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.

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 livestock manure. Our Country Director, Dr. Ai, notes that these two volunteers have “strong technical expertise, high cultural sensitivity, the ability to adapt to and understand local  farmers’ needs, an impressive teaching style, and complimentary qualities to form an effective team.” Jonathan and Glen have volunteered together in Myanmar three times and Dr. Ai explains that because of their work “our program has received positive impacts beyond our expectations; the trainees love them, respect them, and continue to request their return.” To learn more about the technical aspects of their assignment, check out our recent blog post.

We asked Dr. Deenik and Dr. Fukumoto to reflect on their experiences as Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers. Their responses are below:

Why did you want to volunteer?
Deenik: Volunteering is an important part of my life. I volunteer regularly in community work days, taking care of agricultural land in my community of West Oahu. This commitment to volunteerism was solidified by my 5-years as a Peace Corps volunteer (1985-1991).

What was the highlight of your most recent volunteer assignment abroad?
Fukumoto: The resourcefulness of the host-farmer and the support in coordinating an unplanned demonstration on building a composting unit as part of the workshop session. The host asked what was needed for the demonstration and gathered all the materials – carbon source, nitrogen source, local materials used to build the compost bins and aeration pipes, within 24-hours. During the day of the demonstration, he assigned a small farm crew to work with me in setting up the area and prepare the materials for the demonstration.

What made your Winrock volunteer trip distinctive?
Deenik: This was my third volunteer assignment in Myanmar. The growth, deepening, and fruition of our special relationship with the Myanmar staff, especially Dr. TK and Dr. Ai, is DISTINCTIVE and immensely rewarding.

Dr. Deenik delivering his training with the help of Dr. TK

How does your experience affect your world view?
Deenik: Our work with Winrock in Myanmar provides a unique opportunity to experience what life is like for Myanmar people from a wide range of perspectives – farmers, educators, civil servants, students…. Through these personal interactions, we see the uniqueness of their situations, but also recognize that we all face similar experiences, and thus we better appreciate the notion we are a “global family.” Maya Angelou expresses this most eloquently in her poem “Human Family.”

Fukumoto: The Winrock F2F volunteer experience makes you realize how little we know of the world. The country borders are not simply lines on a map, but are a place rich in traditions, culture and different values and the struggles and triumphs of its people. Through the farmer-to-farmer program we develop relationships with the people and their community, with hopes of advancing and improving environmental quality, or food production, or the individual lives that we touch. At the same time, these assignments enrich ourselves with new friends and knowledge of a new place on this planet.

What advice would you give a new volunteer?
Deenik: Practice humility and patience, and above all have fun.

Fukumoto: Before your trip, read all the information sent out by your Winrock recruiter, heed all safety and medical advice, read as much as you can about the country and your related assignment and keep an open mind. While in country being respectful, being humble, and learning a few words of greetings in the host country language goes a long way, and don’t forget to enjoy the journey.

How have your assignments made a difference in your own life?/Has your assignment caused you to do anything differently once you returned?
Deenik: My life experience is enriched with each assignment, where I meet and learn from so many people. These experiences continue to humble me and reinforce the essential need to be tolerant and patient, but also intentional.

Fukumoto: The assignments, especially in the rural agricultural settings, make you realize that many of your personal challenges and struggles are quite minor compared to daily struggles of the lives of the people we engage with. Living a simple life can be more fulfilling than climbing the ladder of success in our hectic and complex lives. On the first assignment, several volunteers embarked on the Yangon Circular Train (it’s a must for the first-time visitor to Yangon). You get the essence of the life in Myanmar and the warm hearts of the people. Nearing the end of the loop ride a nice gentleman, most likely a daily commuter on the train, greeted a colleague and followed with a simple question, “Are you happy?” Often in our busy lives we never think about our state of mind … but now I think about it more than before … and yes, I am happy.

Why should people consider volunteering?
Deenik: Volunteering with Winrock promotes the effective transfer of knowledge to communities who have requested technical assistance. It also allows volunteers to broaden their world view through meaningful human interaction.

How do you feel about the support from Winrock?
Deenik: The Winrock staff here in the U.S. and in Myanmar have provided stellar support. The assignments are well-researched and address a grass-roots community need, which makes for a meaningful and rewarding experience.

Fukumoto: I would go anywhere in the world with the support of Winrock. The F2F program staff, from the preparation, arrangements, guidance/logistics and de-briefing by the recruiters, to the support from the field office professionals, are simply outstanding. Knowing you have the support/safety net in the background and the hard working and knowledgeable field staff, allows you to focus on the assignment. After the hard work is done, opportunities are provided for you to learn and discover the culture and the arts, the history, and modern life of the host country.

Dr. Fukumoto with the compost building crew. ““The support of the host farm was phenomenal. I was in awe of the connectivity of the farming community in gathering all the materials needed for the demo.”

When your friends/family find out that your volunteer assignment aboard, what do they say or ask?
Deenik: They are always curious and interested in this part of my work. Recently, I spent more than 4 hours sharing pictures of my assignments in Myanmar and Guinea with my 93 year old aunt. She was fascinated.

Fukumoto: Where is Myanmar? Why are you going? Is it safe? How’s the food?

How do you feel that your volunteer assignment has contributed to create a shared understanding across different cultures through person-to-person interactions?
Fukumoto: The Farmer-to-Farmer program and the outreach activities of interpreted workshop presentation and demonstrations has allowed us to share our ideas, best management practices, and farmer adoption/implementation examples from our work experiences. These experiences provide evidence/reinforcement that the presentations are not simply theoretical, but have practical/proven applications with successful results. Farmers understand and believe other farmers more than from academia; but by blending academia and direct farmer experiences, I believe, it brings a greater understanding of the principles and applications of the topics in the assignment.

The visits with the host farmers are extremely valuable. The farm view through the eyes of the farmer provide a grounded understanding of the their issues and challenges of production, environmental concerns, marketing, and other local constraints that impact their operations.

What keeps you going back to volunteer?
Fukumoto: Genuine interest in sharing my knowledge and experiences in tropical livestock systems that can potentially increase farmers and livestock organizations knowledge and understanding, which I hope can lead to successes in the field for improved sustainability, productivity and a healthy ecosystem.

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, and NGO professionals to the workshops and demonstrations; covering topics on soil fertility management, livestock waste management, and composting.

Dr. Deenik is a soil fertility expert and defines soil fertility “as the ability of the soil to supply essential plant nutrients and soil water in adequate amounts and proportions for plant growth and it is the foundation of productive, vibrant cropping systems. Soils, however, vary dramatically in their ability to store and supply elements essential for good crop growth. A sandy soil has limited capacity to store and supply plant nutrients whereas a finer soil with proportionately more clay will typically store and supply more nutrients. Soil fertility assessment is typically conducted through soil testing, which involves a series of chemical analyses to determine soil nutrient availability.  

On this assignment in Hmawbi Township, I provided training in soil fertility assessment to two sets of farmer groups. Training participants at both sites brought soils from their respective farms and we tested the soils for pH (acidity) and available nitrate, phosphorus and potassium using my mobile soil testing equipment. The reflectoquant® technology uses different test strips for nitrate (N), phosphate (P) and potassium (K) coupled with a portable spectrophotometer to acquire concentration values for each nutrient. The participants went through the extraction and filtering steps, and then used the test strips and the spectrophotometer to the assess NPK status of their soils.

The farmers easily grasped the simple procedures and eagerly brought their soil samples forward for testing. With results for their soils in hand, I also provided them with the appropriate knowledge to interpret the test results and make fertilizer recommendations. After compiling the results, I highlighted the fact that many of the farmer’s soil samples were acidic to very acidic. Soils from paddy rice fields tended to show low nutrient status whereas soils from intensively managed vegetable fields were typically higher in nutrients – especially phosphorus. On the soils with low nutrient status, I presented some options for appropriate soil amendments including compost, manure, and synthetic fertilizers and presented some simple calculations to estimate the amount of amendment to add. In cases where soils had high nutrients, I emphasized to the farmers that fertilizer additions in these soils could be reduced to prevent nutrient loss to the environment with considerable savings to the farmer.

Access to simple, rapid, and reliable soil testing will have far-reaching impacts improving the livelihoods of rural Myanmar farmers empowering them to make sound fertilizer decisions that increase crop production while protecting soil and water resources.”

Dr. Deenik observing participants soil testing skills.

Dr. Fukumoto is an animal science specialist whose work focuses on on-farm projects in co-composting and nutrient management data collection. He describes composting as “one of the great wonders of the biological world. It is a natural process of aerobic microbial degradation of organic matter resulting in a stable and valuable soil amendment. 

During the second workshop series, we discussed the possibility of including a compost demonstration with Dr. Thet Khaing, Project Management and Communication Specialist for the Winrock International Asia F2F Myanmar field office. Dr. “TK”, as we affectionately call him, is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and provides volunteers with wealth of knowledge about all things Myanmar – from culture and history to arts and crafts, and recommendations to the best restaurants in town. The host farm was eager to support the last-minute addition of a compost demonstration to the workshop agenda. With the farm manager, I discussed the logistics of the demonstration: dimensions and design of the compost bin, requirements for carbon and nitrogen materials, water, and tools that were needed to build the compost pile. Everything was purchased, gathered and ready the next day.

“Built with locally sourced and natural materials, this was one of the most beautifully constructed compost bins I’ve worked with.” Glen Fukumoto

I worked with the farm crew, mostly through crude hand signals, and we completed the coolest compost bin I’ve worked on: woven bamboo side panels, custom-made bamboo aeration pipes, and a bamboo structural frame. Rice husks were used as the carbon resource and the nitrogen was provided by poultry manure. I had hoped for a beautiful day for the outdoor demonstration; well, at least no rain during the build. Thankfully, it didn’t rain during the demonstration, but working in the hot and humid weather with my shoes anchored in the sticky clay mud, and being surrounded by over 70 eager farmer participants, many seeing a compost pile being built for the first time, was just another great experience of delivering practical information and introducing innovative and age-old technologies for rural agricultural development.

The recycling of farm by-products and livestock waste through simple on-farm composting systems can help to replace a portion of the chemical fertilizers and improve the biological health of the soils to improve crop production, as well as to reduce the pollution potential of animal manure runoff into water resources in the region. In addition, the compost can be an integral part of the nutrient management plan of farms considering a transition to organic farming systems.” 

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 the people of the Satkhira region of southwest Bangladesh delightful. They were open, courteous, sharing, appreciative, diligent, and smart. I will look forward to a return visit in the future.

My assignment focused upon a 5-day training of small scale youth farmers in basic techniques for commercial vegetable seed production. Rice and jute are the primary cash crops of the region, but we focused upon tomato, pepper, eggplant, cucumber, pumpkin, and gourd seed production. After reviewing basic plant biology, I covered seed production technology. The final day concluded with a field trip to a government-operated rice breeding project and foundation seed producer. Although on a much grander scale, participants were able to see basic processes, seed treatments, seed testing, and storage of agricultural seed in their home territory.

Dr. Williams shows the farmers the symptoms of insect attacks and prevalence of powdery mildew problems on cucumber leaves during a field visit

Dr. Williams shows another farmer the damage and color change on eggplant leaves due to an aphids’ attack

The conditions were not perfect. The electricity went on and went off and temperatures in the seminar room were sometimes hot, but no one complained. Participants came up to me many times and said how much they enjoyed the presentations and appreciated the information I was sharing with them. During the field visits, farmers showed enthusiasm for information and techniques in plant protection and cultivation.

The experience was truly humbling. I sincerely hope my efforts will help some of the Bangladeshi people to attain their goals and dreams.

Dr. Williams shows a group of farmers how to get rid of unwanted plants from any kind of orchard during a practical training session

In honor of International Youth Day, we would like to highlight an interesting and impactful youth-focused assignment completed in Nepal. Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) volunteer, Dr. Tiffany Drape, arrived in Ramechhap district in March 2016 to provide a training of trainers on youth facilitation and agriculture-based entrepreneurship development to staff and members of 4-H Nepal and the Youth Partnership for Development and Peace Nepal (YSP-Nepal). It is important to note that 4-H Nepal is the first registered 4-H organization in South Asia, and Winrock Farmer-to-Farmer training laid the groundwork for Nepali youth development professionals to create the national program. Therefore, I was excited about the opportunity to meet with Lok Raj Awasthi, President of 4-H Nepal, to discuss the organization, as well as to learn more about the impact of Dr. Drape’s training.

Mr. Awasthi explained the most important topics covered by Dr. Drape were business planning, profit and loss statements, sustainability, and communication skills. Many of the 4-H Nepal members already had their own agriculture businesses. However, he stated, “Farmers had no plan and didn’t keep records. But after the training many farmers are keeping records and now have a business strategy.” 4-H Nepal has since reached about 120 other national members with similar training on agricultural entrepreneurship development.

Dr. Drape’s training with 4-H Nepal members. (Lok Raj Awasthi is also featured standing at the front of the room).

Later, in July 2016, 4-H Nepal hosted its first Youth Agriculture Entrepreneurship Conference (article here: 4H Nepal youth entrepreneurship conference). One of the goals of this conference is to empower more youth to engage in the agriculture sector. The conference was attended by more than 200 young farmers and the Vice President of Nepal. It featured sessions focused on progressive agro-based enterprise practices, where Dr. Drape’s training materials were utilized. This is the type of ripple effect you hope to see for any F2F assignment, but it is even more exciting to hear that the training has reached many more youth and has furthered the working relationship with 4-H Nepal. Mr. Awasthi noted, “This type of youth conference is just a stepping stone towards a progressive future for Nepal’s agriculture sector. We hope that we are able to provide a platform where young entrepreneurs could form a network and help each other.” We at F2F are looking forward to seeing even more great work on youth agricultural entrepreneurship development implemented through 4-H Nepal and hope Dr. Drape’s training will continue to benefit youth that are looking to start or build their own businesses.

Dr. Drape distributing completion certificates to 4-H members following her training.