Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

An Interview with Global BrightLight Foundation's CEO Benjamin Bunker As part of our new series of interviews, the Agriculture and Food Security (AFS) Team at Partners of the Americas wants to learn more about the innovators who are creating technologies that enhance the lives of those living in low-income rural communities in developing countries. Part of our new initiative is to create an online community for farmers and innovators to come together and share ideas which improve these people’ lives as well as their productivity. Partners of the Americas recently had the opportunity of meeting with the CEO of the Global BrightLight Foundation (GBL), Benjamin Bunker. Ben, who holds an M.S. in Sustainable Energy Systems from the School of Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan, worked as a clean energy consultant and has been involved with the foundation since its inception in 2011. Before joining GBL full time in 2016, Ben supported USAID i...

If You Give a Man a Rabbit By: Abe Fisher, F2F Volunteer - Haiti   Who does not enjoy a cookie and a tall glass of milk? While in the U.S. a cold glass of milk and a delicious cookie is commonplace, in Haiti, this delicious treat is regarded differently. Bon Bon Te cookies are a finite tradition given to pregnant women and hungry children across Haiti. While most U.S cookies contain chocolate and lots of flour and sugar, Bon Bon Te cookies are made from water, cooking oil, salt, sugar, and clay. The clay is found in the deep pits and caves that make up Haiti's Central Plateau. The clay is shipped to urban areas like Port-au-Prince where they are sifted and strained to remove small rocks, branches, or other “ foreign objects. ” After being processed, the clay is used to make Bon Bon Te . Despite providing impoverished Haitians with a cheap source of nutrients, much of these "cookies" are laden with parasites which for many Haitians can lead to...

A grower from the Jarabacoa Greenhouse Cluster in the Dominican Republic Currently, small-scale greenhouse owners in the Jarabacoa region of the Dominican Republic produce several horticultural crops including tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, and herbs. While the producers are able to consistently produce quality yields, they are vulnerable to volatile local and export markets, including wide price fluctuations. A F2F volunteer was requested to assess domestic and international markets for high-value vegetable crops and give recommendations to producers regarding next steps to ensure more consistent market and price options, possibly including negotiating firm production contracts. The goal was for producers and extension agents to better understand their options to increase the consistency of farm gate price and sales. Supermarket in Jarabacoa F2F volunteer  Jean Schwaller traveled in January to access markets.  One problem identified by the Ministry of...

F2F Volunteer Deron Beck (far right) with the rest of the Sacapulas, Guatemala Team Take a look at the colorful picture to the right. What does it remind you of? A beautiful tapestry? A new clothing pattern? It is actually the new onion planting strategy for Sacapulas, Guatemala. The colorful spaces and checkerboards are different growth trials. This color coded organizational chart is part of a procedure of crop rotation to find the best way to grow the onions. At the bottom is a space for a rotation demo. Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Deron Beck designed this system as a way to encourage new practices by comparing them with traditional practices. Deron knew that farmers are often reluctant to adopting new practices so by developing a system for them to compare results, he felt they would be willing to make changes and eventually maximize their production of onions. In Guatemala, and other countries around the world, onion growing practices are not standardized. Deron believes t...

Old Naval Hospital, Eastern Market, Washington DC Last week, a few representatives from the Partners of the Americas attended the Nonprofit Essentials of M&E aand Communications at the Old Naval Hospital in Eastern Market, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Capitol Hill.  Key points from the morning M&E session included discussions of cost benefit analysis and the inclusion of discount rate, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), evaluation of the team’s culture, impact valuation measurements, and difference indifference curves.During the time, we learned extensively about cost-benefit equation. They highlighted creating an analysis where the discount rate is taken into consideration. Dan Tsin from the Urban Alliance really pressed the point of how important it was to formalize monitoring and evaluation, even for small nonprofits. Down below is a great example of a cost-benefit analysis illustrated for a constituency of online readers to get engaged in the mission. ...

At just over 6200ft elevation, winded, but yet proud of my accomplishment, I began setting up my camera gear for what was next to come. The coffee harvest here in the mountainous region of Huehuetenango. Guatemala is home to what surely were severe 45° mountain slopes and expansive highland views; a perfect setting for great imagery. Elvera, and her two daughters, are indigenous coffee farmers and owners of a small plot of land filled with organically grown coffee plants. This is a precious opportunity so rarely given to women in a society so dominated by male influence. This was a welcomed open door for change.  As a documentary videographer, I have been tasked by F2F to tell Elvera’s story as she works to better her family’s lives through the exportation of high quality, woman-grown, organic coffee.  Through the FECCEG’s (Federación Comercializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala) concerted effort to extend local markets, these small micro-producers finally have ...