Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

Nicaragua's agricultural sector   provides a higher rate of employment opportunities than in any other country  in Central America . This can be problematic from a development perspective, though, as 43% of these agriculturalists are under 25 and have only 3.5 to 5 years of schooling. Moreover, 72% of the population of the country has not attended secondary school. Therefore, it is important to the country's economy to support agricultural training and education with a focus on student retention and growth opportunities. Among the coalition of organizations trying to engage rural youth and build new skills is CETAA , a vocational and technical school for environmental studies and agroforestry techniques. CETAA works closely with the 7 ethnic populations in Wawashang , a remote Caribbean coastal settlement in Nicaragua. Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Sandro Lopes, a youth-in-development professional, volunteered with CETAA to propose a strategy to implement a 4-H curriculum , a

Wish you could have escaped the cold over the holidays and traveled to a tropical paradise? Well, that’s exactly what Lauren Fedenia did when she traveled to the Dominican Republic earlier this month as part of the USAID funded Farmer-to-Farmer Program. Lauren’s principal objectives were to provide training to help coffee farmers mitigate the impacts of global climate change, to reduce land degradation and water pollution, all while exploring new disease tolerant coffee varieties. Lauren certainly had a full plate for her trip! Coffee was introduced to the Dominican Republic in 1735. Now there are 30,000 coffee farming families on small farms, exclusively growing different varieties of Coffea Arabica, a species of coffee with superior quality. However, the domestic producers face problems. 90% of the coffee consumed in the DR is imported. Not only that, but diseases like La Roya  (coffee rust) and Coffee Berry Borer destroy plants and reduce production. Changes in weather patt

Williams Hernandez (Plan Yaque) and Ms. Surface  discuss El Arca Jarabacoa’s wetland sewage treatment system By F2F Volunteer Jan Marie Surface November 13-27, 2016 I had the opportunity to complete my first Farmer-to-Farmer assignment in the Dominican Republic. On my first day, I was introduced to the Farmer-to-Farmer staff: Dr. Rafael Ledesma Schoowe, Country Coordinator; Rafael Marte Aracena, my assigned Field Officer, José Almodóvar, Field Officer; and Ana Gonzalez, Administrative Assistant. Dr. Ledesma and I discussed the assignment and he provided an overview of the F2F program in the Dominican Republic (DR). My host organization, The Plan for the Sustainable Development of the Yaque del Norte River Basin Inc. (Plan Yaque), requested assistance with the development of a proposal to fund rainfall, temperature, and humidity weather stations in 52 micro-watersheds in the Yaque del Norte river basin. The goals of the project, if funded, are to promote the education,

By F2F Volunteer Melissa Delzio Citadel of Henri Christophe, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti “Beyond the mou ntains, more mountains” Our guide, Eddie, gestures broadly to the horizon. “That’s a Haitian proverb. It reminds you not to think you are that important; there is always someone greater than you.” Looking out at the mountainous landscape surrounding the ruins of the Citadel of Henri Christophe, I find myself wondering about other interpretations. The land here is beautiful, lush and tropical. The mountains jagged in every direction until the land hits the sea, the Northern Coast of Haiti. Eddie points to where Columbus’ s Santa Mar ía ran aground, the point of colonization. The Citadel and nearby ruined palace of Sans-Souci represent the lost dream of the Haitian king (and former slave), Henri Christophe. Christophe, together with Jean-Jacques Dessalines, launched the world’s first successful slave rebellion, dramatically overthrowing the French — who were outnumbered by a factor o