Today’s blog post is from Roger Engstrom, a seasoned Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer. Roger has volunteered five times in Africa since January 2015 with Winrock and other implementers of the program. Most recent, Roger volunteered in Senegal and provided his provided technical assistance to the Horticulture Initiation Center of Saint Louis on agricultural mechanization:

“I was afforded a very warm reception at the Winrock office in Dakar and driven to Saint Louis, the former capital of the country, where I stayed in a hotel amongst government buildings, some of which were part of the slave trade.

The two weeks spent in Senegal, working with the director, staff and entrepreneurs associated with the Horticulture Training Institute, were a delight. The purpose of the assignment was to put into operation a rototiller which had never been used because it was in disrepair, and to develop a curricula for mechanized seed bed preparation and weed control.

I had some reservations when we went to get the tiller out, put air in the tires and assemble the various attachments. Particularly because the participants were wearing ‘city shoes’. My concern was unfounded, they put on rubber boots and were very enthusiastic about learning the theory of soil improvement as well as doing the hands on assembling and adjusting the tiller. Each wanted to operate the tiller as much as possible. It is a heavy, clumsy machine, so all participated until stamina was exhausted!

The following week included a conference of farm staff from several farms set up to encourage young people to engage in agriculture, rather than move to cities. Most of the learning was hands-on. Each day we traveled to a farm and the host staff explained the purpose of the farm and problems. That led to learning about diesel engines, generators, wells, pumps, filters, and drip irrigation. Tractor maintenance, machinery purpose, adjustment and operation were also observed. At a dairy farm, we discussed animal husbandry concerns and learned about milking equipment. By observing and asking questions, the participants learned much and took a load of things home to consider for their farm. We could have taken another week to explore more, as the questions and dialog were lively.

Farmers of the Horticulture Initiation Center of Saint Louis, Senegal

 

A representative from Horticulture Initiation Center of Saint Louis explains the purpose of the farm and problems

Finally, because I do not know French, special thanks goes to both interpreters who made a tremendous contribution.”

Dr. Onesimus Otieno recently returned from a Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer assignment in Senegal, providing training and syllabus development on weed control for the Horticultural Initiation Center of Saint Louis. He shares thoughts from his assignment below:

“I arrived in Dakar, Senegal to an early morning rain. The rainbow never looked better as it marked the start of what turned out to be a great visit. My in-country hosts were there to meet me with a warm welcome into a world like no other.  The country office hosts were an exceptionally caring team that made me feel at home in minutes. I was there to develop a syllabus and teach a course on weed management with special emphasis on nutsedge at the Horticultural Initiation Center (CIH) in St. Louis, Senegal. This assignment was my first with Winrock and to West Africa.

At the school, we found very eager principal, teachers, and students ready to learn new skills and apply them right away. Schools were closed around the country and it was commendable that they would spend two weeks back on campus to review their curriculum in preparation for the new school year. We collaboratively produced a digital catalogue of local weeds. Thanks to Suleyman Diallo, a research scientist with the National Agricultural Research Institute, ISRA, we made a digital catalogue of all the 25 weeds found in the center’s garden with both scientific and local names. One of the techniques learned was to use animals for weed suppression in the vegetable gardens. Everyone had a chance to design a chicken tractor and one of the trainers took the lead as he also had experience and a local business making hen houses from recycled tin cans.

Trainees identifying the life stages of nutsedge and determining its density in the gardens

Trainees learning to identify different weeds and control methods

The days were busy with classes in the morning, which started with hands-on exercises and followed with lectures. The later part of the day was spent reviewing material with Pape Tall, the Winrock program manager who translated it into French and helped in delivery. We also reviewed the hands-on activities and tools with the principal, Demba Diop. The days went fast and I cannot help but marvel at the amount of work we covered.

I ate a lot of rice and fish with enough variation in both the fish and rice each time. I tried the popular local bissap, ginger and baobab drinks, which were an exceptional delight with the fataya (deep-fried wheat dough snack) during breaks between learning sessions. I owe a ton of gratitude to the people of Senegal, who opened my world to a new culture, languages and a different outlook of challenges and opportunities in agricultural production and training in skills development. Thanks to Winrock for making it happen. I look forward to updates from the CIH, St. Louis and more stories of the transformational changes around the world brought by the farmer-to-farmer program.”

–Onesimus Otieno

Trainers, teachers, and recent graduates of the Horticultural Initiation Center of St. Louis, Senegal

From Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Richard (Dick) Edwards on his recent assignment in Senegal:

“I have learned a lot about the culture here in Senegal, and while some things are different, I have also experienced many of the same things in other countries.

I developed and presented a workshop on marketing which covered the basic four P’s; product, place, price, and promotion. We met Monday through Friday and had about 25 participants who were primarily small business owners. They were primarily women who have taken the initiative to start their own home based businesses. One is producing syrups with flavoring from native plants. Buyers then add water to base and enjoy a refreshing drink which also, as the marketing flyers pronounce, has several healthy advantages. Another has a small bakery, still another has a catering service and there was an owner of a small on line service offering several food related products.

I had the opportunity to visit several of the participants businesses prior to the workshop and was able to revisit their shops after the workshop and I was delighted see that they had already implemented many of the concepts discussed during the training.

The work was remarkably rewarding in that it allowed me to see the entrepreneurial spirit exhibited by the participants and provided me an opportunity to learn and experience the cultural practices of a country that I had never before visited.”

Today’s blog post comes from Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Ilan Bar, who just returned from his assignment in Senegal:

“It was a pleasure and very satisfying assignment to train teachers and their students on drip irrigation at the Horticulture Initiation Center of Saint Louis, Senegal, a public education institution that provides training and know-how to youth, professionals and smallholder farmers in the field of fruit and vegetable production, floriculture and entrepreneurship.

The devotion and commitment of the faculty staff and management, as well as of the students, to learn and improve was very encouraging and created a very pleasant and hopeful atmosphere for a better future.

In spite of daily hardships and obstacles, the participation of all attendees was exiting, to the degree that even on a holiday, we had a full house!

I believe these guys deserve any help they can get. Looking forward to stay in touch!”

–Ilan Bar

The photos below show Ilan and training participants in action:

Meet the F2F Team in Senegal

The Senegal team is the newest member of Winrock’s Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) family! The team received its first volunteer as part of the USAID-funded F2F for Agriculture Education and Training (F2F for AET) Program in February, and since then, they have kept busy conducting baseline surveys, developing partnerships, designing volunteer assignments with local AET hosts, and welcoming volunteers to Senegal.

We asked each of the staff to share their thoughts about the F2F program and some background on themselves:

Mama Ndeye Toure, Country Director

Mama joined Winrock in June 2014, but she has known about Winrock for many years, as she is a member of the Africa Women Leaders in Agriculture and Environment (AWLAE) network that Winrock helped form and strengthen in the 1980s. She received her Master’sin International Agriculture Education from the University of Arizona and spent many years working for the Senegalese Ministry of Agriculture and for the Food and Agriculture Organization. Mama enjoys working with volunteers because she learns from their experiences variety of experiences and skills. She admires the volunteers’ dedication and motivation to share their knowledge with others. In her opinion, the F2F program addresses numerous development issues within the wider agricultural sector that benefits Senegal. On the weekends, Mama likes to go to her farm, where she keeps fruit trees, poultry, and livestock.

Pape Magatte Tall, Program Officer

Pape began working for Winrock in October 2014. He has a degree in Agriculture and certificates in vocational education, focusing on horticultural techniques and management. Under F2F, he writes scope of works for the volunteers, accompanies the volunteers on their assignments, and builds relationship with the hosts. Pape likes that F2F helps poor and disadvantaged people and provides them opportunities to change their life conditions. He strongly believes that by focusing on agriculture education and training, the capacity of Senegal’s people and organizations will increase. Pape enjoys the technical exchange that takes place with the volunteers. In his free time, Pape goes to his farm, where he grows ground nuts and maize, and enjoys jogging.

Bara Ndaye, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

Bara is in charge of M&E tasks for F2F in Senegal, including tracking progress against indicators, collecting baseline data with hosts, and supporting scope of work development. He joined Winrock in October 2014, after studying project management and planning and beginning his M&E career with the Ministry of Finance. He says that 70% of Senegal’s population are involved in agriculture, and therefore it is important to gain more experience in order to feed the population; this is what F2F provides to Senegalese farmers. Bara enjoyed visiting poultry farms with a volunteer; he was able to learn about the dynamic poultry sector. On the weekends, Bara likes to visit his family in Saint Louis or watch soccer matches.

Adama Séne, Program Assistant

As a Program Assistant, Adama helps the project with many important tasks, including translation and logistics. She also attends technical meetings and accompanies the volunteers to their assignments. She enjoys meeting the volunteers. Each experience has been unique. Adama says that 6 out of 10 jobs in Senegal are not filled because people lack the right skills; therefore she thinks that education and training are important for the development of Senegal. In her free time, Adama likes to go out salsa dancing. She also grows vegetables and aromatic plants in her garden.

Demba Sidy Ba, Financial Officer

Demba has been working for Winrock since September 2009, starting as an accountant under a previous project in Senegal. Demba is in charge of all accounting functions, payroll, procurement, and travel logistics. He participated in the F2F start-up in Senegal, which was a memorable experience that allowed him to use the skills developed during his tenure with Winrock. Demba thinks that F2F is important because the training provided to farmers and organizations will bring results that will benefit his country. Demba likes to spend the weekends with his family.

Ndiamé Séne, Driver

Séne has the very important job of driving our volunteers to locations all over Senegal. He has been working for Winrock since January 2015. He learned English at a university in Dakar and is looking forward to continuing to improve his English skills by engaging with the volunteers. He has a piece of land and hopes to grow crops and poultry. When volunteer Jonathan Moyle visited Senegal for a poultry production assignment, Séne was able to learn new skills to apply to his own farm. He believes that the F2F project is important to farmers, and that it is wonderful for Senegalese people to receive the technical assistance. In his free time, he likes to jog and watch TV.

Youssouph Sane, Driver

Sane is also a driver for F2F and accompanies the volunteers on their travels throughout Senegal. He has been working for Winrock since January 2015. Sane learned English in high school, and after that he continued his English studies by attending language lessons. He learned about Winrock by coincidence: he was near the office and saw the office’s sign and decided to stop by to see if there were any openings. Sane believes that F2F can help farmers in Senegal gain more knowledge. He enjoys sharing his experiences with volunteers. In his free time, Sane likes to jog, spend time with his family, and watch TV.

The whole team is eager to welcome all of the future F2F volunteers in Senegal!