Growing Knowledge & Building Partnerships

This article is a contribution to a blog series on how Partners Agriculture and Food Security programs contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals . This week’s blog highlights what Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers have been doing to achieve SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The Dominican Republic currently has one of the highest amounts of available fresh water in Latin America, but global climate change has led to more frequent and severe droughts, floods and storms on the island. These non-typical climatic events have reduced both the quality and quantity of the country’s supply of fresh water for human consumption and agriculture. By adapting agricultural practices to global climate change, Partners aims to create sustainable economic development that benefits producers and consumers as they become more resilient to a changing environment. As we approach the halfway point in our 2013-2018 F2F cycle, volunteers have already made huge p...

As Partners of the Americas' Haiti Nutrition Security Program enters its final closeout phase, we're gathering important statistics on the impact of NSP's care groups model.  The program used a family-centered approach that increased local capacity in nutrition to influence behavior change. In doing so, Partners aimed to  build social capital while preventing malnutrition, promoting best hygiene practices, and supporting malnourished children throughout Haitian communities. To read more about NSP and the structure of the care groups model, see our previous program features .

Since 2014, Partners of the Americas has facilitated 52 Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer trips to Nicaragua. F2F field staff, local hosts, and volunteers have worked hard to create collaborative solutions to complex community problems. Check out the incredible F2F partnerships we’ve formed in the past few months! Cattle and Dairy F2F volunteer Daniel Shaneyfelt give a lecture on improved cattle ranching techniques. Over the past 3 years, Partners has been working diligently with the Nicaraguan government, the  National Cattleman’s Commission of Nicaragua (CONAGAN), the Nicaragua Chamber of Beef Industry Exports (CANICARNE), and the Nicaraguan Chamber of the Dairy Sector (CANISLAC) to strengthen the domestic cattle and dairy industries from all ends of the value chain. F2F assignments have ranged from advising smallholder farmers on hygienic milking practices to establishing a national beef grading and certifications system for the country. Farmers have reported an extrem...

In addition to Southeast Asia, Aloe Vera production is exclusive to Central America and the Southwestern U.S. Did you know there are more than 40 ways aloe vera plants can improve your  health? Not only is aloe an incredible agent for soothing summer sunburns, but it can also act as a superfood for those brave enough to consume it. These benefits make growing aloe vera an extremely profitable livelihood for farmers that choose to pursue it Central America. Despite the unique economic value of aloe vera plants, smallholder farmers in Guatemala still face a major barrier to profitability. At La Floresta Aloe Farm in the Western Highlands of the country,  the resources required to cultivate a crop of plantlets for export are often  double what they should be. More than  50% of plants they grow are rejected due to mechanical damage during harvest, stunted growth, and improper herbicide spraying techniques. Poor plant nutrition has also resulted in extremely lo...

Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers have been busy this year in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Haiti! Check out what they've been doing lately to improve agricultural practices and strengthen youth networks in F2F host countries. In Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, a recent rise in non-typical climatic events has made it difficult for farmers to predict when and how long their trees will bloom. In February, F2F volunteer Gavin Vanderpool toured 34 orchards before making recommendations on combating the damaging effects of frost and shifting temperatures. In May, F2F Volunteer Dustin Homan took his passion for 4-H to Nicaragua to work with youth at Fabretto Foundation on their community goals. One of the biggest challenges? Explaining in Spanish that your two favorite "football" teams play different sports! Howard Fenton is currently serving as a F2F volunteer in Haiti with  Makouti Agro Enterprise  to help coffee producers, cooperatives, and networks with their record keepin...

El municipio de Santa Ana Huista, Huehuetenango se queda a unos 320km de la ciudad de Guatemala y está dividido en cabecera municipal y 13 aldeas, uno de esas aldeas es Buenos Aires. La aldea Buenos Aires, es el hogar de un grupo de mujeres que se llama Unión Esperanza . Desde hace más de 10 años, mujeres de Unión Esperanza han manufacturado productos a base de maní, incluyendo maní salado, tostado, horneado, picante, garapiñado y crema de maní. Grupo de Mujeres, Unión Esperanza Farmer to Farmer (F2F) Guatemala conoció la historia detrás del grupo de mujeres Unión Esperanza a través de la Agencia de Servicios y Desarrollo Económico y Social de Huehuetenango -ASDECOHUE-  la cual es una entidad civil de segundo grado sin fines de lucro integrada por cooperativas, asociaciones, comités de desarrollo y grupos de mujeres, entre ellos Unión Esperanza. ASDECOHUE está dedicada a brindar asistencia técnica  para poder lograr un desarrollo rural empresarial. S in embargo, A...

Plastic bottles pile up near a water source in the DR. Imagine it’s a Tuesday morning and you just rolled your trash can to the curb for weekly pickup. In a few hours, a garbage truck will swing by and you’ll never see that solid waste again; out of sight, out of mind. But in some regions of the world, this process isn't so easy. In the Dominican Republic, solid waste management is a huge challenge due to a lack of resources and limited space for inhabitants and landfills. Trash collection is virtually non-existent on the island and practices are unsafe for handlers where it does exist. Materials like plastic, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers are often disposed of improperly, contaminating the water supply and posing a serious hazard to public health. In January, Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Annette Poliwka traveled to the DR as a solid waste management specialist to assess local challenges through meetings with schools, universities and community leaders. Here are some impo...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work as a Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer? For coffee guru Chris Vigilante, working with Cooperative Asdecohue in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, was an experience he'll never forget. Get a first hand account of what it was like to travel to Guatemala's western highlands by watching his video recap of the trip below. To find out more about this volunteer's experience, check out Chris' full blog post about the trip here:  Vigilante Coffee Company .

What do bananas and beef jerky have to do with each other? A few weeks ago, that is the question 65 participants set out to answer as they attended Farmer-to-Farmer food dehydration demonstrations hosted by the Fabretto Children’s Foundation . In Nicaragua, rural and food insecure communities face the daily challenge of meeting nutritional needs without access to refrigeration to preserve fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods. Participants assist in constructing the dehydrator. With the help of F2F volunteer Timothy Bowser, however, Fabretto students and staff alike were trained in the use of solar dehydration technology. Products as simple as bananas and beef jerky are examples of value-added agricultural goods that can be preserved through this process. Timothy assisted in the construction of three solar dehydrators, one at each Fabretto site he visited. Staying true to Fabretto’s methodology of “learning by doing,” participants took part in building the dehydr...

Workshop participants gather to learn about essential oils. Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Clare Licher is nothing if not passionate about her family-run business,  PhiBee Aromatics , based in Sedona, Arizona. Building on almost thirty years of experience in aromatherapy and essential oils, Clare recently took her expertise to the Jamaican coast to work with Yerba Buena Farm in St. Mary. During her two week stay, Clare consulted with YBF on the logistics of establishing a commercial distillery and the growth potential of local and export markets.  Why are essential oils so important to this community?  Essential oils have a high price tag on the commercial market, both due to the time and labor intensive processes of producing them and the plethora of health benefits they provide consumers. While Jamaica is home to a variety of aromatic plants, there are currently no major distilleries located on the island to produce these unique products. Although they would ...