Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

Written by F2F volunteer Elizabeth Miernicki In March 2018, I traveled to the Dominican Republic for my first ever USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) assignment. As my plane flew over the country towards Las Americas airport, my eyes never left the window. I could not stop thinking about what the soil looked like underneath all of the lush green foliage before my eyes. I soon found myself in a country three times smaller than my home state of Illinois, but with greater soil diversity. A true treat for me! Terraces in Mao formed by livestock walking along the contours. My F2F assignment specifically focused on improving soil management and water conservation practices to reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility and improve water quality, with an emphasis on global climate change in the Ciabo Central region. The overall objective of the assignment was to provide vulnerable farming communities with the necessary strategies and technologies to improve the resiliency of t...

By F2F volunteer, Rebecca Roebber Marketing is changing so fast with the influence of social media and access to the internet. There are so many products we are exposed to everyday, when we open our Instagram or browse through Facebook, companies send us emails with discounts and new products. How do we know what to buy anymore? We are all looking to purchase products that speak to us, that stand out compared to other products. Great marketing shows us products that represent who we are, who we want to be, and what we believe in. I bet that if you look at some of the products you’ve recently purchased, you’ve felt that personal connection, even if you didn’t recognize that the company is working to connect. An example of a connection that brands make with the customer is a chocolate company called “Endangered Species,” their brand is sold at Whole Foods and other natural grocery store and reaches a large audience that care about animals in the rainforest, that is a pretty...

Written by Russ Webster, F2F Volunteer, Guatemala New logo featuring Marco Barbi, created by F2F volunteer Melissa Delzio Yogi-Superfoods has a great set of products, and a great story, both driven by the passion of its founder and owner Marco Barbi. Yogi began in Marco’s kitchen in 2014. Italian by birth, Marco immigrated to Guatemala in 2008 to pursue a more meaningful life through good health and spiritual growth. He sought to help others too on their personal journey through his inspirational books, yoga instruction, and meditation classes. During this time, Marco also began preparing organic health foods such as kombucha, kefir, tahini, and ghee in his kitchen, with each recipe aimed at delivering nutritious, natural sustenance to the body. Marco knew too, through his own experience, that healthy foods help not only the physical body but promote a positive state of mind and emotional health as well—"health body and happy soul,” as Marco liked to say. He shared his f...

F2F volunteer, Michael Viola, recently traveled to the Dominican Republic to work with Plan Yaque, a non-governmental institution that combines efforts between the state and civil society for the protection, conservation, and sustainable management of natural resources of the Yaque del Norte River Basin. Its fundamental purpose is to contribute to regional and national development towards the construction of a better and sustainable quality of life in the Dominican Republic. The purpose of this assignment was to focus on the middle zone, Cuenca Media, of the northern Yaque River watershed that consists of 19 micro-watersheds and supplies approximately 11% of the total area. At the end of last year, a meeting was held with various governmental, academic and political stakeholders to discuss the development of a sustainable development plan for the watershed. As part of this effort, Michael’s assignment was to create a comprehensive proposal specifically focused on the Cuenca Media...

Written by F2F Nicaragua volunteer, Arthur Bassett Arriving to Nicaragua the mind is always wondering, “what could be the outcome of this volunteer project”. These projects are a special time to work with great people from around the world. This trip was my first time getting to work with coffee farmers in the Madriz department of Nicaragua. Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) assignments can vary with their topics but this assignment involved training farmers and staff from the NGO Fabretto and their 5 de Junio cooperative members. We trained students that were young men and women so that they can be experts in their area. Everyone was very excited to learn about how to manage organic certification for a healthy product and an improved value to their coffee. Our plan was simple: to do a mock inspection and teach a class on how to do an inspection. Our program involved going to fields, storage areas, seedling nurseries and other areas used in production to see what needed to be reviewed for...

Kristen Gartland traveled to Guatemala as an F2F volunteer for 2 weeks in March 2018 to assist CEPROCAL with their marketing strategies. CEPROCAL is the Center for Goat Production in the Altiplano of Guatemala. CEPROCAL was initially founded by Save the Children. It is funded by Save the Children, USAID, Agros and Keurig Green Mountain. CEPROCAL’s focus is to fight malnutrition in the Ixil area (Quiché). They do this by providing a female goat to a family in need, then breeding that goat with one of their male goats. Once the female goat has kids, the family who received the goat becomes responsible for donating a goat to another family in need. This process has helped over 30 families so far. When products are purchased from CEPROCAL it gives them the funds they need to continue these services. Kristen spent 3 days at CEPROCAL, learning more about the company and the employees who work there. She took photos for the website and was taught about how the products are made and the proc...

Written by F2F Volunteer, Leah Tewksbury The months of February and March typically are part of the dry season in the Dominican Republic, but during a recent F2F assignment focused on soil health, volunteer Leah Tewksbury encountered heavy rainfall nearly every day of her visit. This atypical rainfall may suggest that the Dominican Republic is experiencing the uncertainties and changes associated with climate change, and therefore farmers learning how to improve agricultural practices to protect soil resources is more critical than ever. Most of the farm sites that Leah visited were located in rural, mountainous regions, where accessibility to these remote locations already takes considerable effort, but with the intense rains, some of the roads became impassable. Many Dominican farmers grow crops using conventional chemical applications on steep, denuded slopes, which are subject to serious soil erosion from frequent tillage and intense tropical storms. The recent storms showcased...