Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

By Dr. Gary Linn, F2F Volunteer In the Dominican Republic, one of the most productive agricultural areas is the Yaque del Norte river basin. Over the past decade, hurricanes, floods, mini-tornadoes, strong winds, and now, a strong drought have impacted banana and other agricultural production in the area. These farm communities are very vulnerable to the impact of global climate change (GCC). Irrigation canals that were once full are now depleted, crops are stressed by extreme heat, and soils are becoming degraded. Long-time agricultural practices are becoming ineffective and the usually plentiful fruit, vegetable, and rice production of the region is dropping. For the present, and possibly for future decades, farmers in the Yaque del Norte river basin (and other agricultural areas of the Dominican Republic) must rapidly adopt new climate smart agricultural practices and technologies that mitigate the effects of climate change and help them adapt their farming to the extreme weat...

by Yves-Laurent Regis - NSP Deputy Director,  Gaetane Blanc - NSP Communications Officer,  Dr. Jutile Loiseau - NSP Senior Nutrition Advisor Women are making a significant contribution to improving the lives of their families in Haiti. They account for 52% of the country’s population and are involved in economic activities and participate in a variety of social initiatives in their communities. At home, women are responsible for their children’s education, the management of the household, and have their share in various decision-making processes affecting family members and neighbors. Mother Leader - Marie Guerline Ostine Women are also the backbone of the Haiti Nutrition Security Program (NSP). Much of NSP depends on Mother Leaders - women who have completed or are in the process of completing a 15-month “learning by doing” training program in nutrition and health education. Each Mother Leader is responsible for taking what she has learned and communicating it to h...

O n August 12 th , several hundred Haitian young people gathered to celebrate International Youth Day. This day celebrates youth as partners in today’s global society, and promotes the engagement and participation of youth in sustainable development. Youth engagement is at the heart of the strategy of Partners’ Nutrition Security Program (NSP) for the promotion of good nutrition practices for sustainable change. Partners supports the Haitian Ministry of Health and Population by strengthening the capacity of community health workers and traditional birth attendants in nutrition. Partners has also improved coordination with health ministry staff and health institutions in order to achieve better coverage of services such as prevention, screening, referral and managements of cases of malnutrition. Young people aged 10-19 account for more than 37% of the Haitian population and can play a key role in the promotion and adoption of good nutrition practices. NSP and its local partne...

In April 2015, Gabriel Maya, the CEO of a small eco-cosmetic company called Zen Naturals, traveled from his home country of Colombia to Washington, D.C. under Partners of the Americas’ Bavaria Entrepreneurship Exchange program. These Bavaria Fellows won a national entrepreneurship competition in Colombia and were then selected to travel to the United States to meet with experts in investment, small business development, and experts in their individual industries to gain skills, ideas, and contacts for future growth. During his visit to Washington, Gabriel learned about the Farmer-to-Farmer program and was able to request a F2F volunteer to visit his company in Colombia in June 2015. Below is an interview with Gabriel Maya and his experience working with Partners of the Americas. Gabriel Maya and one of his suppliers What’s your name and title? Gabriel Maya, CEO of Zen Naturals. My younger brother is the marketing specialist and Director of Marketing and Advertisement. Te...

F2F volunteer Laila Salimi just returned from an assignment in Nicaragua. The purpose of this assignment was to complete a community and organizational diagnostic on farming cooperatives in Nueva Guinea, Nicaragua. These groups will receive F2F volunteers as part of Partners' new country strategy focused on Women and Youth in Nicaragua.  Laila met with producers in 4 communities and visited their farms to understand how their organizations and farms were functioning.   Below are some photos from her trip! Seeing the pineapple production of Nicholas, a member of the La Ceiba cooperative. Capturing a harvest calendar with members of La Ceiba. Chatting before lunch with some members of the  cooperative from the community of Montevideo. Walking around the farm of Christina with other members of Montevideo. Discussing some of the resource gaps in the community. Chatting with Lesbia on her farm in Serrano to better understand Yuca p...

This post was written by F2F Volunteers Katie Plaia and Jennifer Rangel from the field in Guatemala. Greetings! Jennifer explaining how to set up proper presentation for fair events My teammate Jennifer Rangel and I are graduate students at Florida State University. Jennifer is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Media and Communication Studies and I am pursuing a Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communication. We both have a passion for travel and helping others so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Farmer-to-Farmer program in Guatemala this summer. The Farmer-to-Farmer Program is implemented by Partners of the Americas and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Group Background We worked with Grupo Union Esperanza , an organization of 30 women who sell all-natural peanut and peanut butter products. They are located in the community of Santa Ana Huista in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. The group forme...

The Farmer-to-Farmer program is looking for volunteers - we have some exciting opportunities! Read more below... Dominican Republic Water Quality and Wastewater Management Specialist (July – August 2015: 2 weeks) A volunteer with experience in conducting water quality assessments and treatment at fruit packing centers, with particular experience with banana packing, is needed to measure the physical, biological, and chemical parameters of water quality at several banana packing houses. The volunteer will train banana producers at small packing houses on improved practices and methods to improve water quality and wastewater management. Agroforestry and protected areas management specialist (July – September 2015: 2-3 weeks) A volunteer with experience in forest management and restoration of protected areas, developing land use plans for forest protected areas, and training rural farmers and technicians is needed to assess the forestry sector in the Yaque del Norte watershed in J...