Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

These two photos provide a preview to trainings conducted by a team of US veterinarians together with Haitian veterinarians, students, and rabbit producers. The team of 3 from California visited farms and conducted workshops in late June, in the North and also in Grand Boulage, a mountain community between Port au Prince and Mirebalais. More photos and details to come! Bonnie Loghry trains a Haitian veterinarian to listen to the heart and lungs of a rabbit Andremene, one of the most successful rabbit producers in Grand Boulage, tries out a stethoscope. Income from Andremene's rabbit micro-enterprise has allowed her to support her family and send her children to school.

Dr. Koo (left) and Dr. Njue (right) proudly display a large eddo (taro). Together with Dr. James Garner of UAPB, this team has been working with the farmers to study which cultural practices yield the best eddo crop. During the past two weeks, two specialists from the University of Arkansas - Pine Bluff have been meeting with farmers in Guyana to conduct trainings in food safety and pesticide safety. For Drs. Jaheon Koo and Obadiah Njue, they have traveled several times to Guyana and have cultivated working relationships with these farmers over the years. Their trainings provide followup on previous visits from UAPB and also other volunteers (see captions below). Having just returned, they report having and productive an enjoyable trip. Check out some of the photos from their trip! In a field of eddo crops, Dr. Koo consults with a farmer from the Kuru Kururu Farmers Crop and Livestock Association KKFCLA members pose with the volunteers, also showing the color-coded pesticide ...

Since 2006, multiple  Farmer to Farmer volunteers have traveled to Jamaica to assist the Santoy Farmers Cooperative with improved vegetable production, greenhouse design, and marketing. One team of multidisciplinary specialists – Cliff Keil (entomologist), Tom Evans (plant pathologist), Wallace Pill (soil scientist), and Ian McCann (irrigation specialist) – were among the first FTF volunteers to assist Santoy and have returned to Jamaica several times and have made a significant impact on the Cooperative. The team helped establish specific goals to help the farmers improve productivity and marketing strategies . During their most recent trip in 2011, the Farmer to Farmer team received a letter from Milton Murdock, leader of the cooperative, detailing the impact they’ve had over the last four years. “Due to the involvement of this FTF team, the members of the Santoy Cooperative have benefited tremendously. At first, we were having difficulties growing certain crops due to limited...

Horticultural Specialist Gary Hickman is currently volunteering in the Dominican Republic on a greenhouse assignment. Mr. Hickman will be consulting with government officials and providing training workshops for local farmers to help them improve production, optimize productivity, and increase income. During his visit, he will be meeting with various members of the Dominican government (both current and previous) to discuss the future of greenhouse policy in the country. These meetings include former President   Hipólito Mejia. H ere, Hickman is pictured in a meeting with the Agricultural Committee of the Dominican Congress discussing the new greenhouse public law.   “Every day the Farmer to Farmer Program is getting some kind of recognition by the agricultural sector…” - Rafael Ledesma Schoowe

Marta Fajardo (left) with FTF Volunteer Yoana Newman Dairy farmer Marta Fajardo raises around 60 cows on an 85-hectare farm in the Camoapa region of Nicaragua.  She has been working with Farmer to Farmer volunteers for several years to help improve her milk quality, herd health, forage and feed options and more.  During a recent visit to her farm, Marta was excited to report increased calving rates – double what they had been in the past. Marta’s cows now calve every year rather than every other year, and Marta is happy to attribute this exceptional increase to the mineral salt she now adds to her cow feed – the suggestion of a Farmer to Farmer volunteer. Marta’s cows have also increased their milk production from three to three and a half liters per day, and she has seen other improvements in her farming systems. Because one of the key aims of the Farmer to Farmer program in Nicaragua is to aid farmers in producing more, contaminant-free milk, stories like Mar...

Recent FTF-Haiti volunteer Nick Brubaker put his photographic skills to good use while in Haiti. Since his return to the US he has created a photojournalism piece with some of his many photos, bringing attention to the situation of farmers in Haiti and especially the work of Farmer to Farmer and Makouti Agro Enterprise in improving the Haitian agriculture industry and the lives of small-scale farmers. This photojournalism piece was recently entered into the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "Small Farmers are the Answer" Challenge, a competition soliciting various forms of creative works which show the value that investing in small-scale farmers has in economic growth and development. Nick volunteered in Haiti this spring as a website design specialist for the purpose of improving the design and functionality of the Makouti Agro Enterprise website. Special thanks to Nick for his work developing the slideshow. Thanks also to our other talented FTF volunteers, and the mon...

Glen Juergens, Certified Forester and member of the International Society of Tropical Foresters, recently returned from a successful Farmer to Farmer “flex” trip to Honduras where he worked in collaboration with the Sustainable Harvest Foundation of Honduras (FUCOHSO) to survey 14 water sources for 12 communities in the Departments of Yoro and Santa Barbara. FUCOHSO is an organization which aims to improve the nutrition of rural families in remote communities, aid in the attainment of economic stability, and teach better farming methods using organic technologies in a sustainable manner. FOCUHSO also focuses on imparting to families the importance of protecting the environment, forest and water resources in order to improve their lives over the long term. As a former Peace Corp volunteer stationed in Honduras, Juergens personally confirms that FOCUHSO is making significant and beneficial improvements to the lives of these people. Below are a few excerpts and reflections from...

Several of the countries where Partners' Farmer to Farmer Program is active celebrate Mother's Day this coming Sunday. Mothers play a critical role in economic and social development all over the world. Partners of the Americas' Farmer to Farmer Program would like to recognize and honor the tireless efforts of all of the mothers we work with, both local partners and US volunteers. Young mother in the Dominican Republic. Photo credit: Justin Hackworth

This past week, Partners has had many volunteers in the field working together with local groups on topics ranging from greenhouse integrated pest management to beehive inspection to organic production practices. Here are a few photos we have received from the field. In the Dominican Republic, volunteers Tom Evans and Wally Pill consult with local technicians for the planning and management of greenhouses. Both Professors at the University of Delaware, this is their third FTF trip to the DR. In Haiti, Florida Apiary Inspectors Doug Corbin and Rob Horsburgh inspect beehives (hive nucleus in this photo) together with Partners' FTF Field Officer Gerard Michel Joseph (Papy), visiting apiaries belonging to beekeepers who have long participated in the Program as well as apiaries new to the Program. Mr. Corbin remarked that he has seen many improvements in beekeeping in the North of Haiti since his last visit in 2008. The volunteers traveled in collaboration with FAVACA. In Guy...

In the town of Grand Boulage in the mountains of Haiti, Andremene Solomon is the primary caregiver for her entire family. Her husband has a physical disability, and she earns the bulk of the income that supports their family of six. Andremene started receiving training and assistance from the Partners of the Americas' Farmer to Farmer Program and Makouti Agro Enterprise a number of years ago as part of the rabbit production project in her town.   Since her involvement in the program, she has increased her household income by producing and selling rabbits. She has been able to sell enough rabbits to pay for the school tuition for all four of her children, costing 2,500 Haitian dollars (~$61USD) per year, for those in secondary school.  She has also used her income for medical fees as well as helping nourishing people back to health by feeding them rabbit meat. Her household food consumption has also increased.  Andremene ( pictured above, 2nd from the right, w...