NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

International development organization Heifer International and impact investment management group Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF) today announced a partnership to increase investments in local food and farming businesses in the United States, Africa, Asia, Central and Latin America.

The partnership will enable Heifer International’s impact investing division – Heifer Impact Capital – and SEAF to build on SEAF’s global network and experience raising over $1.2 billion in impact investments over the last 31 years. The groups will also take advantage of SEAF’s global fund management activities to catalyze private investment in rural communities around the world.

“We created Heifer Impact Capital to provide investment capital to farmers and cooperatives around the world supported by Heifer International,” said Pierre Ferrari, President and CEO of Heifer International.

“The partnership with SEAF will enable us to raise and deploy more capital, increasing access to appropriate financing for millions of farmers around the world so they can grow their businesses and provide a reliable income for themselves and their families,” added Terry Wyer, Senior Vice President of Investment Programs at Heifer International and head of Heifer Impact Capital.

The two organizations will jointly develop programs, using Heifer International’s living income methodology as their core impact measurement. The methodology goes beyond traditional income measures for ending poverty, taking into account local costs including nutritious food, shelter, education and health care. Local farmers and food producers map out what is needed to close the living income gap and use impact capital to invest in scaling their businesses.

“With more than 30 years in impact investing, we know the importance of entrepreneur-led development for improving the lives of underserved people and communities, and sustainably ending poverty around the world,” said Bert van der Vaart, co-CEO at SEAF.

“Partnering with Heifer International will enable us to expand the reach of our work through their network of cooperatives, enterprises and local offices, providing smallholder farmers and other entrepreneurs with the capital, knowledge and networks they need to grow their businesses, while delivering appropriate financial returns to our investors,” added Agnes Dasewicz, SEAF’s newly appointed co-CEO.

Photo courtesy of PRNewsFoto/Heifer International.