Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

This could be an way to put all those photos to work and make a few dollars for Makouti or another project in Haiti. Haiti is loaded with entrepreneurs. Go to the website and check it out. http://www.sevenfund.org/entrepreneur-image/index.php “I Am An Entrepreneur” Photo Competition Contest details Cambridge, MA – December 1, 2009 – The SEVEN Fund is pleased to announce the ‘I Am an Entrepreneur’ photography competition. This competition recognizes the outstanding use of photography to tell compelling stories of role model entrepreneurs from around the world. Anyone is welcome to participate in this competition. The competition will award twelve (12) prizes, one per month, over a period of one year. Each month, one finalist will be selected and will receive a prize of $100. The grand prize winner (selected from among the 12 finalist photographs) will receive $1,000 at the end of the year. Often, the imagery associated with developing nations captures the misery that accompanies pov...

Guyana's Kaieteur News Online published an article on December 12 which tells the story of a farmer from Hauraruni who is prospering, despite poor soil, with the help of a new hydroponics system and support from Farmer to Farmer volunteers and local organizations. The full article, "Highway farmer grows food where soil is no good", can be read here: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/12/12/highway-farmer-grows-food-where-soil-is-no-good/ In the spring of 2009 Farmer to Farmer volunteer Grady Sampson, from Clemson University, traveled to assist farmers with the hydroponics system. Grady was recruited by Partners of the Americas' Mississippi Chapter, which is partnered with the Guyana Chapter of Partners of the Americas.

Haiti is currently facing an outbreak of Teschen Disease in its pigs. This is like polio for pigs. It is NOT contagious to humans but humans can spread the disease. As a volunteer travelling in Haiti you do risk accidently bringing this disease back to the USA if you are not careful. Therefore it is important that you wash your hands well after handling animals or soil. I carry disinfectant wipes with me since soap and water are not always easy to find. I also clean and disinfect my shoes if I think I may have been in contact with a contaminated area. I always do this the night before I leave Haiti and again when I get home. All my travel clothes go straight into the washing machine. I am not telling you this to discourage you or to make you paranoid. As a veterinarian working with FTF in Haiti for 3 years, I have my hands literally in lots of diseases. I am also a farmer in California which makes me a high risk traveler and a potential threat to our food chain and my personal farm...

We are wrapping up a two week training process in the D.R. before heading off for a week in Haiti. Our assignment here has been to conduct training sessions in various subjects of organic greenhouse management. We worked with three different local NGO's, each of whom has projects in greenhouse cultivation of sweet bell peppers. The greenhouses are operated by groups of 3-10 growers who work cooperatively. Depending upon the organization, the groups are either comprised exclusively of women, or made up of a mixture of men and women. Each of the three different NGO's with whom we collaborated had its own position on organic practices, ranging from those who were interested in adopting some organic methods as a means of reducing production costs to those who were committed to natural resource conservation and see organic production as a means of achieving that goal. We introduced a range of subjects during our meetings with growers. Topics such as organic foliar feeding ap...

This is my 7th trip to Haiti as a Rabbit Project volunteer and as usual my trip itinerary went out the window in less than 12 hours. The weather is pleasantly warm ! and the hurricanes are someone else's problem this year so far. The work has been good and frustrating at times, but making continual progress.Some exciting opportunities are looming and I am hopeful. Haiti as usual has me laughing again. With Clinton's big push to renew business in Haiti all the hotels and island hoppers are gearing up for the competition of hosting all of us wonderful do gooders. I now have a beautiful, brand new, fingerprint free, flat screen TV in my room with a high tech battery backup system and remote with so many options. It even has cable. I was really looking forward to CNN in my room instead of the lobby TV to see if hurricanes were coming. Alas the only images I get is a crystal clear migrating "NO SIGNAL !" ( yes with the exclamation point). The real excitement came at midnig...

Today finds me back in Haiti anticipating the multitude of meetings we have lined up with potential funders for several rabbit production projects. Herve and I have been also discussing chocolate production. He has been buying cacao beans and making chocolate bars. This last week in San Francisco I met with the staff of TCHO chocolate (www.tcho.com) and learned about the fermentation and transformation of cacao into chocolate. Someday Herve is hoping that TCHO will purchase beans from Makouti. Haiti is bustling with activity. There is a Sof'n free shampoo promotional event going on at the Roi Christophe Hotel and loads of charity workers increasing their efforts to help. The excitement is palpable. I am looking forward to visiting the rabbit projects which have been progressing nicely over the last three years. Our shipment of cage wire and water bottle nipples has cleared customs (YEAH!!!!!). This will put another 250 units in production. Several new projects are lined up just...

Growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin I developed a mental model of what it took to get milk from the cow to the processing plant. My volunteer assignment in Nicaragua certainly has had an impact on how I now view the dairy industry and the challenges farmers face getting their product to market. The video below shows milk being received at a milk collection center near the city of Boaco Nicaragua. I was impressed about the level of effort being put forth to maintain product quality.

During my recent assignment in Nicaragua I had the opportunity to work with a group interested in learning about small scale composting. The group consisted of individuals from the community of San Jose de los Remates and all were eager learners. This training took place on September 9 on two farms. At the first location I provide instruction on the types and volumes of materials to include when building a pile as well as the care and management that needed to take place in the comming months. The video below was taken at the second location. I was able to take the time to shoot the video because the group was such a quick study.

Here are some more photos from the small animal and beekeeping project in Haiti. Please see the previous blog entry to read about the trip. Enjoy the photos! Above: Speaking with sisters at Signeau, at their new rabbitry. Volunteer Myriam Kaplan-Pasternak helped them establish the rabbitry the previous week. The rabbits looked good - plenty of water, in the shade, eating their forage. They received their first next box and will hopefully begin breeding soon. Young rabbits enjoying some fruit near Cap Haitien. Commercial production rabbitry and Makouti rabbit training center. This site provides a good demonstration for producers. Group of young leaders from the community of Grand Boulage (South of Haiti) visiting rabbitries in Cap Haitien and receiving training from Makouti technicians in rabbit production, thanks to the Friends of Haiti. The Farmer to Farmer Program works with producers in the mountainous village of Grand Boulage. Every month, community leaders from various (...

Peggy Carlson , Program Director, and I recently traveled to Haiti to visit our local Chapter, staff, and ongoing projects. Please see below some photos and a brief summary of our trip. We hope this blog will be enjoyed by upcoming volunteers, returned volunteers and for all those who are interested in agriculture in Haiti . [photo: view of Aquin from hotel] After our arrival in Port au Prince and some meetings there, we traveled throughout the South of Haiti (Signeau, Aquin, Les Cayes, Camp Perrin , Chantal, Jacmel, etc.) to meet with beekeepers who are involved with the program and also with farmers, association members, students, and others interested in learning more about involvement in the growing network of Haitian beekeepers. Through Farmer to Farmer and the efforts of Makouti Agro Enterprise, beekeepers in the North and increasingly in the South of Haiti are coming together to share experiences and solutions to their challenges. There is a wide spectrum of exp...

Partners of the America's Farmer to Farmer Program improves economic opportunities in rural areas of Latin America and the Caribbean by increasing food production and distribution and promoting better farm and marketing operations. The program focuses on select agricultural commodity chains and US volunteer experts provide specific technical assistance to small and medium-scale producers, agro-processors and others working at all levels of these chains. The Farmer to Farmer Program blends two goals: providing people-to-people level exchanges and promoting sustainable economic growth and development. This Farmer to Farmer Blog will connect our expert volunteers and provide a space to communicate experiences. Volunteers can post pictures, comments, reports and stories that they want to share with farmers and volunteers everywhere.