L-R: Jen Snow, Associate Director; Ibro Diallo, Guinea Country Director; Mike Bassey, Nigeria Country Director

Mike Bassey joined Winrock International in April 2011. Mike is a Certified Accountant and has a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Roehampton, London. Before his work with F2F, Mike managed the Drucker Center for Entrepreneurship Development (DCED) of the Kaduna Business School before joining the World Bank/Government of Nigeria Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) project. Working with Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) volunteers has in many ways strengthened Mike’s motivation to do his own volunteering. In his free time Mike heads a Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God as a volunteer Pastor and enjoys fixing simple plumbing and carpentry.

I started out just like most young Nigerians: not wanting to study or have anything to do with farming or agriculture; I wanted to become a certified accountant. After achieving that goal and working in a for-profit, efficiency-driven environment, I felt professionally unfulfilled. However, when I began managing a World Bank/Government of Nigeria agricultural and tourism value chains development program focusing on opportunities for smallholder farmers to increase productivity, income and overall improve their livelihoods, it opened my eyes to the how rewarding the agriculture sector could be.

Working with smallholder farmers was  wonderful but working with F2F volunteers who each come with different skills offered me the opportunity to learn a lot and I now know what it takes to be a beekeeper, fish farmer, and trainer; increasing my skills in organizational development, institutional assessments, partnership development, recordkeeping, leadership, campaigning for safe pesticide use For instance, with:

Leslie Harris Cosgrove – I learned about business and project development for grant funding. I learned about the components and the documents (strategic plan, revenue-raising plan, and platform statement) required for successful grant proposal writing as well as the art of winning grant proposal writing. Two of the most resounding experience working with a) Leslie was seeing the faculty of the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, Osun State rise from a practically zero Ph.D. research grants to 26 Ph.D.D research grants in three years following the 2015 training to the leaders and faculty of the institution; and b) the formation of the Net which she co-facilitated with Professor Chris Igodan of the Ohio State University.

A group leader delivers the groups project to the volunteer

Mathew Baker, a professor from the Texas Tech University –Dr. Baker and I had several great discussions  on leadership development and managing people. It was a huge surprise when, upon returning to the US, Dr. Baker asked me to do a one-page write-up on ‘community extension service’ – one of the topics we discussed during his visit. This resulted in a paper that was jointly presented by Baker and me at a conference at the Ohio State University.

Volunteer with Mike (center) and host members

Jolene Warnke-Roszel – I learned about the dangers inherent in abuse and pesticides misuse; to the applicators, farmers and their families, livestock, communities as well as consumers through air pollution, contamination of source of drinking water and farm products. I also learned about ways to minimize the hazards associated with these chemicals.

Jennifer Kushner – I learned lessons about general monitoring and evaluation and specifically learned how to develop a program logic model. I worked with the volunteer and the Nigeria F2F team to develop a logic model for the Network for Agricultural Technical Education’s Making Agriculture Glamorous and Attractive to Nigerian Youth Initiative.

Volunteer (center) with host members and Mike (right)

Teresa Morris – I learned so much about sustainable agricultural practices – best practices in natural resource (soil and water) maximization and management, composting, etc.

Volunteer discusses with the village leader

I have always considered myself fortunate to interact with these highly skilled professionals and benefit from these relationships. Especially since they provide me with a huge resource base for me to continue to leverage. The new program presents me with yet another excellent opportunity to continue to deepen my learning experience.

International Volunteer Day is celebrated on December 5 every year. It serves as an opportunity for organizations like Winrock to celebrate volunteerism and reflect on the inspiring work of our volunteers.

An important part of volunteerism, and of particular importance to the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program, are the people-to-people connections and cultural bridges formed by US volunteers and in-country hosts and beneficiaries. Many times, a volunteer assignment yields more than improved products or services or increased income and sales: it yields a life-long friendship.

John Rodgers and Hiza Akhmatov discuss dairy cattle embryo transfer, 2005

Mr. John Rodgers, owner of Plum Bottom Farm in Belleville, PA, grew up working on a farm and is intimately knowledgeable of dairy farm operations. John traveled on his first volunteer assignment to Kazakhstan in 1993 and over the next 15 years, he has traveled 136,500 miles and volunteered 539 days to contribute to agricultural development in Central Asia.

In 1997, John was awarded a $40,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture to purchase and transport 199 US dairy cow embryos to Kazakhstan, which helped improve herd genetics and cattle rearing in the country. In the summer of 2006, John was instrumental in the launch of the first Agricultural Progress Days of Kazakhstan, with Winrock International and several US and Kazakh institutions, focusing on technologies to increase farm productivity.

John Haight and PJ Burgess at the reunion, 2018. John focused on forage crops for dairy cattle. PJ helped with AI techniques and cattle raising. Both were in Kazakhstan in the early 2000s

Hiza Akhmatov, Executive Director of Taurus Services of Central Asia, received volunteer technical assistance while working on a state dairy farm. Later, after forming Taurus Services, he served as a host for volunteers. He said, “I met John when I was working on a state farm in Kazakhstan. He made such an impression on me, that I could help with improving the dairy business. Two years later I quit my job and started working for the organization bring in embryos. This changed my life and the life of my family.” Taurus Services has benefitted from thirty-one volunteer assignments via various Winrock-implemented Farmer-to-Farmer projects in the region.

John overseeing an embryo transfer, 2003

Fast forward to 2018: Hiza was one of 11 farmers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the Republic of Georgia who visited John and his family at their Pennsylvania farm and traveled to other dairy operations across the US. John organized a gathering that served as a celebration of agriculture and friendships lasting decades and spanning continents. F2F volunteers John Height, Richard Witter, PJ Burgess, Doug Rake, and John Kiefer were in attendance. Darla Embry, a volunteer recruiter with Winrock, also attended the event. She noted, “The gathering felt like a family reunion; a homecoming of sorts! It was inspiring to see these long-lasting connections.”

Volunteers reminisce at the reunion, 2018