Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

Asopromieles is a non-profit association of panela (raw sugar cane) producers established in 2014, which covers approximately 150 hectares. They are made up of 34 sugarcane growers and panela producers and their families, but collect and sell the panela produced by more than 140 local sugar mills in the municipalities of Apulo, Jerusalén, La Mesa and Quipile, in Cundinamarca, Colombia. Their initial goal was to solve production problems such as lack of quality, product heterogeneity, unsatisfied demand and labor shortage through the construction of a homogenizing honey plant. This honey plant is now a reality and has been operating for more than a year in the municipality of Quipile.  Now that they have the plant, Asopromieles is focusing on growing, transforming, and marketing organic honey and panela products in a sustainable way. Their main goal is to export 50% of their production and bring together 600 local families. In 2019 they started this process by taking Good Manufacturing

The animal nutrition laboratory of the Guyana Livestock Development Agency (GLDA) needed to train its new staff in proper laboratory management. Therefore, they requested a F2F volunteer to improve the capacity of their staff to perform basic functions of the animal nutrition lab. Mr. Francisco Rivera started working on this assignment in July 2020 and completed it in October 2020. He holds a BSc in Crops and Agro-Environmental Sciences, a MSc in Agricultural Science with a Major in Animal Science, an MBA and a Certification in Animal Nutrition. He is currently an Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent at the University of Florida, where he plans and executes educational programs that focus on improving the viability of small farm livestock operations.  Mr. Rivera met online with the laboratory staff several times during the assignment. He started by identifying their needs in terms of training, which included help with the use of their Near-infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) Feed

En Guatemala, ante la dificultad de realizar visitas a empresas y comunidades productoras del área rural del país debido a las complicaciones de circulación que la pandemia ha obligado a tomar, el programa Farmer-to-Farmer tuvo una respuesta rápida: Realizó un diagnóstico con sus aliados para identificar sus necesidades de capacitación y asistencia que se pudieran realizar de forma virtual. Gracias a esta estrategia, el programa ha podido apoyar a compañías y organizaciones que siguen trabajando para generar empleo, brindar ingresos y asegurarse de que la economía agrícola siga adelante ante una situación tan complicada como la actual.  Este apoyo comenzó el 13 de mayo del 2020 y a la fecha se ha logrado alcanzar a más de 2,500 personas a través de distintos webinars y capacitaciones virtuales.  El voluntario Abner Rodríguez de la Universidad de Puerto Rico realizó el primer voluntariado virtual, con una serie de webinars de la Agrocadena Caprina Nacional . Ya se han llevado a cabo 17

Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 virus and travel restrictions around the world, Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) volunteer assignments have been on hold since March 2020. The F2F program in Myanmar initiated a “Virtual Volunteer Assistance Strategy” to provide continuous support while travel remains restricted. These assignments are usually two weeks long and last two hours per day. The trainers hold real-time or pre-recorded virtual training sessions with the host organizations.  F2F volunteer Dr. Y Martin Lo provided the first such course in Myanmar on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to the Ever Win Coffee Factory from June 1 to 15, 2020. Dr. Lo holds a MSc in Food Science, a PhD in Biochemical Engineering and has extensive experience in both standards. His training aimed to build the company’s capacity and included 15 participants (9 women and 6 men) from the management and supervisor levels of staff. He taught them about the importance of food safety, factory design and layout, quali

The members of the Crofts Hill Community in Clarendon, Jamaica, benefited from one of the pioneering pandemic-induced virtual assignments put on by USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program. The trainer was the well experienced William Zimmerman, a seasoned F2F volunteer who covered the areas of composting, organic pesticides, and organic fertilizers. Bill focused on thermophilic composting, BSF larvae, and vermiculture.  The Crofts Hill Farmers Group has over 30 registered members and the group was reestablished in 2018 with the vision of building a “community in which all its residents are given the opportunity to grow with the facilities that allows each to reach their full potential”. The members are producers of cash crops including cabbage, pak choy, lettuce, yams, sugar cane and other minor crops. The group has a balanced mix of males and females with ages ranging from 15 to 65.  Some of the problems they faced with their crops include high dependence on chemical fertilizers and pe

Review meeting with volunteer Peter Phillips, APEDI director Saul Abreu, Fondo Agua Yaque del Norte director Walkiria Estevez and F2F field officer Gabriela Rosa. The Yaque del Norte Basin is the most important hydrographic basin in the Dominican Republic, with an area of more than ​​7,000 square kilometers, equivalent to 15% of the national territory. It affects 40 municipalities within six provinces in the Central Cibao and Northwestern Cibao regions, where approximately 1.8 million people live. The main river that gives its name to this basin is the Yaque del Norte, the longest in the Dominican Republic, with a route of almost 300 kilometers from its source in Jarabacoa, in the Central mountain range, to its mouth in Montecristi. Because of its importance, many organizations work towards the conservation of this river and basin. The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program in the Dominican Republic has been working with two special ones: The first one is Fondo Agua Yaque del Norte, an assoc

Fiona Rodgerson volunteered in Colombia in March 2020 to support Selva by designing, organizing, and facilitating workshops focused on organizational strengthening, product quality and the benefits of implementing bird and pollinator-friendly practices. Miss Rodgerson has a BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and is completing her MA in Global Development, International Agriculture and Rural Development. In the past, she has done research in Chile, Ecuador and Colombia.  SELVA is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization dedicated to research and projects that contribute to conservation in Colombia. Their mission is to undertake rigorous scientific research programs that facilitate the design, promotion and implementation of conservation actions for the benefit of the local biodiversity and people. Their efforts include projects that support local farmers and cooperatives practicing or promoting biodiversity-friendly agriculture (such as shade-grown coffee and cacao) in prior

Judason in the process of preparing natural organic pesticides. Born and raised in Guyana’s countryside, Judason Bess was no stranger to agriculture. Assisting his mother in her kitchen garden and helping with the chickens, he grew with nothing but love and passion for farming. This passion in later years earned him a place at the University of Guyana where he completed a BSc Degree in Agriculture and Forestry. During two of his four years at University, he served as president of the Agriculture Club, where he used this platform to bridge the gap between the theory they were taught in classrooms and what was actually practiced in the field. He acquired funds through poultry rearing and fundraisers to facilitate field trips to various farms, in order for students to gain practical knowledge.  When he was in his final semester, he decided to start an agribusiness called “The Farmacy”, to make sure that once he had graduated he could make a difference in the Guyanese agriculture sector. H

The Asociación de Cooperación al Desarrollo Integral de Huehuetenango (ACODIHUE) is an agricultural association t hat provides financial and technical training,  with the goal of supporting smallholder coffee and honey farmers in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. ACODIHUE has implemented several activities to help these producers move forward during the COVID-19 pandemic and has ensured farmers understand that the food they produce is vital to their communities, especially when challenging times arise. ACODIHUE has provided masks, hand washing equipment, seedlings for home gardens, supplies for coffee and honey producers, and technical training through a series of Webinars. Cesar Flores, an Advanced Beekeeper and experienced F2F volunteer, delivered three online trainings in August of 2020. He had volunteered in person through F2F to support ACODIHUE the previous year, where he assessed apiaries located in different microclimates of Huehuetenango, and provided recommendations to in