FTF Team Visits Projects in Nicaragua

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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 portable solar dryer they build with assistance from a Farmer to Farmer volunteer. The team also visited a dairy processing plant and heard about some improvements that were made with the help of volunteers, including label designs. The final stop was a dairy farm, where the producer and his family demonstrated their previous milking practices and compared them with their current ones, adopted after volunteers worked with the family. They have seen great improvements in milk quality due to more hygienic milking practices and better mastitis testing. They also have improved cattle nutrition through new practices and techniques for forage and cattle feed.

Seeing the program impact in Nicaragua and hearing about activities in the other countries clearly shows that  Farmer to Farmer volunteers are making a difference in the hemisphere.


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