I recently spent four months as a long-term volunteer working with Winrock’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Team in Myanmar. This was my first time working as a volunteer for Winrock International. From the start, I was impressed at how well organized Winrock’s team was with logistics and making sure everything was smooth throughout the duration of my assignment.

During my assignment, I worked with the MEL Team and the project staff to review indicators for monitoring and evaluating the progress of the Value Chains for Rural Development project. M&E is an important function of a project and can serve as its backbone as it provides useful information about how the project is doing (e.g. what things are going well, what things are not going well, whether the project is on target in reaching expected milestones and outcomes, and where adjustments should be made). Ultimately, the information that is collected through M&E helps to tell the story of how Winrock’s Value Chains for Rural Development project is helping to improve the livelihoods of the rural farmers that are being reached.

It was exciting to already see positive results of the Value Chains for Rural Development project. Through agricultural training and demonstration farms, Winrock is working with farmers to raise the quality and quantity of their yields and ultimately their household incomes. The project has catalyzed and strengthened the mobilization of farmers into groups and associations, giving them a collective voice to express their wants and concerns and advocate to the government for the regulation of agrochemical companies, to hold them accountable to provide proper extension services, and control pricing and quality of chemical products. The Farmer Groups help farmers to bargain for better prices to purchase seeds, input, and equipment. The Value Chains for Rural Development project is also focusing on finding and establishing new market opportunities while helping to establish clear grades and standards that will create transparency around the prices that farmers receive for their produce.

Farmer Field School for Sesame Farmers

Farmer Field School lesson about pollinators and pests

One of the goals of my work was to standardize and simplify measurement and reporting across the five value chains that Winrock is working in, which include soybeans, melons, sesame, ginger, and coffee. Even though there are many similarities across these value chains, there are also big differences between the crops, such as the number of harvests in a year, input costs, amount of labor required, and the quantity and value of the yields. These details need to be accounted for to ensure that the data collected is thorough, reliable, and valid. In preparation for the project’s upcoming annual evaluation, the MEL team and I designed the survey questionnaires to ensure that the right questions are asked and tailor them to be appropriate for each value chain. After putting together the questionnaires, we headed out to the fields to test the questionnaires with the farmers. The process of field-testing the questionnaires highlighted the challenges of working in another language and the need to make sure that the wording of questions is as simple as possible and understandable when translated. Field-testing the surveys also revealed differences in reality versus theory. The feedback provided by the farmers was essential for modifying and finalizing the questions.

Female farmers weeding by hand

Myanmar is a beautiful country with warm-hearted people who are eager to learn and grow. The country is developing rapidly with conveniences and familiarity provided by global companies like Uber, Coffee Bean, KFC, and even Hard Rock Cafe. Trying to negotiate a fare and tell the taxi driver where you want to go used to be one of the most intimidating things about getting around town but now you can simply use an app. There is even an app to have food delivered by bicycle courier to your door. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working as a volunteer with Winrock and plan to return to Myanmar to do another assignment soon.

Our Nepal Farmer-to-Farmer staff have nominated, Dr. William (Bill) Foxworth, as the November Volunteer of the Month, because he is a “highly skillful, flexible volunteer and adjusted his hands-on training sessions for the assignment to best utilize locally available equipment and resources in Nepal.” Dr. Foxworth is the reproductive physiologist at the International Goat Research Center at Texas A&M University and is responsible for Artificial Insemination (AI) training at the center. He has also worked extensively in reproductive technology transfer in Africa and Latin America for both cattle and goats for more than 25 years. During his assignment, he conducted training for Okadi Goat Raising Group members, local service providers, and extension workers on AI technologies and practices to improve a youth-targeted goat breeding program. Sushil, one of training participants and Government of Nepal Extension Officer explained, “F2F volunteer William’s contribution is crucial for the country’s context in goat breeding and increased production.” After the training, Sushil facilitated AI in more than 150 goats, doubling the conception rate from their AI operations. Bill shares his thoughts below about his Farmer-to-Farmer experience. 

Why did you want to volunteer?

As a research scientist, my goal has been to develop technologies that assist with livestock reproduction. Improvement in breeding technology leads to more efficient animal production and greater number of offspring. This is a foundation for feeding more people worldwide and that is my true aim. Volunteering in Nepal afforded me the opportunity to enhance the knowledge base in goat reproduction in a country that relies so heavily on the goat.

Photo from Dr. Foxorth’s training on Artificial Insemination

What was the highlight of your most recent volunteer assignment abroad?

For me, the highlight was generating the discussion of how to disseminate this reproduction technology in a manner that would best benefit the people of Nepal.

What made your Winrock volunteer trip distinctive?

Winrock’s infrastructure made the trip work seamlessly. Every step of the way was meticulously planned out with some flexibility and that allowed me to focus on giving my presentations and training sessions. It also allowed me to delve more deeply into the culture through the in country representatives, making my presentations better because I had intimate insight into my audience.

How does your experience affect your world view?

I have had the opportunity to work all over the world and each country I work in presents a new set of challenges from culture to infrastructure. Nepal presented me with a view of a country, that while being smaller in size and geographically highly varied, was a crossroads for several cultures and religions. Seeing their efforts to deal with their differences gives me insight into my own multicultural world and, hopefully, I impart it to my students, colleagues, friends, and family.

What advice would you give a new volunteer?

Enjoy your time. Utilize the in country experts to understand the people and cultures. Ask lots of questions. This will help you tailor your presentations and maximize the benefits to the audience.

How have your assignments made a difference in your own life?/Has your assignment caused you to do anything differently once you returned?

Working in Nepal, with the lack of some infrastructure and the availability of certain products, reminded me of the need to be flexible and resourceful. After returning, I was reinvigorated to work on and develop strategies for transferring agriculture technologies in global locations that may not have all of the energy or product availability that we have.

Why should people consider volunteering?

It is a truly rewarding experience. For me, having the opportunity to help people improve their ability to produce food and provide better foodstuffs to their fellow man, allows me to directly contribute to helping put food on someone’s plate.

How do you feel about the support from Winrock, whether before, during or after your assignments?

The staff, both here in the US and in Nepal, were of great help. I have a pretty hectic schedule every day and they took care of all the travel and logistics allowing me to focus my preparations on my presentations. Not speaking the language, I had some trepidation, but the staff in Nepal, and a well placed Peace Corp volunteer, made my communications flawless with the local communities. I must say, one of the unsung heroes in my time in Nepal was my driver. We were frequently on some white knuckle roads and his skill at maneuvering the mountainside allowed me to relax and enjoy the view.

Dr. Foxworth with Peace Corps volunteer, Garland Mason.

When your friends/family find out that your volunteer assignment aboard, what do they say or ask?

The first question almost everyone asks is, “How cold was it?” Everyone imagines that Nepal is all like the base camp on Mt. Everest. They don’t realize that geographically it goes from low tropical jungle to the highest point in the world. The temperatures in the areas where we were working, Pokhara and Waling, were very pleasant in March. I will admit, while looking over the edge of some of the roads on which we were driving, I felt like I was on the side of Mt. Everest.

What do you do when you’re not volunteering?

I am a research scientist at the International Goat Research Center, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas. I conduct research with goats in an effort to improve their reproductive efficiency, with an end goal of disseminating the information to limited resource farmers around the world.

Does anyone in your life play a role in supporting your involvement? In providing inspiration?

My family supports me by giving me the time to pursue my goals of helping others around the world. They cover my responsibilities at home while I am gone and I am eternally grateful for that.

Do you keep in touch with your host organization? [Host organizations are the organizations that receive volunteer support]

I am in touch by e-mail on occasion, but I am in regular communication by Facebook. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a post about people doing something related to the training we did.

How do you feel that your volunteer assignment has contributed to create a shared understanding across different cultures through person-to-person interactions?

My family is of blended cultures and I have had the opportunity to be educated in Japan and work in Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Each time I encounter a different culture, it reminds me that we are a diverse people. Working with individuals in Nepal offered me first hand insight to the unique cultures in Nepal and they added greatly to my understanding of the world, especially in a country that serves as a crossroad to many cultures. This experience also offered me insight into my own work and how best to present my knowledge in a manner that could serve this unique community.

You can read more about Dr. Foxworth’s volunteer assignment and Farmer-to-Farmer’s cooperation with Peace Corps in Nepal in this previous blog post. 

Closing ceremony after Dr. Foxworth’s trainings.

My volunteer assignment was to conduct trainings on Increased Safe Tomato Production through Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The training sessions were held in four village development committees (VDCs) in the Kaski region of Nepal, outside the city of Pokhara. The host organization was Dhikurpokhari Community Development Organization (DCDO). We conducted a 2-day training session in each VDC. I flew into Kathmandu, Nepal and was met at the airport by Arun Thapa from the Winrock Nepal F2F team. I was extremely grateful that I did not have to drive in Nepal. I was very thankful to have a Winrock driver and jeep! Kathmandu is a bustling city, the roads are windy and full of motorcycles, cows, dogs, cars, and trucks. There are no traffic lights or lanes that I could see and drivers bear to the left and the driver’s side is on the right, something I had a challenging time adapting to!

I then met with Winrock F2F Nepal Director Vrigu Duwadi at the Katmandu Winrock office. Vrigu gave me an overview of Nepali culture; the Namaste greeting, the food staple: Dahl baht (dahl and rice, which I loved) and logistics for the assignment. I also met with the International Development Enterprises (iDE) team in Kathmandu, who have been developing vegetable IPM packages for Nepal with the IPM Innovation Lab at Virginia Tech. The iDE team in Nepal: Director, Luke Colavito, IPM Coordinator Lalit Sah, and Agriculture Director Komal Pradhan, were great resources for IPM information. Lalit Sah and iDE Regional Manager in Pokhara, Balkrishna Thapa Magar, also joined us and assisted in some of the training sessions.

We flew to Pokhara and visited the Nepal Ministry of Agriculture’s Plant Protection Lab. We also visited an Agro-Vet in Pokhara that supplies seeds, fertilizer, and other crop inputs to area farmers.

Mr. Bannon with Khyam Paudel at his farm outside Pokhara.

From Pokhara, we conducted four 2-day training sessions in tomato IPM in small villages outside of Pokhara. Again, I was very happy to have Winrock’s driver Krishna safely navigate the mountain roads to the training sites to and from Pokhara. The growers have an excellent market opportunity with tomatoes in the off-season (rainy season) to provide fresh market tomatoes to the tourist city, Pokhara. They grow under plastic tunnels to keep the plants dry to prevent diseases. This is an income opportunity for young farmers to stay in their home villages with a viable business.

We asked the growers for inputs on their pest problems and other growing issues in tomatoes. Fortunately, most of the pest management issues were stated in the scope of work, so I was prepared. We discussed management of tomato diseases, such as Late Blight and insect pests like the newly introduced South American Leafminer (Tuta absoluta). A total of 125 growers attended the trainings, over half were woman growers and 58 were youth growers. We also had opportunities to make field visits to some of the growers’ farms.

The experience gave me new perspectives in many ways. As a teacher, it was new and interesting to work with a translator to deliver information. Arun Thapa from Winrock, Lalit Sah and Balkrishna Thapa Magar from iDE, and Sanjaya Timilsina from DCDO all helped with translation. They all have agricultural backgrounds so they were familiar with the subjects and effective in helping the participants to understand the material.

We had to be flexible and work around power outages. Having PowerPoint and a projector was not always an option, often we had to resort to drawing boards.

It was especially gratifying to have a group of people that were excited to learn about innovative ways to help them grow tomatoes profitably and safely. The growers have a unique opportunity with their tomato market in Pokhara.

Being in a profoundly different culture, climate, and economic conditions gave me a new perspective on all the things we take for granted here in the USA. Being able to give my time and knowledge to people who can use it to improve their lives was highly gratifying to me. I felt honored to be able to work with the Nepali growers, the teams from Winrock, DCDO, and iDE. It was also a pleasure to have US Peace Corps volunteers attend the training, many of them have tomato projects in their host communities. I’m hoping that the information presented at the meetings can be utilized by the agency staff and grower cooperatives. I would very much be interested in doing a follow-up project.

Mr. Bannon with Peace Corps volunteers, iDE staff, and Khyam at Namuna Agro Farm in Pokhara.

This experience changes how I approach my work here. It reinforced the importance of teamwork, it helps my tolerance level in dealing with difficult issues here. It makes me feel grateful that I have learned things in my career in agriculture that can help people in another part of the world improve their standards of living.

This was my first international experience and I hope to do more in the future.

“My favorite part of the training was giving out the course certificates.” –Mr. Bannon

This week’s blog comes from, Dr. James Anderson III, Assistant Professor of Community & Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin- Extension. 

In May 2017, I had the privilege of traveling to Bangladesh for my first international volunteer assignment through Winrock International. My assignment was to work with the Bangladesh Department of Youth Development to develop an entrepreneurship curriculum. The assignment was through the Farmer-to-Farmer Program funded by USAID.

I had no idea what to expect during my visit. I knew Bangladesh has a large population of about 160 million people, and is roughly the size of the U.S. state, Iowa. I also knew that while the economy was growing, as the economy transitions to more manufacturing from being primarily agriculture… the economy was also struggling to create enough jobs for citizens. This was the basis for my statement of work, to develop a curriculum that the Department of Youth Development can use to help people that it provides vocational and technical training to transition to self-employment and entrepreneurship.

The first week of my visit was dedicated to conducting a needs assessment. During this time Dr. S.M.S Rahman, from the Dhaka Winrock International office, guided me through Jessore, Rangpur, Khulna, and Dhaka. We visited Department of Youth Development residential training facilities, Youth Training Centers, and entrepreneurs who started their businesses after receiving training. These entrepreneurs were operating relatively new businesses, the youngest business being about two years old and the most mature being close to five years old.

While Bangladesh and Superior, Wisconsin, where I live, are half a world apart, I was struck by the common issues entrepreneurs experience. For aspiring entrepreneurs, access to capital was the number one identified issue during our visits. Entrepreneurs and students at the training centers were surprised when I indicated access to capital is a challenge in the United States as well. In addition, I was surprised by the commonalities the farmers in Bangladesh experience compared to farmers in Wisconsin and the United States.

We visited dairy, goat, poultry, and field crop farms; as well as textiles businesses. The farms all indicated the same market pressures – increasing input costs (seed, feed, fertilizer, labor, etc.), and reduced market rates for their product (e.g., milk and rice). Our farms in Wisconsin are experiencing the very same issues. We sometimes think that market forces only influence ourselves and neighbors, but clearly we share many of the same challenges globally.

Dr. Anderson during a field visit

During week two, I revised the curriculum based on the needs assessment data from week one. I then presented the curriculum to the Department of Youth Development, part of the Ministry of Youth & Sports. Following feedback from the department and another round of revisions, I offered a two-day seminar to trainers from the department. One of my lessons learned from teaching and supporting entrepreneurs in the United States is that the training needs to be very applied and hands-on. We spent much of our time together going over the activities that were contained in the curriculum, and the learning opportunities from those activities.

Dr. Anderson with the trainers from DYD

Now that I am back home, I have had time to reflect on this very busy, yet rewarding trip to Bangladesh. I am struck by the friendliness of the people that I met. I have been afforded the opportunity to travel a lot for personal and educational reasons. I don’t believe I’ve ever traveled anywhere where everyone I met was so welcoming and friendly. My final observation while reflecting on this trip is the nature of resiliency in the people of Bangladesh. Research concerning the common traits of successful entrepreneurs often includes the word resiliency or something very similar. I have no doubt that many people in Bangladesh who aspire to be entrepreneurs and self-employed possess the core trait of resiliency. The economy has challenged many families and individuals, yet there is incredible optimism that they can and will improve circumstances for themselves and their country.

Dr. Steven Kovach has been a dedicated Winrock volunteer for the past three years. Before retiring, he devoted a large part of his career to international development by working for USAID and Peace Corps, two organizations that are well known for utilizing volunteers to aid people in developing nations. Through Farmer-to-Farmer, Steven has coached youth entrepreneurs on eco-friendly techniques for banana production in Bangladesh, and trained members of youth employment agencies in Senegal and horticulture cooperatives in Guinea on the use and maintenance of drip irrigation systems and helped the groups to develop curriculum for training farmers in the future. This month, we honor Dr. Steven Kovach as the October Volunteer of the Month.

• Why did you want to volunteer?

By being a volunteer with F2F Program, I am provided the means of sharing my technical knowledge in horticulture and drip irrigation technology to poor farmers in the developing world where their livelihoods can be improved and their food security enhanced.

• What was the highlight of your most recent volunteer assignment abroad?

In January 2015, I left my position as the Agricultural Water Advisor with USAID/Bureau of Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3), Water Office, Washington, D.C. to go into retirement. In February/March 2017, I completed my Winrock International FtF volunteer assignment in Bangladesh to conduct “Eco-Friendly Techniques for Safe Banana Production for Youth entrepreneurs”.   As a result of this assignment, it brought to fruition a professional desire I have been working on for over 40 years–to see the successful environment developed and put into place that guarantees the successful implementation of drip irrigation technology in developing countries as a food security tool.

• What made your Winrock volunteer trip distinctive?

The distinctive characteristic of my trip to Bangladesh dealt with the strong dedicated conviction by the Winrock Bangladesh country staff (Dr. Kabir and Badal) that the assignment I was on held high priority and making sure that all needed resources were in place to ensure a successful training program with the banana growers in Thanarbaid. Likewise, the host agency Shalom (formerly Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme-CBSDP) shared the same dedicated conviction that helped to ensure a successful training.

• What advice would you give a new volunteer

If there is any apprehension about entering a new culture and country, this apprehension will eventually dissipate and vanish through the extensive experience the country Winrock staff has with dealing with volunteers coming from different backgrounds. The Winrock staff knows how to address all the needs and concerns volunteers may be experiencing.

• How have your assignments made a difference in your own life?/Has your assignment caused you to do anything differently once you returned?

After retiring in January 2015, I’ve found that volunteer assignments with Winrock, have helped me to feel positive about myself in terms of self-worth and knowing that I can still contribute to the betterment of less fortunate areas of the world. The confidence Winrock International has in me supports my ability to give important technical knowledge in terms of horticultural production to farmers that are thirsty to learn improved production techniques, such as drip irrigation technology.   The volunteer assignments have provided a rewarding transition from full- time employment to retirement status.

• Why should people consider volunteering?

If someone wants to make a lasting change to the world in which they live and a change that will impact them for a lifetime through the memories of the people with whom they serve, then they need to volunteer their services and share their knowledge.

• How do you feel about the support from Winrock, whether before, during or after your assignments?

Without the excellent support at Winrock’s home offices in Little Rock and Arlington, including the many hours and other resources to logistically attract volunteers, like me, it would not be possible for the field offices to work with the volunteers to carry out their assignments. Staffs at the field offices are superb in ensuring that volunteers have the resources they need to carry out a successful assignment.

• What do you do when you’re not volunteering?

I spend time at home with my wife (Glenna) and two dogs (Phantom and Dixie–two hybrids). I handle the yard work and other home maintenance projects.  My wife and I enjoy taking long walks together and taking our dogs on outings.

• What keeps you going back to volunteer?

I continue to desire to either volunteer or work in any capacity in developing nations, because of the trainees’/farmers’ thirst for knowledge.

• What, if anything, has surprised you on your assignments?

I have been working with drip irrigation technology for over 40 years and it always encourages me to see the enthusiasm it brings out in farmers and others in agriculture, such as students and other agricultural technical support personnel and extension agents. One does not even need to be able to read or write in order to understand what drip irrigation can do when seeing water coming out of the emitters on the drip tape “drop by drop”. It always amazes me how quickly the younger generation, whether in Guinea, Senegal, Bangladesh, US, etc. has embraced the use of mobile phones as a means of information gathering and sharing with Facebook, the use of the internet, and other social media outlets. I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the continuous unselfish dedication by Winrock’s US and country staff by ensuring that volunteers have a successful assignment.

To learn more about the technical aspects of his assignment, check out our recent blog post.