living in extreme hunger and poverty.
Pierre Ferrari is president and CEO of Heifer International, a global nonprofit working to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Afghanistan fixtures
- v Australia, today
- v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
- v New Zealand, Saturday,
- v South Africa, June 15
- v England, June 18
- v India, June 22
- v Bangladesh, June 24
- v Pakistan, June 29
- v West Indies, July 4
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Cameron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Worthington%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Sigourney%20Weaver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
