GREENFIELD, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Elanco Animal Health is continuing its commitment to break the cycle of hunger for those most in need with a $1.5 million matching challenge to help Heifer International fund Phase II of the East Africa Dairy Development Project (EADD). Elanco is the animal health division of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), and funding for the matching challenge is generously provided by the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, supporting Elanco’s vision of a world with safe, affordable, and nutritious food for all.
Phase I of EADD was launched in 2008 with a generous grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Building on that success, Elanco joins a variety of partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to help fund Phase II. Elanco's $1.5 million gift is offered as a dollar-for-dollar match with Heifer International donors’ gifts. The matching program provides an opportunity for donations to deliver twice the economic value and accelerate the pace of change toward achieving more food secure communities in East Africa. Full utilization of the fundraising effort that complements donor gifts with an Elanco matching donation will result in $3 million to help fund EADD Phase II.
EADD focuses on empowering small dairy producers to move beyond subsistence toward sustainable livelihoods. Farmers receive training and resources to increase milk productivity on their farms as well as technology for collecting, preserving and transporting milk to the marketplace. The approach addresses practices that boost smallholders’ productivity while creating an infrastructure that supports a sustained market for farmers’ products. Key successes achieved in Phase I include:
- 179,000 smallholder dairy farmers doubled their household income
- 27 new milk collection hubs were established
- Farmers earned $131 million in milk sales and sold 94 million gallons of milk
Elanco’s matching challenge will help support Phase II, expanding EADD into Tanzania while continuing to work with smallholders in Kenya and Uganda. Phase II efforts will focus on developing sustainable collection hubs, advancing gender equity for women farmers, and replicating successes achieved to date. Smallholders will learn about and engage new technologies and practices around fodder production, alternative energy sources and milk transport systems. Key goals for Phase II include:
- Increase current dairy farmer income by at least 100%
- Increase at least by 30% the number of women actively supplying milk at the hub level
- Increase at least by 30% the number of women suppliers with access to and control over productive assets
Elanco’s support of Heifer International dates back to 2007. In addition to providing the matching challenge, Elanco is exploring opportunities to supplement its financial giving through gifts of technical expertise, time and talent. EADD is part of Elanco’s commitment to break the cycle of hunger in 100 communities around the globe by 2017.
Elanco President Jeff Simmons said the company’s employees are humbled to be part of an effort that is driving positive change far beyond the confines of individual dairy farms. “The positive impact and significance the EADD project creates in the lives of farmers certainly inspires our employees and brings meaning to our work at Elanco. EADD provides dairy farmers in Kenya, Uganda and now Tanzania with an approach that helps them move from subsistence farming to a sustainable, replicable model of creating food secure communities. Farmers are not just producing more milk, they are improving the diets, economies and the quality of life for entire communities,” Simmons said.
“Our work is farther reaching and more effective with Elanco’s partnership,” Heifer CEO Pierre Ferrari said. “We’re truly grateful for their generosity and dedication to ending hunger and poverty. We’re also grateful for their expertise, which helps us protect the health and productivity of the animals that are so important to the families with whom Heifer works.”
For more information on Elanco’s commitment to break the cycle of hunger, visit Elanco.com. And learn how you can join the food security conversation at ENOUGHmovement.com.
About Elanco: Elanco is a global innovation-driven company that develops and markets products to improve animal health, food animal production and companion animal care in nearly 70 countries. Elanco, a division of leading pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, employs approximately 7,000 people worldwide, with offices in more than 40 countries.
About Heifer International: Heifer’s mission is to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth. For more than 70 years, Heifer International has provided livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Heifer is currently working in more than 30 countries, including the United States, to help families and communities become more self-reliant. For information, visit www.heifer.org, read our blog, follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @Heifer or call 888.5HUNGER (888.548.6437).
About the Lilly Foundation: The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation is a tax-exempt private foundation established by Lilly in 1968. The foundation awards cash grants for philanthropic initiatives aligned with Lilly’s corporate responsibility priorities, including improving health for those in need worldwide, supporting communities in which we operate and improving public education in the United States.