Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

Wisconsin Nicaragua Partners' ( WNP) chapter invited Farmer to Farmer (F2F) Country Director, Ronald Blandon, to  attend their annual meeting at Stevens Point, Wisconsin this past December.  Dr. Blandon discussed the progress made by the Farmer to Farmer horticulture and dairy beneficiaries in Nicaragua.  Much of the program's success has been due to the technical expertise provided by the large number of  volunteers from Wisconsin.    At WNP chapter meeting Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners of the Americas, Inc. is a not-for-profit, non-political organization working to enhance the quality of life in both Wisconsin and Nicaragua through people-to-people programs promoting cultural awareness and sustainable community development. It is one of the most active partnerships in the network of Partners of the Americas.  Many of the chapter members have volunteered and have recruited within their networks for experts with the needed skills to support the work of   Farmer t

Update from F2F volunteers in the field in Colombia… Femke and Matt discuss the benefits of small-scale vegetable gardening to a group of small inn owners We only have one week left here on San Andres Island and are humming along with our assignment. One highlight has been meeting the staff and consultants working for our host organization the Providence Foundation. This nonprofit organization is dedicated to addressing social and environmental concerns on the archipelago of San Andres, Providence and Santa Catalina islands. The Providence Foundation was the group that initially encouraged and supported the posadas nativas (native inns) to form an association, which is now called the Caribbean Paradise Lodging Association (CPLA). The members of CPLA have been our target audience. Matt measures the footprint of an inn to determine the roof catchment size Providence Foundation executive director June Marie Mow and ecologist Laura Valderrama helped advise us as we prep

Below are some excerpts from the Devils Gulch Ranch blog , where Myriam Kaplan Pasternak - veterinarian and development practitioner volunteering in Haiti this month - shares her reflections of progress in Haiti, and challenges and successes in the rabbit project. Dr. Kaplan-Pasternak has been volunteering in Haiti with Partners of the Americas' Farmer to Farmer Program for six years. F2F Field Officer Gerard Michel Joseph ("Papy") gives thumbs up ...So how is Haiti after 6 years of observation? A place of extremes, confined to an island divided, spilling over to a global reality, hanging on to tradition while flooded by international generosity. A micro reflection of a global future attempting to redirect history so as to not repeat itself. If any country can change fate it is Haiti. Is that what draws global giving or is it the rain of coins traveling the rivers of NGO cash flow? Cash flow, cash flow, that is the key to what the Haitians want. They want jobs m

Matt and Femke with Raizal farmer, Miss Theresa, on Providence Island. Update from the field - F2F Volunteers in Colombia! Hello again from Femke and Matt on San Andres Island, Colombia. We are almost one third of the way through our trip and can barely believe how many wonderful characters we have met, and the amount of information we have gathered, over the past week on Old Providence Island and here on San Andres. While on Providence, we visited half a dozen organic farms that are run by native islanders and also met with representatives from the National Parks office and the local farming and fishing cooperative. Our goal was to gather as much information as possible about crops and farming practices that have been successful in this Caribbean island environment. Though the soil here on San Andres is different than on Providence (here it is mostly rocky or red clay while Providence is mostly volcanic), the native culture and farming/food traditions are quite similar.

Update from F2F Volunteers in Colombia!  Note: "We wrote this post about a week ago, but have not had internet access until today. We will be sharing more updates and photos soon!" View from plane ride to Old Providence Greetings from Old Providence Island, Colombia. We finally arrived yesterday morning after four flights and nearly 24 hours of travel time. The most eventful plane ride was certainly the final flight from San Andres Island to Old Providence (or Providencia). We didn’t anticipate that the airport would close down during our middle-of-the-night layover on San Andres Island, and, after a few fitful hours of sleep on the pavement outside the front gate, the security guards finally opened the airport at 6am. We were the first two people to check in for our 25-minute flight on a small prop plane over the textured turquoise waters of the southwest Caribbean Sea. We quickly realized the long journey was well worth it when we arrived to this vibrant jewel of a

The Farmer to Farmer Program in Guyana has teamed up with the local Shadehouse project to construct a demonstration shadehouse on Saint Stanislas College Farm, where the F2F-Guyana office is located. The shadehouse will serve as a training site, an experimental station to test new production practices, and an example of structure design well-suited for weather conditions in Guyana. Planning is also underway for a second demonstration shadehouse in partnership with the Guyana School of Agriculture. Partners of the Americas thanks all of the Farmer to Farmer volunteers who have contributed their time and expertise into the design and function of these shadehouses! Below are some pictures of construction on a rainy day.

Lily Schneider and Matthew McCue working with farmer's market participants Matthew McCue and Lily Schneider volunteered in the Dominican Republic in December 2012 on a  Farmer to Farmer  assignment focused on marketing strategies and soil testing trainings with small producers in the areas of El Cercado, Padres de las Casas,and Bani. McCue, an Iraqi war veteran, got connected to Partners'  Farmer to Farmer Program staff at a conference where he was representing the Farmer Veteran Coalition , an organization whose mission is to "mobilize veterans to feed America" through employment and careers in agriculture. McCue and Schneider have invaluable experience to offer, gained from owning and operating a 15 acre, certified organic, diversified vegetable farm in Fairfield, California. They participate in farmers' markets, and their farm produces more than 35 vegetables as part of a community supported agriculture (CSA) program. They deliver products to clients on

The Partners of the Americas'  Farmer to Farmer team wishes you a Happy 2013! We hope you have enjoyed the holiday season and we thank you for your continued interest and support. Did you make any New Years resolutions? Maybe to travel more, meet new people, practice a foreign language, help those who are less fortunate, learn something new, or share your knowledge and skill in 2013. Volunteering with the  Farmer to Farmer  Program can help you keep your New Years resolutions.  Find out more about how you can  volunteer today!