I’ve worked in Winrock’s Volunteer Programs since March 2014. I have many responsibilities, but the most important one is the recruitment of volunteer experts for the USAID funded Farmer-to-Farmer program and an associate award called the Agriculture Education and Market Improvement Program (AEMIP). AEMIP operates in Guinea and its goal is to strengthen agriculture education and training through organizational capacity building of the country’s only four-year agriculture university, the Institut Supérieur Agronomic et Vétérinaire de Faranah (ISAV/F).

When I applied for the position of Program Associate/Volunteer Recruiter at Winrock, I had to google Guinea. I’d heard the country name, but that was the extent of my knowledge and the only thing I knew about agriculture was that Arkansas grows a lot of rice and soybeans. At this point, you may be wondering how on earth I ended up on an assignment in West Africa if I hadn’t come from a background in international development and knew nearly nothing about agriculture. (more…)

In September, two volunteers completed Pesticide Safety Assessments for the Farmer-to-Farmer for Agriculture Education and Training program in West Africa. Sandra McDonald traveled to Guinea, and Ples Spradley completed an assignment in Senegal. The purpose of these assessments was to ascertain and evaluate pesticide safety, regulation, training, education, and use in the countries. Both Sandra and Ples are members of the American Association of Pesticide Safety Educators, a group focused on protecting human health and the environment through education. Sandra is the founder of Mountain West PEST in Colorado and works as a pesticide safety educator. Ples works for the University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture as an associate professor and extension pesticide safety education specialist.

Sandra and Ples are first time Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers. Each of them knew Farmer-to-Farmer by its reputation and were excited to volunteer when they were approached by Winrock. Sandra said, “I’ve always been impressed with Farmer-to-Farmer. Transferring knowledge and technology to the ground level is the only way to make development work.” (more…)

This January, veteran Winrock volunteer, Anaïs Troadec, traveled to Guinea to provide technical assistance to the USAID funded Farmer-to-Farmer for Agriculture Education and Training program. She worked with the Guinean Agriculture Institutions Network (GAIN), which is made up of the five major agriculture education and training institutions in Guinea, to support leadership strategies to improve gender equity at the institutional level. Anaïs is an expert in gender equity and inclusion, and the assignment was implemented successfully through use of Winrock’s Chrysalis Leadership Training for Pioneering Women action plan, coupled with her own materials and experience working with beneficiaries in the region and all over the developing world to provide such training. We are so grateful to Anaïs for donating her time and knowledge to this important project. Once again, she’s gone the extra mile and provided a training that our field staff have called one of the best they’ve seen. As her assignment wrapped up she shared her thoughts with our volunteer programs team:

“What a glorious training we had! In all my 40+ years in development, I have never been so happy with an outcome. The group, twelve women and nine men gelled after several days of hard leadership and gender interaction.

Anais Troadec in Guinea

Bouncing between Chrysalis and my material, through a thoroughly interactive and experiential window, the participants took over the training. We all worked hard to get to an end product that would express the idea of leadership that can engender a change in the contribution of women in Guinean society.

At the closing ceremony the participants acted out nine different themes re: leadership, change and gender in front of VIPs. They were birds in V formation, showing rotating leadership; they acted out the SWOT; they built a working team using four different personalities right on stage. They held hands, men and women, showing ‘interdependence.’

It was wonderful to see how well they interpreted the themes. I know they will do extremely well in ‘giving’ it away to others in their schools. This ‘training of trainers’ worked. And of course, we could not have done it without the enormous contribution of Winrock Guinea’s Country Director, Ibro!

At the end of the performances, the self-confidence, and self-realization that existed was tangible…and it was felt all throughout the space. The invited guests, (very important people) and about 25 students of ENATEF were blown away –and understood very well what the participants wanted them to learn.

Just wanted to share my happiness– and feeling of accomplishment and gratefulness for the opportunity to contribute.”

–Anaïs

Steven Luna recently completed a volunteer assignment with the Agriculture Education and Market Improvement Program in Guinea. He shares his thoughts on the experience in today’s volunteer blog entry:

“Before arriving to Guinea, I had my expectations about the assignment and the country itself. I had calls with the program director and technical assistance manager regarding the assignment. I read country reports on Guinea from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the Economist Intelligence Unit to get a better idea of the current environment in Guinea. I even tried to learn a little French. Even with all my pre-departure preparations, my expectations were not aligned with my experience. Now, that’s not to say that this is bad, rather, it is a wonderful lesson; you don’t know what you don’t know until you experience it.

For example, I expected to have a pretty significant language barrier as I did not know French but to my surprise, quite a few Guineans speak Spanish. After I learned more about the history, I gained a better understanding of the current culture in Guinea; the hierarchical structure, the high power distance, and the local business etiquette. Because of this, I was able to adjust my communication style to gain influence and trust among various stakeholders. Cultural immersion is a very rewarding experience that cannot be gained from reading country reports. (more…)

This article is a contribution to a four-week blog series celebrating 30 years of USAID’s John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program.

Since 2013, the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program and associated USAID/Guinea Agriculture Education and Market Improvement Program (AEMIP) have supported L’Institut Superieur Agronomique et Vétérinaire de Faranah (ISAV/F) – Guinea’s only agricultural university — as a provider of research and education to help solve the country’s food security, ag-development, and climate change challenges. As a key step in this process, AEMIP conducted a baseline study for a Global Climate Change Integration Pilot in 2014. During the study, nationwide data was collected to assess the context in Guinea for building the capacity of ISAV/F and other agriculture education and training (AET) institutions to implement climate change adaptation programs and initiatives.

AEMIP and F2F are now addressing the recommendations provided in the baseline study to support ISAV/F and AET staff to develop and disseminate climate smart agricultural (CSA) techniques to increase farming revenue and food security in Guinea. AEMIP and F2F have also created a network of Guinean AET institutions to open a forum for discussion and development of CSA techniques and strategies. F2F and AEMIP volunteers have supported the efforts by conducting assessments and providing technical training to ISAV/F staff and organizational development capacity building support to the broader AET network.

AEMIP supports research teams comprised of ISAV/F faculty and students who engage local authorities, community members, and ag-extension agencies to conduct research on important topics related to climate change resilience and impacts of climate change on potato, rice, and honey production. The program also increases understanding about the causes of climate change and necessary remedies through climate change awareness grants to Guinean NGOs and by showcasing films at ISAV/F on climate change, global warming, climate change policy, and climate adaptation techniques appropriate for Guinea.

“Due to our collaboration with the AEMIP/F2F Program, ISAV/F has seen a change in our faculty’s mindset regarding climate change,” explains Professor Sara Bialo Diallo, the Director General of ISAV/F. “Faculty has become active in implementing projects that address climate change awareness and applied research on sustainable agriculture and climate smart agriculture techniques.”

F2F and AEMIP are currently seeking volunteer experts to assist with an agro-ecological climate change adaptation report; train AET network members to prepare funding requests for private donors; advise on research grants; and assist ISAV/F with public outreach. Volunteer opportunities are posted at: www.winrock.org/opportunities

From November 16-December 11, F2F program partners are sharing their knowledge and experience providing technical assistance to farmers, farm groups, agribusinesses, service providers, and other agriculture sector institutions in developing and transitional countries. As aligned with Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, F2F works to support inclusive agriculture sector growth, facilitate private sector engagement in the agriculture sector, enhance development of local capacity and promote climate-smart development. Volunteer assignments address host-led priorities to expand economic growth that increases incomes and improves access to nutritious food. This blog series aims to capture and share this program experience.

Read more articles celebrating 30 years of F2F on Agrilinks