My assignment was a five-day training for extension agents on the safe use of pesticides and integrated pest management strategies for mitigating pests of horticultural crops. Initially, my assignment was to take place in the Kindia region but was relocated to Conakry to accommodate beneficiaries experiencing budget changes. Because of the last-minute change, I was told to only expect 10 participants at most. Over 30 people came on the first day. The training was initially located in the Department of Agriculture but was moved to the Ministry of Agriculture on the day the training was to begin. After setting up in the conference room in our new location, we were told that the room had already been scheduled and we would have to move again; furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture wanted to meet with us before we began. So, first international volunteer experience, 3 location changes, over 30 participants instead of 10, I am now meeting with the Minister of Agriculture for the entire country, and I know zero French—welcome to Guinea, this is your itinerary for the next two weeks.

Though I felt my career as an extension agent had prepared me for a new level of flexibility, nothing could have put that to the test quite like my time in Guinea. Working with a translator for the first time was also a new experience and presented its own set of challenges, forcing me to slow down and to really think about what I was saying so that it could be translated and still have the same impact for the participants. There were a lot of times when I had absolutely no idea what was going on, though this was due in large part to the language barrier. That said, my translator, Ousmane, was amazing and extraordinarily patient with both myself and the participants and I am deeply grateful to have met and worked with him. I also have come to better appreciate the basic conditions we often take for granted in the U.S., like being able to rely on electricity, having access to affordable products that keep us safe from pesticides, or having safe, clean food and water.

Personally, I appreciated many things about Guinea, not least of which were the people. Observing day-to-day life in Guinea was at times difficult, at times frustrating, many times full of joy and hope, but it was always humbling. The thing that stands out most, the thing I cannot shake from my mind; it is the extraordinary resilience and determination of the people who live and work in Guinea, who have an enthusiastic approach to overcoming so many challenges that we cannot even begin to process here in the U.S.

My time in Guinea has given me so much more, I believe, than I was able to provide to the participants of the training. I have seen first-hand the differences between the United States and Guinea, but also the similarities of our people, including the shared desire to make each of our countries a better place for farmers and their families. Professionally, it has broadened my capacity to teach under ever-changing environments. It was challenging, but also very rewarding and I believe it has equipped me a new set of skills that I can use in my educational programs at home.

Personally, I am awestruck by the capacity of extension agents to perform their jobs with so little available resources. Communication, for example, cannot rely on internet and e-mail or cell phones. It must be more purposeful and as a result, more personal, with whomever they are speaking. This I will also take with me as I continue to build working relationships with my clientele in North Carolina.

I am deeply humbled to have been a firsthand witness to the passion that extension professionals in Guinea have for improving the lives of farmers and their families and I hope one day that I am fortunate enough to return. Maybe by then, my French will have improved.

Dr. Usha Palaniswamy and Dr. Grant Jackson recently volunteered in Bangladesh, assisting the International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT): College of Agriculture Science to develop curriculum for their new Master of Science in Agriculture programs in Agronomy and Horticulture. Below are their reflections of their assignment.

Dr. Jackson is a retired Professor of Agronomy and Superintendent of the Western Triangle Agricultural Research Center at Montana State University. He noted, “It was my first time to be in Bangladesh or Southern Asia. I really enjoyed working with the dedicated faculty of this University and, of course, the Winrock staff, they are all friendly and like to laugh. I couldn’t believe that pedestrians, rickshaws, bicycles, tricycle scooters, cars, small trucks, buses, and semi-trailer trucks all share the same, crowded road space. We visited two public agricultural universities and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, so I was able to see a little of what is grown in the country. I really enjoyed all the fresh fruit that is available, particularly mango and bananas.

IUBAT was started in 1991 and now has a beautiful campus with about 10,000 students, 500 of them are enrolled in the College of Agricultural Sciences  even though the college is only authorized to grant one degree, BS in Agricultural Science. The faculty decided to propose a MS degree in Agronomy and a MS degree in Horticulture and asked Winrock for assistance from US experts. Since the proposed degrees are for students who want to be farm advisors, I approached the assignment based on my field experiences throughout my career – what does a farmer need to know to be successful? Then the idea is to train the students based on the eventual customer’s needs for information.

It was a great assignment because I was around college students again, and I was able to present  presentations on my agricultural experiences on two different occasions.” 

Dr. Jackson visiting Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University in Dhaka with the Vice-Chancellor of the University

Dr. Palaniswamy is a professor of biology at Strayer University in Orlando, Florida. She has led development and implementation of the “Vegetables Go To School” project in six countries in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. She explained, “I have been volunteering with F2F programs since 2006 and I look forward to these assignments as an opportunity to learn about a new country, culture, and the challenges that go with it. There is also a sense of excitement and adventure that I experience with each assignment. I wanted to share my most recent volunteering experience with Winrock in Bangladesh- great country, although noisy, hot, and as humid as any other tropical country in the Indian sub-continent. The food is similar to the Indian/Pakistani cuisine and has a great variety to choose from and enjoy. I loved the rotis and biryani which were flavorful and filling; the sweetened yoghurt seems to be a Bangladeshi specialty, as I have never tasted such fresh yoghurt prepared and served in single-serve containers of clay.

I was taken by the collection of great faculty dedicated to providing quality education to the students in the fields of Business, Agriculture, and Technology. Contrary to what one sees in the news, I found the country to be relatively calm, peaceful, accepting of foreigners, and very hospitable. People are friendly, mild-tempered, and helpful. I spent a few days visiting other agricultural universities and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute and their department of extension. Their model of extension is very efficient and seems to be producing results as noted in their economic growth. I will derive from this experience rich knowledge about variations in graduate curricula. My experiences in the country will be part of my teaching and research back in the US, incorporating it in my courses and communicating with my students in the US.

I have been volunteering for the past ten years and I can say that the Winrock field staff in Bangladesh are one of the best teams out there- most welcoming, cordial, helpful ,and go all the way in making your stay comfortable! I would certainly volunteer with Winrock in Bangladesh without a second thought! More volunteering experiences coming up from me, until then Chao’.”

Drs. Palaniswamy and Jackson visiting a net supported horticulture garden at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University in Dhaka

On this Labor Day weekend, Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers share their experience working with entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) team is comprised of Craig Pearson, Fungai Mandaza, and Rachel An, who are all Masters of Global Management students at Thunderbird School of Global Management. Our team was honored with the task of developing a strategy for a new business incubation center and providing relevant training to ensure its sustainability. The incubator will be for the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and Vocational Studies (CEDVS) of The Federal Polytechnic at Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria and we are working with Winrock International’s USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Program. Nothing says Labor Day like a group of creative minds working together. This initiative comes well-timed as the United States and Canada celebrate the contributions its workers make.

During our first week, we discovered […]passion and hard work mixed with the determination to obtain sustainable skills to help improve their lives and those of their families as well.When we first arrived, we took a tour of the CEDVS facilities both indoors and outdoors. The center has thirteen different industries for its Enterprise Village with areas for practical application of the theoretical concepts and procedures behind the skills taught there. We were even able to meet some of the students while their classes were in session.

One class quickly caught our attention: the design and textile class with 89 part-time students, mostly female, from all over Ekiti state in Western Nigeria. We arrived just in time for their practice. The day’s assignment was to make tie and dye fabrics.

When people hear “African fashion prints,” patterns and a blast of rich colors come to mind and unlike many myths about Africa, this one is true. The history of tie and dye is deeply-rooted in African culture from the 1760s and is a skill that has been passed down for generations. Locally, it is known as adire. This process uses 100% cotton fabric to create uniquely patterned textile creations.

When the instructor told us about the challenges that the students face, what we enjoyed most about the conversation was how each issue had a solution mapped out by the students already. For example, plain 100% cotton is expensive and hard to come by. The students resolved this issue by figuring out how to make impressive designs using kente – a less expensive material pre-printed with patterns.

Another issue that the students had devised an innovative solution for was the market saturation of tie and dye in the fashion industry. These students thought to expand their target market from fashion to interior design. They created beautifully patterned, one-of-a-kind fabrics that could serve as wall hangings and coverings, tablecloths and runners, curtains, etc. in addition to clothing.

From our discussions with the faculty and students, we realized that being female in Nigeria does not only mean oppression and struggle, but it means being innovative and fighting bravely against all odds.

As the weeks of our project go on, we look forward to discovering what other skills we can learn from the Federal Polytechnic and, really, what to do with the trendy yard of material we made. We will continue to keep a close eye out for other ways in which women in Ado-Ekiti will break the norm.