The Road to Hell Is Paved with Well-Intended Innovations

The road to Hell is paved with well-intended innovations.

Case in point: Heifer International, an Arkansas-based nonprofit that donates livestock to families at the bottom of the world’s economic pyramid in a misguided attempt to promote self-sufficiency.

I would never suggest that the founders and leaders of Heifer International are not well-intended. However, attempts at social innovation that are not thought through, that are not preceded by adequate due diligence, can do more harm than good.

The terrible inefficiencies of livestock-based food production are one of the leading contributors to world hunger. Promoting animal agriculture in the world’s poorest regions exacerbates the problem, even if it gives a financial boost to some of the organization’s direct beneficiaries.

Global food production is adequate to feed the world’s 6.5 billion people. The problem is, a large percentage of that food – especially of corn, soy and wheat – is fed to livestock rather than to people.

In the U.S. alone, 157 million tons of cereals, legumes and vegetable protein – all suitable for human consumption – is fed to livestock to produce just 28 million tons of animal protein in the form of meat. Globally, farm animals consume one-third of the world’s cereal.

We’ve created a situation in which the world’s poorest people are forced to compete with farm animals for a finite food supply. Of course, the farm animals usually win, because of the economic benefits of meat production. This is what’s known among international hunger-relief workers as the “grain drain.”

Furthermore, clearing land for grazing livestock is the leading cause of rain-forest deforestation.

What is needed are programs that promote the cultivation of the most nutrient-rich food, such as teff, quinoa, and spinach.  This will directly address malnourishment, creating healthy people who can be economically active.

Social innovators who do not take into account the macro effects of their programs can easily do more harm than good.