• About
  • Our Work
  • Join
  • Partner
  • Media
EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

Sign-up for monthly updates on Winrock's work around the world.

Volunteer Blog

VOLUNTEER BLOG

Education and a Celebration

A Day in Tolo, Guinea

Posted on March 7, 2017 by F2F Volunteer, Dr. Billye Foster

Dr. Billye Foster, Professor of Agriculture at Tennessee Tech University recently returned from her first Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer trip with Winrock in Guinea. She worked with faculty and staff to improve administration of agriculture schools. During her trip, Dr. Foster kept a journal. Today’s blog is an excerpt from a day in Tolo.

After spending Saturday in Dalaba, we started back to Mamou by way of Tolo. Our primary goal was to visit the school in Tolo, which the Belgians began in 1932. The school houses 105 students, all who work on the farm or at the school as well as attend class. We stopped at the home of one of the two women in our workshop and both she and the Director were there with our lunch prepared. It is so strange because most of the food is made of things I’ve never heard of, yet there are pieces of things I grew up with.

Today, instead of rice, we had fonio (looks like mini rice and tastes like grits) and something called Cassava Tot—it had the consistency of really sticky cream of wheat but was made from Cassava flour and fonio and water. Of course this was all to be covered with the Sauce. Today’s sauce was creamy in appearance but was made of okra, peanuts, dried fish and spice! I wouldn’t have even known there was fish in it if they hadn’t told me. But you have to understand they literally beat the life out of the ingredients with wooden sticks and bowls. Then they cook it, then they beat it all again. There was no dairy of any kind in the sauce, but all that beating made it creamy.

This was all prepared by hand and cooked over a fire. The men in the group praised it highly (as they should have) and noted girls in the cities just didn’t know how to cook good food like this. We had papaya for dessert and then took the farm tour. This place is so remote you wonder how even 100 students found it, and although most of the buildings are in need of repair, they have a viable poultry system going. The students do almost all the labor and I have some great shots of the brooder house and the laying barn. But the next item on the agenda gave new insight to my perspective.

The woman who hosted our lunch works in the school’s administration, but also farms as most of the women here do. She has formed a group of women farmers and I was taken to their cooperative field and met by them straight from the field. They came to me singing and clapping and were so happy to see me! And I realized they were the same women I had seen cooking our lunch over open flame in the home’s yard. I got out of the jeep and met them clapping to their music. When they were close they surrounded me and started dancing, so naturally I joined in—we became fast friends and I agreed to serve as a long-distant advocate and advisor.

It was a very humbling experience. When you watch how hard these women work it is mind-boggling. Most are much younger than they look, and it is not uncommon to see them in the field or wherever—working hard with a baby strapped to their back. And sometimes these children are up to 2 or 3 years old. It is like a perpetual take your child to work program. They cultivate and plant by hand and clear with machetes like men. They sweep their floors with hand brooms made of thick, long grass of some type. I asked why their brooms don’t have handles and they looked at me like I was crazy.

I do not know how they do it all. The house work, including laundry by hand, the cooking—which is an all-day event, not to mention farming and childcare are heavy labor in this world.

Posted in AET, Africa, Guinea | Tagged AET, capacity building, F2F, Farmer-to-Farmer, knowledge transfer

Rich Illustrations and Examples for Micro-gardening

Posted on February 24, 2017 by F2F volunteer, Bernard Randrianarisoa

“My assignment in Senegal with Winrock International on micro-garden was such wonderful experience. It enriched my knowledge of human development and of the integrity of cultural diversity as fundamental keys to ensure sustainable development and social cohabitation.

My mission could not have been completed without the humble professional support from both the Djilor Professional Training Center and Winrock Senegal. They made my journey in Senegal successful. From the beginning, a specialist from Winrock Senegal gave me a splendid tour of Dakar city and the ongoing micro-gardening projects. One of the micro-gardening projects was managed by the city hospital and the other by a women’s group. The tour enlightened me about the potential that micro-garden projects can contribute to poverty alleviation in an urban area. Our introductory session with the Djilor Professional Center was a great opportunity to observe how a local institution was committed to pivot local rural development through varieties of training programs.

The board members of the Djilor Professional Training Center guided us to meet with four Women’s Vegetables Farmer Groups and to assess their agricultural practice in the field. All of the four Women’s groups have been functional for 20 or 30 years. Thus, it was very important for me to learn their experiences, success, challenges, adaptations, and motivations keeping them running for that long period of time. What are their goals and objectives? How have they tackled problems together? This visit helped me to adjust the training themes to adapt to the field contexts. I am so thankful of their sincerity to share with us their capital knowledge on gardening and vegetable farming. The field visit was successfully completed with the diligent supports from the Director of the Djilor Professional Training Center, the two Assistants from Winrock Senegal who professionally translated every discussion with local people.


I trained approximately 19 people. The trainees included all of the Instructors and Professionals of the Djilor Professional Training Center, two Peace Corps Volunteers, and two representatives of the Women’s Vegetable Farmer Groups of the commune of Djilor. They were very enthusiastic to attend the training and greatly participated in every discussion and activities. The two women from the Women’s Vegetable Farmer Group proudly shared their field experiences, which provided rich illustrations and examples for micro-gardening practice.”

Posted in AET, Africa, Senegal, Volunteer Feedback | Tagged AET, capacity building, F2F, Farmer-to-Farmer, knowledge transfer, senegal

Greening Up Neighborhoods in Senegal

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Mark Cain, Winrock F2F Volunteer

Farming is a constant responsibility, but luckily we get a little time off in the winter when the crops are dormant. It’s the time I look to broaden my awareness of the world, and traveling to countries with intact agricultural societies is my favorite way to do that. I just returned from my 4th Winrock International/USAID Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) assignment, this time in southern Senegal, teaching micro-gardening skills to trainers at the Horticulture Initiation Center in Ziguinchor. Micro-gardening is the growing of crops in the smallest of spaces: in recycled containers, or woven poly grain bags, even impromptu raised beds lined with brick and lined with plastic—whatever is available. Micro-gardening was identified some 15 years ago by the FAO as a way to provide access to fresh vegetables to the urban poor and unemployed, an increasing problem with the constant movement to cities from rural farmlands. We took a look at the existing projects in Dakar, based on planting tables using peanut hulls and rice hulls as a planting medium, and chemical nutrient solutions as fertilizer. As a certified organic grower, I of course immediately started looking for natural alternatives to the expensive imported fertilizer, and later we found just that: homegrown fertilizer produced using on-site chicken coops and vermicompost.

Arriving at the Horticulture Initiation Center in Ziguinchor, I felt immediately in my element, surrounded by beds of lettuce and cabbage, with the students busy each morning as we arrived, watering, shaping and fertilizing beds, planting and weeding. During the four-day session, I introduced both technologies from the States (‘Smart-Pot’ planting containers, seedling plug trays, hand-held seeders) and from Kenya (vertical grow bags and sack gardening); and in the afternoon practicums we adjourned to the garden to plant.

One afternoon, the only woman in class, Amy Diedhiou, invited us to visit her rice field where she was finishing up bundling the rice to carry home and thresh. While in the field visiting with Amy and her sisters, Amy’s husband called on her cell phone and asked to talk to me. He said, “Mark, thank you so much for coming to Senegal. We have a lot of energy, but no means, and we can’t see the way forward. Please think very carefully about this for us.” I spent the rest of the evening pondering this. What are the wisest investments that can help transform these subsistence growers into market producers? The question is pressing, open-ended, and creative…and will not be forgotten.

We spent time in class discussing the expansion of micro-gardening to micro-market farming, and the importance of crop choices for maximum profits and tight crop scheduling for year-round marketing. Hopefully, all these topics will be included and expanded on by the trainers in their respective horticultural schools.

When farmers meet farmers across oceans of cultural difference, hearts expand and we recognize each other immediately. I can’t think of a better way for an agriculturalist to spend their ‘off-season’ than to meet and share with their global counterparts–everyone is enriched from that meeting.

 

Posted in AET, Africa, Senegal, Volunteer Feedback | Tagged AET, capacity building, F2F, knowledge transfer, senegal

Improved Business Skills to Complement Technical Skills

Posted on October 27, 2016 by F2F volunteer, Andy Lohof

In June, I had the honor and pleasure of traveling to St. Louis, Senegal to work with CONCEPT. I worked with CONCEPT’s dedicated training staff to develop a training program for artisans and agricultural processors.

In Senegal, per capita income is only $1,000 (less than 2% of that of the United States) and life expectancy is 66 years (vs 79 in the United States). Poverty in Senegal results in part from the weakness of the private sector and the shortage of strong business skills and behaviors.

The Senegalese non-profit organization CONCEPT has trained artisans and food processing micro-entrepreneurs in production. Artisans include carpenters, and food processing micro-entrepreneurs transform millet and other crops into food products. For example, some of CONCEPT’s trainees make a popular dish called “thiakry” from millet and milk and sell it on the local market.

After production training, the CONCEPT staff realized that the trainees also needed improved business skills to complement their technical skills to succeed in their microenterprises. CONCEPT solicited Winrock’s assistance to train its trainers in management and entrepreneurship. This training was intended to enable CONCEPT’s trainers to help artisans and food processing micro-entrepreneurs develop stronger businesses.

F2F Volunteer, Andy Lohof assists CONCEPT work group

Under the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer program with Winrock, I spent two weeks in Senegal training CONCEPT in management and entrepreneurship. Training was highly participatory with numerous games, exercises, case studies, and discussions. Topics included entrepreneurial behaviors, communication, marketing, communication, recordkeeping, financial analysis, and business planning. After the workshop, the CONCEPT trainers prepared a training session of their own to present to each other and to practice in preparation for training of local micro-entrepreneurs.

The training was held in St Louis, on the coast of northern Senegal near the border with Mauritania. The island of St Louis near the mouth of the Senegal River is on the UNESCO World Heritage list due to its past role as capital of Senegal and its distinctive colonial architecture. Although tourism helps the local economy, business activity needs to be stronger to raise living standards.

Since I visited during the Muslim fast of Ramadan, most of the local population was not eating or drinking during daylight hours. Although a day without food or liquid in the heat of St Louis can be tiring, the CONCEPT staff participated very actively in the training and showed strong motivation to pass on their learnings to their beneficiaries.

F2F volunteer with CONCEPT participants

F2F volunteer with CONCEPT participants

 

To me, human capital is more important than financial capital. My hope is that CONCEPT’s trainers will be able to empower micro-entrepreneurs in St. Louis to strengthen their businesses, thereby improving their lives and those of their employees and families.

Posted in Africa, Senegal | Tagged AET, capacity building, F2F, knowledge transfer, senegal
ABOUT FARMER-TO-FARMER WINROCK VOLUNTEER ASSISTANCE

SUBSCRIBE TO POSTS

Loading

ARCHIVE

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011

CATEGORIES

  • AET
  • Africa
    • Ghana
    • Senegal
  • Asia
  • Bangladesh
  • Cuba
  • El Salvador
  • Ethiopia
  • Field Staff
  • Guinea
  • Kenya
  • Latin America
  • Mali
  • Myanmar
  • Nepal
  • Nigeria
  • Postharvest
  • Rural Livelihoods
  • Senegal
  • Spotlights
  • Volunteer Feedback
  • Volunteer of the Month
  • Winrock Staff
WinrockIntl
Tweets by @WinrockIntl
Follow @WinrockIntl
« Previous Page 1 2 3

204 E 4th Street | North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114

ph +1 501 280 3000 | fx +1 501 280 3090

2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 700 | Arlington, Virginia 22202

ph +1 703 302 6500 | fx +1 703 302 6512

  • Contact
  • E-News Signup
  • Low Bandwidth
  • Code of Conduct
  • Winrock Privacy Statement
  • Site Map
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © 2015- Winrock International
DEV ENVIRONMENT