Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

Farmer to Farmer volunteer, Dr. Carlos Gonzalez, was featured in the Jackson County Chronicle for his work in Nicaragua. In May, Dr. Gonzalez traveled to Nicaragua with the Farmer to Farmer Program to train dairy farmers on bovine reproduction. Please click here to visit the article "Global Networking: Local vet shares knowledge with Nicaragua" and to learn more about Dr. Gonzalez's work and the program in Nicaragua. Farmers, professors, extension agents, veterinarians and others from Wisconsin have continuously been supporting agricultural development in Nicaragua through international volunteer service and dedication to programs like Farmer to Farmer . Thank you Wisconsin volunteers!

A great article was recently published online by FTF-Haiti volunteer Robert Spencer in the Alabama Cooperative Farming News - "Haitian Visit a Rich Experience 'From Farm to Fork'". Click here to read it! Robert has done a great job of making the article a good mix of informative and interesting, with a personal touch showing his appreciation of Haiti and the progress he's seen since his last visit years ago. Special thanks to Robert and also to Sibyl Wright of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service for their outreach and dedication to Haiti.

Did you know that Partners of the Americas assisted in establishing a Farmer to Farmer Program with OIC International in 3 countries in Africa? Back in 2002, Partners' FTF Staff provided training in program implementation for the Farmer to Farmer Program in Ghana, Togo, and Cote d'Ivoire. Here are a few photos from Togo!

Below is an excerpt from a volunteer trip report which explains how Makouti Agro Enterprise in Haiti works reforestation into beekeeping activities. Another excerpt from the report which makes me smile: Mr. Villius operates a donkey parking lot for those coming to market day. A donkey parking lot - never heard of that before! The current Strategy of Makouti Agro Enterprises in regard to beekeeping is to train interested parties in Basic beekeeping skills. In order to be a part of Makouti the beekeeper must agree to plant and keep 50 trees alive for the year, and give 1 gallon of honey per year [to Makouti]. This is an excellent strategy as deforestation has been a big problem in Haiti. The trees they plant are trees that are very hardy; they bloom and produce a nectar source for the bees. The fruit is a seed pod that is high in protein for livestock to eat. They seem to be resilient to charcoal makers as we saw a stump of a tree that had been cut and converted to charcoal then th...

Here are a few photos from our horticulture project in Guyana, taken during a volunteer's visit in March. The volunteer is Dr. James Garner of the University of Arkansas - Pine Bluff. He is pictured collecting soil samples and marking off trial plots with Harold Parris, a farmer with the Kuru Kururu Farmers' Crop and Livestock Association (KKFCLA). The KKFCLA mainly produces eddoes and citrus, and they aim to increase their production to access local supermarkets as well as CARICOM markets in the future. The third photo was taken 3-4 weeks after Dr. Garner's trip to Guyana, and the eddoes have a healthier green color, especially in the trial plot farthest from the camera. Dr. Garner is working with the farmers to achieve an ideal level of soil nutrients.

Partners' Farmer to Farmer Program has been active in Latin America and the Caribbean since the early 1990s. We thought it would be interesting to post a photo "from the archives" every now and then. Here, a volunteer is pictured in 2003 working together with his Honduran counterparts in a small greenhouse in El Matazana.

Thanks to all of you who voted on the Facebook Global Giving Page for Partners' "Bowl of Bunnies" finalist photo. The competition has concluded. Although the photo did not win the overall competition, your votes and the publicity brought awareness and some donations to the project! To read an update posted yesterday and view photos of a recent trip to the Grand Boulage community, please click on the link below. Also, if you have been thinking about donating $10 or more to help Haitians feed themselves, there is no better time than today, June 16, to make your money count the most! Today Global Giving is running a 50% Match campaign until funds run out !

Farmer to Farmer volunteer, Dr. Phil Phillips traveled to the Dominican Republic in May to share his expertise in Integrated Pest Management. Dr. Phillips taught pest identification and treatment techniques to a variety of avocado and greenhouse producers. Additionally, Dr. Phillips donated hand lenses and trained the women that manage the greenhouses to identify pests and simple procedures to manage the pests. For example, one recommendation is that once a pest (mite, insect or disease) is first identified, generally towards the entrance of the greenhouse, the growers should begin each days work within the greenhouse in the opposite end or the side of the greenhouse away from the contamination and work their way towards the infested area. This is a practical and applicable recommendation that will now help to avoid the spread of the pests by the workers to the healthy plants. In the photos: 1.) Dr. Phillips discussing Integrated Pest Management with greenhouse growers in Padre L...

Are you a beekeeper? Would you like to share your technical skills with beekeepers who are eager to improve their apiaries in Haiti? Partners' Beekeeping Project in Haiti has several open volunteer opportunities! Areas include Beehive Management, Beehive Inspection, Hive Division, Comb Removal, Honey Production, Honey Processing, Beeswax Specialist (including making crafts, candles, etc.), Queen Production, Nucleus Production, and Propolis Harvesting. Ideal volunteers will know bee biology and behavior, have solid experience with hive management and the area under consideration, and have strong skills in problem solving and communication. The Farmer to Farmer Program in Haiti works with beekeepers with a wide range of skill levels. Volunteers also collaborate with local agribusinesses and university students. For more information click on the "beekeeping" label in the right column. For more details please contact Meghan Olivier at molivier@partners.net.  Haiti is wai...

Great news, and we need your vote!  Partners of the Americas' photo on the right from our Global Giving project in Haiti was chosen as a finalist in a Facebook Photo contest. If our photo has received the most votes by June 11th, our project could win $1,000 toward project goals of helping the Grand Boulage mountain community feed itself and develop sustainable agriculture activities. Farmer to Farmer volunteers often travel to Grand Boulage to provide assistance, usually in small animal production and horticulture. We also collaborate with the Friends of Haiti, Inc. out of Green Bay, WI on this project. If you are on Facebook, to vote please become a "fan" of Global Giving's Page on Facebook by clicking the LIKE icon on their page . Then go to their "South America" photo album to select that you "like" this photo. Thanks and spread the word! If you would like to read more about the project, click on the link on the right hand column of t...