Volunteer Posts
Humbled by Farmers’ Commitment
October 4, 2017
This week’s blog comes from F2F volunteer, Daniel Laney, who trained 45 farmers (80% female) in Nepal on improved goat management techniques. I have recently returned from Nepal where I served as a Winrock International/USAID Farmer to Farmer volunteer in the Surkhet area of the country. This marked my 17th trip to Nepal, but my […]
Sharing is Learning
September 29, 2017
This blog comes from F2F volunteer, Dr. Steven Pao, a Food Science Professor at California State University, Fresno. Dr. Pao recently volunteered in Nepal where he trained dairy farmers (63% youth) from Sana Kisan Krishi Sahakari Sanstha Ltd. on clean and hygienic milk production, safe dairy product development, product diversification, and product marketing. Mr. Dhruba Koirala, Cooperative […]
A Simple Way To Grow Food: Sack Gardening
September 26, 2017
Dr. Anna Snider traveled to Kaduna, Nigeria over the summer to work with Winrock International host organization, Awakening Nigeria for Agro-Allied International (ANAAI), a women’s group that promotes sustainable and smart agriculture in urban communities. Dr. Snider provided train-of-trainers in homestead vegetable gardening using sacks and containers. After the training, Yahaya Hamman, host member, commented the following “This training […]
Honoring Winrock Volunteers on National Teach Ag Day
September 21, 2017
September 21, 2017 is National Teach Ag Day; a day to celebrate the impact agriculture educators make in their schools and communities. Agriculture teachers are key to developing essential life skills in students so that they will be successful problem solvers, leaders, entrepreneurs, and agriculturalists. On this special day, Winrock International honors our outstanding volunteers […]
September Volunteers of the Month
September 15, 2017
Winrock’s September Volunteers of the Month are dynamic duo, Dr. Jonathan Deenik and Dr. Glen Fukumoto. They both come from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and volunteered together this summer in Myanmar, providing training to 77 farmers in Hmawbi Township on soil quality improvement techniques, including soil fertility management and composting using poultry and […]
Building Resilience Through Improved Soil Quality
September 14, 2017
Winrock volunteers, like Dr. Jonathan Deenik and Dr. Glen Fukumoto, are helping to #endhunger by building farmers’ resilience through improved soil fertility management and composting applications. On a recent technical assistance assignment in Myanmar, the volunteers had the opportunity to work closely with two farmer organizations. The organizations attracted approximately 130 farmers, local government agents, […]
Flexibility, Communication, and an Enthusiastic Approach to Overcoming Challenges in Guinea
September 12, 2017
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 […]
One Assignment. Two Volunteer Perspectives.
September 7, 2017
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 […]
Creative Minds Working Together on Labor Day
September 2, 2017
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 […]
An Experienced F2F Volunteer, but His First Trip to Bangladesh
August 22, 2017
I have participated in nearly 50 F2F Assignments in the past 22 years but this is my first visit to Bangladesh. The level of poverty, the small farms, the density of agricultural activities, and the tropical conditions were all that I expected and more. However, I was not prepared for the Bangladesh people. I found […]