Today we bring you another installment of our local volunteer highlights! This Q&A is with Dr. Emmanuel Opoola, national volunteer for the Nigeria F2F project. Dr. Opoola worked with remote U.S. volunteer, Stephen Bullen, to develop a syllabus and training materials on-farm management and trained the host’s agricultural team on how to use the developed training materials to enable them to further the trainings to their beneficiary farmers.

What was the best part about contributing to Farmer–to–Farmer as a national volunteer in your country/ region?

As a national volunteer, I had the privilege to meet new people. I had the opportunity to connect to the host community, remote-based volunteer and broaden my support network, exposing me to people with common interests, neighborhood resources, and fun and fulfilling activities.  The best part was to have played my role in providing local cases to support the development of training modules and other materials and in visiting the host location to personally deliver training on strategic/tactical farm management planning and setting up a recording-keeping system.

What was the best part about working with a remote US-based volunteer?

Valuable connections and relationships were established with the remote US-based volunteer. The best part was that I had the chance of combining my training experience on-farm management and that of the US-based volunteer synergy for delivering a better package to the participants.

What did you learn/were there any cultural exchanges with the US volunteer and/or your host?

Developing new skills; discovering new passions, gaining insight about myself and the world around me. Now, I feel more comfortable stretching my wings at work after I have honed these skills in working with a remote US-based volunteer. There were cultural exchanges with the US-based volunteer in areas related to strategic analysis and comparing new enterprises.

What lasting impact did volunteering with Winrock have on you?

I have learned important skills to be used in my workplaces, such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, project planning, task management, and organization.

What was the best part about contributing to Farmer-to-Farmer as a national volunteer in their country/region?

I was elated to be able to give back to my country using the skills I have acquired over the years. It was rewarding and it gave me a sense of fulfilment. It also afforded me the opportunity to meet the needs of clients or people who ordinarily wouldn’t have crossed my path. I met interesting people, young and old contributing their quota to the development of agriculture in Nigeria.

My first assignment was with a Non-governmental organization, Agrolearn where I contributed to the development of training modules that could be used by agricultural extension agents as well as facilitating four sessions of training. The trainees were warm and enthusiastic to learn. The trainees also sharpened my view of some aspects of extension as they brought their experiences on board.

My second assignment was institutional assessment at the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Victoria Island, Lagos. I was able to help conduct SWOT analysis of the institution which gave me a sense of fulfilment

What was the best part about working with a remote US based volunteer?

The best part was the opportunity to learn new ideas from another clime. I also loved the ideas shared and the two I worked with so far have great personalities. I think developing modules together also broadened my knowledge. I have always longed for an exchange program of some sort and working with them gave me a peek into what it would look like should I embark on that.

What did you learn/were there any cultural exchanges with the US volunteer and/or your host?

Yes, there were a few with the international partners. In developing the modules on my first assignment, Dr. Laurie Murrah-Hanson and I developed an in-depth module on program planning and development which broadened my knowledge. That stood out for me.

Working with Professor Gary Wingenbach was so rewarding as he explained how to use the OCI tool for institutional assessment in details. Listening to his sessions also gave me an insight to what practices are obtainable in teaching and learning in the United States. For instance, emphasis on other aspects of the learner apart from cognitive development is now top priority for me as I impact knowledge.

The hosts I have worked with so far are from my own section of the country, so no major exchange has taken place.

What lasting impact did volunteering with Winrock have on you?

It has aroused a desire to be selfless and make a difference in the agricultural sector. I admire the drive and focus of the organization. The passion of their staff to achieve results is also commendable and worthy of emulation. I also hope they keep this window open even after COVID19.

What was the best part about contributing to Farmer-to-Farmer as a national volunteer in their country/region?

Firstly, in the case of this assignment (which involved the development of training modules and in-person training of the host on strategic digital marketing for agribusinesses), the best part was having to interact and co-learn with the host as well as other agribusiness participants towards a playbook that identified the challenges and limitations akin to traditional marketing evident in their businesses, and developing their capacity to utilize digital marketing to carry out their businesses. This presents opportunities to increase visibility and generate business-to-business leads more efficiently.

Secondly, representing Winrock International at the National Level, as a Farmer-to-Farmer National Volunteer helped develop in me a psyche of being part of a global vision to achieve the SDG goal I (no poverty), II (zero hunger) and VIII (decent work and economic growth). This psyche wound up a resilience in me that transcended local boundaries to make impact despite the ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19 transmission.

What was the best part about working with a remote US based volunteer?

Working with a remote US based volunteer made this cliché practical– the world is a global village. In practical terms, the knowledge, experiences and thoughts that diffused across borders seamlessly as a result of this assignment and via the technological aid of the internet was the best part for me.

What did you learn/were there any cultural exchanges with the US volunteer
and/or your host?

One outstanding example that the remote US Volunteer, Jessica Byasse shared which was her approach to using personalization as a communication technique to increase donations to a US-based NGO she worked with remained a key take-away for me, even as a digital marketing professional. It helped me view the use of this technique from a different cultural setting, and relate that with the local setting in Nigeria. This was very useful in the development of the material that was prepared for the host.

What lasting impact did volunteering with Winrock have on you?

Volunteering with Winrock International remains one of the highlights for me this year, especially as it helped me understand the scriptural saying (Acts 10:35) that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”. COVID-19 created a panic worldwide and a large percentage of people wound-up their psyche to receiving, so we had huge populations of people around the world expecting reliefs, vaccines, help and support in one way or the other.

In my case, I had myself through the volunteering activity, giving-off rather than receiving. This was by transferring knowledge, skills and expertise to help boost the host capacity to train agribusinesses to be digitally complaint in their marketing activities. In one sentence, volunteering with Winrock leaves me with this thought permanently and that is “Despite the prevailing circumstances you may find yourself in, always find creative ways to be of help or support to someone in need”

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps, and 59 years later we take this week to celebrate all the ways Peace Corps has made a difference at home and abroad.  Since 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served our country and the global community as Peace Corps Volunteers, living and working alongside local leaders to catalyze change. Under USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer Program, Winrock has partnered with the National Peace Corps Association to tap into this network of Peace Corps alums in order to field highly skilled and experienced volunteers to West Africa. In addition, Winrock has also created connections with the Peace Corps in Guinea and Senegal to facilitate training and technical assistance. Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts are then able to bring the knowledge and skills they learn back to their communities, increasing the spread and impact of Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteers. In honor of Peace Corps Week, we thank all volunteers, past and present, each time you give your expertise and time you help build the future! 

“We females eat what is left.” That was just one of the many tough issues discussed on ways to reduce malnutrition during the first Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) partnership assignment between Winrock and the Peace Corps/Guinea. By all accounts, this strategy of F2F volunteers working with Peace Corps Volunteers and their volunteer counterparts in a practical skills workshop was a success.

The objective of the trip, titled Training of Trainers (TOT) in Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and Behavior Change, required integration between multiple disciplines. The assignment challenged me to put the experience I had gained on linking agricultural resources to solving nutritional problems for the past 40 years.  The undertaking necessitated using an approach which would be a dance between the art of communication and the science of agriculture, food and nutrition.

My main task was to facilitate a TOT workshop with Peace Corps Volunteers and local volunteer counterparts from their community on how to use behavioral change communications (BCC) to help households make their agricultural investments more nutrition-sensitive (NSA) as well as more specific in order to close their identified dietary gaps.

The challenge I faced was clear in the preparation stage. Unlike some other African countries, there is little written about Guinea, especially its agriculture and nutrition situation, and this made designing a quality program even more tricky as the trainees were not experienced outreach professionals in either agriculture, nutrition or behavioral change communications.  Moreover, for most of the local participants, this was their very first experience attending a workshop so far from home. These many challenges resulted in multiple emails with draft documents going back and forth between me and the Peace Corps staff (host) as well as with Winrock/ Guinea staff.

After arriving in Guinea and holding initial briefings with F2F Winrock and Peace Corps management staff in Conakry, I proceeded with 12 people in a single-vehicle for 125 miles — an 8-hour drive — to Mamou. The road, if one could call it that, was certainly one for the record books. I nicknamed it the “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” road adventure.

The venue for the workshop was Guinea’s forestry center, Ecole Nationale des Agents Techniques des Eaux et Forets (ENATEF), just outside of Mamou City. The site was wonderful as the center was surrounded by forest with all its diverse vegetation and sounds. Its magnificent diversity served as a living laboratory for the practicum exercises.

One of the big workshop communication challenges faced right off the bat was the need to work in five languages at the same time: English, French, Malinke, Pulaar and Soussou.  Fortunately, we had with us Peace Corps staff who spoke at least one of the three local languages. Having worked in similar multiple language situations throughout my career, the workshop was designed from the start to have lots of small group work so that the participants could carry on in their language group, thus reducing the time needed for multiple translations.

Since the term “Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture” is still evolving within the global community of practice, the group decided to operationalize NSA according to their local situation. They essentially agreed that it meant practical actions that could be taken throughout a crop’s cycle to enhance and or preserve the nutrient quality of that crop.

As the workshop took shape, a distinct trend was emerging.  Some Peace Corps Volunteers were keen to learn about the technical aspects of growing certain crops, especially the ones they were introducing to their community as part of their 2-year assignment: orange-fleshed sweet potato and moringa, while their Guinean counterparts seemed more interested in exploring effective way to communicate specific behavioral changes that need to be made so that home food systems are nutrient- and nutrition-sensitive.

It became clear that while technical improvements and solutions were identified by the group for improving crop production and post-production as well as dietary intake issues, culture seems to trump every technical subject — hence the importance of identifying strategic BCC messages for each issue.

Through group discussions, a few Peace Corps Volunteers began to understand that in order to have a few “quick wins” and build credibility with their community during their two-year assignment, they should look at ways to enhance post-harvest through improvements in existing practices. Their emphasis on the introduction and acceptance of new crops by subsistence households, while important, takes longer than their assignment time.

There were four key themes that came up continuously:

• Start with what households were doing right with their food system. The good news is that households already grow a wide variety of crops consisting of a large diversity of calorie- and nutrient-dense crops and their main meal is complete as it consists of a starch (usually rice) with a sauce (oil, legume and a dark green leafy vegetable). One of the key challenges mentioned by the participants was not so much technical issues but their cultural traditions around who eats what and in what order.
• Identify gaps in their cropping system, usually more vegetable protein (peas, beans, legumes) and in their household meals, especially for the most at risk nutritionally (mothers and young children)
• Identify local solutions based on existing knowledge, skills and resources. If it is not available at the local market, forget it as a “solution.”
• Identify a range of locally acceptable behavioral change methods that a household can do with minimal disruption to their existing food consumption pattern.

By the end of the five-day exercise, the workshop participants had designed their own location-specific illustrated communication materials for use with their community as well as a clear roadmap of activities for closing dietary gaps from existing crops. Clearly, they valued the experiential learning approach and could see that their malnutrition issues were solvable by tweaking the use of the resources they have now.

A bonus from the training was the Peace Corps staff indicated that their own capacity had been built as a result of this exercise, especially regarding behavioral change messaging. One long term outcome of this assignment is that the Peace Corps staff will be presenting this NSA/BCC workshop to its Peace Corps Volunteers going forward.

In sum, it was my pleasure to work with this group of volunteers who live in hardship conditions and yet showed so much dedicated to finding solutions together.

To read about a Peace Corps Volunteers experience you can go here:

https://winrock.org/volunteer_blog/voices-from-the-field/

We were fortunate to spend two weeks in Nepal working with Professor Binayak Rajbhandri and HICAST University, helping them to enhance their Masters in Agribusiness curriculum that will help develop entrepreneurship skills in their students.  We were both drawn to the program due to our collective experiences in entrepreneurship, higher education, and agribusiness.  Over the two weeks, we met with HICAST students, faculty, and staff as well as local business leaders to discover the gaps in the current curriculum and make recommendations on new courses and content that would help to develop a spirit of entrepreneurship within the institution and student body.

Kate and Frieda consulting with HICAST Agri-business students

Through the assistance of Winrock staff, Chhan Bhattachan and Dr. Vrigu Duwadi, we were able to speak with several students within the program to hear their opinions and discover ways they thought the program could be more applicable to the real-world business environment and not solely on theory delivered via textbook and lecture.  Since most students work full time and appreciate the idea of applied learning their feedback was helpful in understanding the gaps in the current curriculum.

Kate and Frieda final presentation to HICAST senior team

We were also lucky to meet with members of Kathmandu’s agribusiness community to better understand the knowledge and skills students traditionally lack when entering the workforce.  Business owners believe that graduates lack real-world experience and struggle to convert the theories they learn in school to the applications needed in the workplace. They want to see graduates come out with more real-world experience and applicable knowledge.

Kate and Frieda with Dr. Binayak in assignment planning meeting

Lastly, we met with several members of the HICAST faculty to comprehend the courses they taught as well as the delivery method of the content.  We learned that faculty in Nepal universities are not full time, rather they work in full-time jobs and often teach classes on the side.  As a result, they rarely have time to make curriculum changes, spend time on paperwork or facilitate educational opportunities outside the classroom.  These time constraints pose a considerable barrier to implementing a more robust curriculum dependent on experiential learning, which we deemed necessary to create a more entrepreneurial system.

We presented our findings to the HICAST leadership during a lively discussion. We acknowledged that some of our recommendations could be implemented immediately and that some would involve a much “bigger lift”, including cultural change and a new way of doing things throughout the institution. On the more immediate side, we recommended focusing on class discussion, using real-world case studies, and including current technology in the classroom. We also suggested including course content such as leadership, creativity, value chain analysis and a regional business environment class.  All of which would help to develop the critical thinking skills that are necessary for an entrepreneur. On the longer-term side, we recommended the creation of two applied to learn courses, one that would involve students creating and running their own businesses and one that would involve students solving real business issues for real clients.

Dr. Binayak (middle of Kate and Frieda) in group picture with HICAST team

Since Nepal is a relatively risk adverse country when it comes to business, we hope that our recommendations can help students become more comfortable with risk and consider starting their own businesses.  At the center of economic development in any country is the development of new business which creates jobs and in turn puts more money back into the local economy. For the right individual, Nepal has a lot of entrepreneurial opportunity within the agribusiness industry.  We hope that our recommendations can help HICAST develop a curriculum that gives students the skills and confidence to create their own business which will contribute to the development of Nepal’s economy.