Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

In March 2018, Kathleen (Kath) Lestina, a business owner and designer from the United States, traveled to Zen Naturals' headquarters in Cali, Colombia as a Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) volunteer. The company's Zue Beauty line is a brand of quinoa-based natural cosmetics that emphasizes sustainable, ethical manufacturing and fair trade in order to improve the lives of quinoa farming communities in Colombia. Through Zue’s Give-Back program, customers are empowered to donate to Colombian organizations, contributing to the company’s two central goals: providing high-quality natural skincare products and generating social and environmental change.  F2F volunteers have been integral to the growth of Zue, as several agricultural and technical volunteers have helped train indigenous farmers to harvest quinoa. Other F2F volunteers have assisted with marketing, branding, and digital media. The purpose of Kath’s visit, the most recent F2F-Zen Naturals partnership, was to assist Zue’s publ...

EducaFuturo is a program currently being implemented by Partners of the Americas in Ecuador and Panama. Funded by the US Department of Labor (USDOL), EducaFuturo seeks to combat child labor in both countries by providing educational programs, vocational training, and livelihood services. The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program has partnered with EducaFuturo on numerous occasions over the past five years, sending 7 volunteers to support their efforts in improving the educational outcomes of youth involved in child labor, while also increasing the income opportunities of households to reduce their reliance on child labor. Volunteers have provided training on a range of topics, including sustainable production practices, processing, business management, and marketing. Most recently, University of Oklahoma Extension food specialist, Dr. Barbara Brown, traveled to the city of Otavalo, Ecuador to provide training to EducaFuturo participants on fruit processing and value-added products from ...

May 1-15, 2018, I had the pleasure of working with Noel Diaz, Program Officer, Farmer-to-Farmer Nicaragua, and Xenia Castillo of Fabretto Foundation Nicaragua to conduct workshops for three groups in Nicaragua. The main objective of this mission was to help them develop business plans, specifically marketing plans. Pinos Fabrettinos is a cooperative formed by 38 indigenous women in San Jose de Cusmapa who decided to take charge of their lives by making and selling pine needle baskets.  The first week, we worked with them to provide training on business plans, specifically details on Mission Statements, SWOT Analysis, and Marketing plans. I admired their lovely baskets in their show room, and commented about the Easter colors on some of them, and how an Easter basket would be nice. They were not familiar with Easter baskets. Since we had free wi-fi from the park next door, I showed them some Easter baskets on line. They said they would have the woman who could make baskets th...

Written by F2F Volunteer Dr. Abner Rodriguez, Professor at the  University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus Located in Nebaj, Department of Quiché, Guatemala, Save the Children, with USAID and other funding agencies, developed the Goat Production Center of the Western Highlands, known by its Spanish acronym CEPROCAL (Centro de Producción Caprina del Altiplano). The project is focused on reducing malnutrition in families with children in Nebaj and other rural areas with the highest poverty rates in the country. In Guatemala’s Western Highlands, chronic malnutrition in children is the result of multiple factors, being the most important the lack of a good source of protein at the onset of the weaning period. Raising goats for milk production is the international agency and funding organizations strategy to alleviate the problem. During the last years, goat milk has been utilized for hundreds of families to improve children’s diets and as a product for local cheese production. In...

Written by F2F volunteer, John Tiedeman, April 15-29, 2018 Farmers are practical people wherever you find them in the world. Challenges in the Dominican Republic were to identify opportunities for soil and water conservation in the fertile Cibao Valley and surrounding mountains. Week 1 focused on a 160 acre ranch where goals include preservation of a remaining cacao plantation, plus demonstration of sustainable organic production methods.   Most acreage in the area of La Vega has been converted to intensive cultivation of cassava/yuca and bananas using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Adequate drainage and water supply are essential to healthy plant growth, whether in the humid climate of the D.R. or in the dry summer climate where I live in northern California.   For surface drainage, the starting point is to ensure an unobstructed outlet.   Although landowner Altair Rodriquez had installed hand-dug surface drains in her cacao plantation, the downstr...

During my volunteer assignment in Nicaragua I had the opportunity to visit different cities to give workshops. At first, I was a little bit nervous because I’d never given any type of workshops before. I was really excited about it, but nervous at the same time. Even more when they told me that I was going to give the first workshop to teachers. The first workshop was called “Marketing Digital” and I gave that to the middle school teachers of the Collegio San Luis. This one, consisted of giving teachers different ideas and tools that they could use within their classrooms. During the workshop, I explained what social media is and what type of social media platforms are out there. I also explained them the different kinds of Technologies of Information and Communication (ICT) like computes and cellphones and the way we utilize them. I told the teachers what were the benefits of using new technologies and social media platforms. For example, how their students are always in touch with...