Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

Through his completion of 6 Farmer to Farmer (FTF) assignments with Partners of the Americas to date, Peter Wotowiec of Pikesville, Tennessee, has played a major role in the development of greenhouse hydroponics in Jamaica and Guyana. Pete conducting a pH test on plant medium at Mar Friends shadehouse.  From October 2006 through August 2009, Pete made 3 visits to Jamaica with Partners of the Americas to work with The Heart Trust/NTA Ebony Park Academy. This residential academy provides agricultural training and certification and serves as a demonstration site where farmers learn and practice advanced farming techniques. Pete’s first visit to Ebony Park in the fall of 2006 focused on introducing the concept of greenhouse technology to the public and to faculty. He facilitated entry-level trainings in greenhouse and hydroponics systems design and management. In November 2007, Pete returned with Dr. Ted Carey of Kansas State University to determine the technical training needs

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has recently published an online article featuring the ongoing support of extension agent Robert Spencer in Haiti.  During his February trip to Haiti Spencer worked alongside Makouti Agro Enterprise to provide trainings to rabbit producers - new and experienced - in all aspects of rabbit production, especially production as it relates to food safety and HACCP standards. They also visited 20 restaurants in Cap Haitien to distribute food safety information and meat thermometers, as well as developing business relationships to further meat quality assurance. Click here to read the article! Community leader and Robert Spencer display Cooperative Extension small-scale production manual

FTF Teams from the DR, Guyana, Wisconsin and the DC Office The Farmer to Farmer teams from the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and the US all visited Nicaragua for a field staff training. It was a great opportunity to share best practices and success stories among programs and also learn new skills. On the first evening, Nicaragua hosted a special event with with representatives of various host organizations who have worked with the program. Listening to their first-hand stories of how Farmer to Farmer has made an impact in Nicaragua was very impressive. And the delicious meal highlighting all the traditional cuisine of Nicaragua was a great touch. During the week-long visit, the  Farmer to Farmer  team also had the opportunity to visit several host organizations in the field and see some impacts first hand. Pineapple in the portable solar dryer One visit, to the nursery and agricultural training center Pio XII was very impressive. One of the impacts they shared was the por

This month, video production specialists Sid McGregor (of PostMay Films ) and Michelle Guasto made their first trip to Guyana, and in Michelle's case, her first trip out of the country. They worked hard and also had a great time enjoying the natural beauty of Guyana and making some Guyanese friends! Below are some excerpts from Sid's blog describing some of their work, and a video showing some of the fun. Arriving in Guyana "We had a meeting with Mr. Craig, Ryan and Sigmund that morning at the offices of POA. Very nice place with a good deal of agriculture projects going on. They have a mini-swamp with an alligator, milk production facilities (though they have slowed down that particular practice) and they are hands deep in poultry. I was very impressed with their organization and process-minded ways in which they approached our project. Very efficient." "...we have two videos that we are doing. Both videos feature an organization called the Pomeroon Wome