Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

Mr. Berube demonstrates how to harvest and filter honey. During his recent Farmer to Farmer  flexible assignment in northwestern Ghana, Mr. Conrad Berube of Nanaimo, British Colombia, introduced the basics of owning and keeping bees to interested local farmers. Mr. Berube is Executive Director of the Bees for Babar Society in Nanaimo, which helps subsistence farmers – specifically near Ghana's Mole National Park – install trip-wired beehives on their land to prevent elephants from eating their crops.   Local farmers pose with Mr. Berube From February 26th – April 6th, he arranged for the distribution of 30 hives, smokers and considerable technical information in the villages of Mognori, Murugu and Larabanga. Though not all materials have been distributed to date, several Ghanaian collaborators involved in Mr.   Berube's trip plan to complete the task. Mr. Berube encounters an elephant in Mole National Park. More than 120 individuals participated in M

Señora Erenda at PIO XII in Masaya Señora Erenda Lopez of Masaya, Nicaragua, is both an outstanding and longstanding Farmer to Farmer participant. She converted her farm into a training center called PIO XII, which assists other female producers in the area. In a recent Farmer to Farmer Field Staff workshop held in Nicaragua, staff from the Dominican Republic, Guyana and headquarters in Washington, DC had the opportunity to meet Señora Erenda and tour PIO XII. FTF Field Staff planting seeds in one of PIO XII's square-foot gardens Erenda's dedication to her community is as strong as her dedication to her farm. Female producers who receive training and work at the PIO XII training center demonstrated with confidenence their knowledge of organic composting, fertilizers, solar oven use and square-foot gardening. They have put into practice the knowledge they've gained from Farmer to Farmer volunteers on small-scale agricultural production. Farmer to Farmer staff wer

Meeting with local greenhouse technicians Mr. Willis Brown recently completed a Farmer to Farmer assignment in the Dominican Republic. He worked with female producers, farm technicians, extension advisors, packing house storage managers and directors of greenhouse clusters and groups. Mr. Brown was based in Santo Domingo but visited with producers in Constanza, Jarabacoa and San Jose de Ocoa. Producers led him on tours of their greenhouses and packing storage facilities and showed him the quality of vegetables available in local and regional markets. The Farmer to Farmer program in the Dominican Republic works on strengthening the marketing strategies used by local producers to enhance their accessability to domestic and export markets for greenhouse vegetables.  Mr. Brown wrote in his trip report,   It is very clear that the greenhouse vegetable producers have a basic understanding about production. The implementation of understanding the basics of vegetable production has thru

Judy and a local beekeeper display organic Nicaraguan honey. From January 29th – February 12th, Bob and Judy Hoffman of Holmen, Wisconsin, visited and provided training to Nicaraguan beekeeping cooperatives in the departments of Managua, Leon, Boaco and Masaya. With 60 years of experience in the beekeeping industry – Bob as a part-time beekeeper and Judy in honey promotion and sales – the duo observed the cooperatives’ methods and gave presentations on feeding and nurturing bees, marketing organic honey, and the nutritional value of honey. Bob also discussed the potential benefits of using plastic hives rather than wood and raising queens, as many beekeepers expressed interest in these topics.   Bob observes local beekeeping methods. Reflecting on their two weeks in Nicaragua, Bob and Judy were impressed by the local beekeepers’ skill at managing Africanized bees; innovative experimentation with native, non-stinging bees; and the effort they put into making their o

The success of Partners of the Americas' Farmer to Farmer Program activities has recently been featured in the news! The newly re-designed Farmer to Farmer page on the USAID website features a story about the difference that the FTF Beekeeping project has made over the years in the Haitian honey industry, and how these efforts have helped beekeepers improve their livelihoods. Click here to read the success story and get an update on this project, and don't forget to check out the new and improved website ! Media in St. Kitts and Nevis has featured a story about the expanding support of the Farmer to Farmer Program to the Community Achievers' Project on the islands. In this story on SKNlist , flex volunteer Ralph Bucca helps at-risk youth and local schools set up small, low-tech solar food dryers which bring big potential for micro-enterprise and school snacks. This photo of FTF-Guyana volunteers Dr. Jaheon Koo and Dr. Obadiah Njue, from the University of Arkansa