Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

The Honorable Susan Rice, U.S. National Security Advisor,  discusses Food Security Challenges for the 21 st Century  ( Photo courtesy of The Chicago Council @ChicagoCouncil ) The Chicago Council on Global Affairs recently convened their annual Global Food Security Symposium and the 2014 topic was "Advancing Global Food Security in the Face of Weather Volatility and Climate Change," an extremely important issue facing all stakeholders in the agriculture sector. The symposium had a wide array of speakers from government, universities, non-profit organizations, corporations, and farmers. US government representatives included some key speakers like Secretary Tom Vilsack, US Department of Agriculture; Susan E. Rice, US National Security Advisor; and Administrator Rajiv Shah, US Agency for International Development, who discussed US policy as it relates to food security and climate change and also announcing a new USAID nutrition strategy and gave updates on t...

Farmer-to-Farmer recently sent volunteer Tony Kleese to work on an organic farm production and budgeting assignment in St. Thomas, Jamaica. This project was completed in collaboration with our partner FAVACA. Below are excerpts from Tony's trip report:  “Historically, St. Thomas is a farming parish, and the people still rely on small cash crops and tree crop production for their livelihood. While the demand for organic crops has expanded rapidly over the past 20 years in developed nations, Jamaica is just beginning to see significant on-island demand. The Source Farm Foundation (SFF) has been working for the past two years to provide training in permaculture, organic farming, crop budgeting, and markets, with the intention of launching a fair and transparent marketing and distribution system for moving organic produce into local markets that are seeking it. The purpose of this assignment was to train the producers in innovative design and production strategies that will provide...

Vista of coffee growing in the mountains of Colombia Colombia has traditionally been known for its production and export of high-quality coffee. Because coffee is grown at higher altitudes (roughly 1,400 meters above sea level), this leaves large parts of the country at lower altitudes available for alternative crops. Many of these areas have optimum soil conditions and climates for crops like citrus fruit. In Colombia, almost 45,000 hectares of citrus fruits, mainly oranges, tangerines and lemons, have been planted throughout these lower altitude regions. The citrus sector faces some significant growth challenges though. There are very few nurseries cultivating citrus plants and no regulations to monitor the health of the propagation materials used in citrus plantations. Technological deficits in crop management, irrigation control, pruning, fertilizing, and harvesting are also hampering increased citrus production. Combined, these problems contribute to low and unpredictable yiel...

Unripe bananas in the Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is one of the only countries in the Caribbean where bananas continue to be a major export. Banana production is of particular importance in Yaque del Norte, an area vital in the country's food production. However, unpredictable weather patterns such as more frequent droughts, floods, and extreme weather have caused concern over the reduced quantity of available water. Poor agricultural practices including land-clearing, over-fertilization, and poor waste management also threaten the quality of water in the Yaque del Norte watershed, which is also the main source of potable water for several communities. Yaque del Norte river in northwest Dominican Republic Partners of the Americas’ Farmer-to-Farmer program in the DR seeks to protect the Yaque del Norte watershed through effective soil, water, and natural resource management. F2F volunteers will also work with farmers to introduce risk-reducing measures t...