International Volunteer Day is celebrated on December 5 every year. It serves as an opportunity for organizations like Winrock to celebrate volunteerism and reflect on the inspiring work of our volunteers.

An important part of volunteerism, and of particular importance to the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program, are the people-to-people connections and cultural bridges formed by US volunteers and in-country hosts and beneficiaries. Many times, a volunteer assignment yields more than improved products or services or increased income and sales: it yields a life-long friendship.

John Rodgers and Hiza Akhmatov discuss dairy cattle embryo transfer, 2005

Mr. John Rodgers, owner of Plum Bottom Farm in Belleville, PA, grew up working on a farm and is intimately knowledgeable of dairy farm operations. John traveled on his first volunteer assignment to Kazakhstan in 1993 and over the next 15 years, he has traveled 136,500 miles and volunteered 539 days to contribute to agricultural development in Central Asia.

In 1997, John was awarded a $40,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture to purchase and transport 199 US dairy cow embryos to Kazakhstan, which helped improve herd genetics and cattle rearing in the country. In the summer of 2006, John was instrumental in the launch of the first Agricultural Progress Days of Kazakhstan, with Winrock International and several US and Kazakh institutions, focusing on technologies to increase farm productivity.

John Haight and PJ Burgess at the reunion, 2018. John focused on forage crops for dairy cattle. PJ helped with AI techniques and cattle raising. Both were in Kazakhstan in the early 2000s

Hiza Akhmatov, Executive Director of Taurus Services of Central Asia, received volunteer technical assistance while working on a state dairy farm. Later, after forming Taurus Services, he served as a host for volunteers. He said, “I met John when I was working on a state farm in Kazakhstan. He made such an impression on me, that I could help with improving the dairy business. Two years later I quit my job and started working for the organization bring in embryos. This changed my life and the life of my family.” Taurus Services has benefitted from thirty-one volunteer assignments via various Winrock-implemented Farmer-to-Farmer projects in the region.

John overseeing an embryo transfer, 2003

Fast forward to 2018: Hiza was one of 11 farmers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the Republic of Georgia who visited John and his family at their Pennsylvania farm and traveled to other dairy operations across the US. John organized a gathering that served as a celebration of agriculture and friendships lasting decades and spanning continents. F2F volunteers John Height, Richard Witter, PJ Burgess, Doug Rake, and John Kiefer were in attendance. Darla Embry, a volunteer recruiter with Winrock, also attended the event. She noted, “The gathering felt like a family reunion; a homecoming of sorts! It was inspiring to see these long-lasting connections.”

Volunteers reminisce at the reunion, 2018

It was my pleasure to serve as Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer in Bangladesh from January 26 to February 11, 2018. The assignment was coordinated by Winrock International with sponsorship by USAID, United States Agency for International Aid. The host recipient, BRAC Artificial Insemination (AI) Enterprise,is one part of  Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC), the largest NGO in the world. BRAC was formed in 1972 following the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 and now serves more than 15 countries in Asia and around the world.

I have been to Bangladesh on two prior F2F assignments with Winrock International in 2016 for Feed the Future Bangladesh and Training of Trainers to help develop improvement in dairy cattle feeding programs aiming to increase milk production and to stimulate economic development. I found the participants who were enrolled in the training programs to be eager to learn new concepts and quick to share their experiences and to inquire how to transfer new knowledge and skills with their farmer family clientele. One of the most impressive attributes of the participants was their level of education, many had attended colleges and universities and held advanced degrees. They were quick to share customs, food and family details with me.

As one would imagine, rice is a food staple in Bangladesh and is commonly eaten at all three meals.. Many fresh vegetables are available as well as fruits like mango and banana. Chicken and fish are most commonly served for lunch and dinner but  mutton is also available. I never went away from a meal not feeling adequately fed and I even had to limit myself from overeating the many high calorie items! It was common to enjoy tea breaks with some snacks in mid-morning and again in mid-afternoon. The evening meal is typically eaten around 8:00 p.m., later than most westerners are used to eating.

The participants were quick to get involved in hands-on demonstrations and skills. Photos don’t do these activities justice, it is hard to convey how everyone wants to be involved and apart of the discussion when all I could capture is a group of heads, arms and backs. Never the less, the participants in this assignment were no less enthusiastic than previous assignment participants.

We spent lots of time in the bull sheds where bulls are housed and fed. Each barn had two managers, two bull handlers and one person is present in the barns at all times. Each of the employees know the bulls well. The bulls are kept clean and as comfortable as the facilities will allow. Bulls are taken to the collection center twice aweek for collection of semen. The semen is checked for quality and is processed and packed in quarter milliliter straws, which is stored in liquid nitrogen and is then distributed throughout the country where professionally trained inseminator technicians inseminate the cows. Successful conception rates of over 75% has been achieved.

I was pleased to observe the professional way the AI Enterprise is managed and its attention to detail, both important when gaining the trust of customers. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) for semen collection, preservation & packing were reviewed and discussions were held. Likewise SOP’s for developing and managing the bulls was addressed along with establishment of targets for rates of daily gain and nutrient requirements to keep adequate body condition and to maintain bulls without fattening.

In the training sessions we discussed requirements for daily nutritional needs, requirements for dry matter intake and other nutrients for each 100 grams of body weight gain. I had developed a spreadsheet that allows for body weight of bull and grams body weight gain/day. This is further designed to calculate nutrients provided by each feed ingredient and calculates dry matter intake provided by the diet which is then compared to the target weight gains so that evaluations can be made to see if the ration is adequate to meet the targets. This spreadsheet does the calculations that were taught in training instantly, but is important for the participants to understand how these calculations are made and why they are important.

It was fascinating to see how quickly the participants learned and implemented the new practices into their daily schedules. Following each session they would then report what changes they had made in their daily activities. Many entries were made in Facebook and the number of “selfies” taken was too numerous to count!

Each time I complete another assignment I am enriched by having had opportunity to meet new participants who are genuinely interested in learning new skills and developing ways to improve the livelihood of the citizens in their country. Understanding the culture of people around the world and sharing each other’s dreams and aspirations creates better understanding and provides opportunity for improved chances for peace in the world. What better way to do this than to walk with others, share with others and learn from one another.

My last visit to Mali was in 2013, and there has been significant change since then. In Bamako, construction has progressed rapidly, and outside Bamako, roads are now in good shape and services, along those roads, are much more available.  Use of cell phones is ubiquitous and is one of the most important factors responsible for advancing social welfare.  Medical care is much more available with clinics and hospitals in all the towns.  In the south, trypanosomiasis [disease caused by the Tsetse Fly] is no longer the primary factor restricting livestock production, and has been replaced by nutrition and internal parasites as the primary constraints.

One purpose of this project is to lay the foundations for a future value chain analysis of the marketing of small ruminants, primarily sheep.  The goal of the analysis is to augment sale of small ruminants so poor farmers’ standard of living is raised.  By determining who the various actors affecting the production and marketing of small ruminants are and what they are doing, changes can be implemented to improve efficiency.

We visited villages around Bamako and Bougouni which are in the semi humid zone.  Briefly what we found is that a major problem is mortality of animals before they reach market age.  This is a problem in all the villages we visited, but different villages with slightly different management styles appeared to be losing animals for different reasons.  In one village their lambs and kids were dying young, probably because they were actively preventing them from nursing colostrum right after birth.  In other villages death loss occurred later soon after weaning and appeared to have been due to internal parasites, primarily Haemonchus and Fasciola, although Eimeria (coccidiosis) may also be involved.

In addition to disease, nutrition is also a constraint although not as much.  Suboptimal nutrition increases the time until they reach market weight.  Small ruminants during the dry season are allowed to wander free in the bush where there is still plenty of browse [woody plants, vines, brush] although little grass.  Since the digestive physiology of goats and to a lesser extent sheep is adapted to use browse rather than grass, this is not as problematic as for cattle.

Livestock owners in the villages also cut browse for their animals on a daily basis and there is a small economic component of villagers cutting browse, transporting it on motorcycles and selling it to livestock owners in towns.  They also feed kitchen waste – millet and rice – but this is more important for poultry than small ruminants.  Some places have rock salt for their livestock, but this practice plus the use of homemade salt/mineral blocks could be expanded.  There are several women’s cooperatives in the country making and selling these blocks.

During the growing season the flocks of small ruminants go into the bush to forage, but they are controlled by herders to keep them out of the crops.  This has implications for another program, planting improved forage trees, that has a lot of interest.  There are a number of species of legume trees that are being introduced worldwide as high protein fodder.  Two being used in Mali are Leucaena and Gliciridia.  In addition Moringa, a native of India that is claimed to have excellent nutritive properties, is being introduced.  The main problem is that they are very palatable, especially Leucaena, so during the dry season when sheep and goats wander unrestricted, they eat the saplings that are planted before they grow out of reach.  The villagers commonly ask for advice on how to protect the plants.  Leucaena has been used in Mali for decades.

Something that concerns me is that the training that the villagers received in the past was not as comprehensive as it should have been.  For example, the use of colostrum is the first principle of neonatal management for transfer of maternal antibodies, but none of the villagers we visited were aware of its importance.  They were aware that urea is part of nutritional supplementation, but they did not know why nor were they knowledgeable about its toxicity.  It seems that often they were given steps to follow, but without explanation of the reasons for the steps.

The other part of the assignment, study the functioning of the marketplace, raised some contradictions.  Before going into the field, we asked about how a farmer sells his animals.  We were told that usually the farmer sells them himself at the marketplace, but there are middlemen who will buy the animal for resale and if there are problems, the middleman assumes the risk.  In the field at the cattle market in Bougouni we were told that if there is a middleman, he contracts with the farmer as to a price and then sells the animal and gives the farmer the money.  The farmer pays a percentage of the price to the middleman.  If the middleman gets more for the cow, he keeps the difference plus his percentage.  If he cannot get the price, he returns the animal to the farmer.  Usually, however, the farmer sells directly to the trucker who takes the bull to Bamako to be butchered.

In a few cases if the bulls are not sold because they are too thin, the owners will trek them to Bamako, grazing along the way and hopefully putting on weight.  We did not determine how frequent that is, but it did not seem to be an option for small ruminants.

In Bamako we were told for that for international trade the farmer sells the animal on credit and is paid when the animal is sold to the end buyer.  In Bougouni we were told that the farmer is paid on the spot.

The small ruminant market in Bougouni is strictly local with farmers trying to sell only a few animals, fewer than a dozen apiece.  With small ruminants there is a marked difference between the local animals and the improved breeds from the north – Chad, Balibalia, Sahel, Sudan.  Improved breeds are often sold for breeding rather than slaughter.  The buyer pays on the spot or if known to the seller, may offer something as collateral with an agreement to pay the rest later.

Other actors are suppliers of veterinary drugs and nutritional supplements, often the same person.  Their use does not appear to be widespread in the villages, but people in towns do purchase them.  Vaccines are available for most of the major diseases except fiebre afteuse (FMD, foot and mouth disease).  These vaccines are produced at the Central Veterinary Laboratory (LCV) and include blackleg, anthrax, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, peste de petites ruminants, and pasteurellosis.  Programs to encourage farmers to vaccinate regularly have been implemented by various agencies, but have not been notably successful.  ILRI has a program that resulted in almost doubling the vaccination rate, but it was still less than half the animals.

As for FMD, at least one village reported that it is a frequent occurrence during the rainy season.  It does not occur every year, but often enough to be a major problem.  The vaccines come from Botswana where the FMD serotypes (SAT -1, 2, 3, O, A) are different from West Africa serotypes (SAT 2, O, A) and thus are almost useless in preventing Malian FMD.  The problems of vaccinating are analogous to influenza in humans in that the vaccine has to be matched to the viral strain causing the outbreak.  For future projects the suggestion is to reduce mortality through better education and implement additional channels of sale that would result in a stable marketplace.  There are two major markets for sheep and to a much lesser extent goats, Tabaski and daily.  Tabaski comes once a year and has important requirements as to ram color and conformation with some importance placed on weight.   The rest of the year is either for butchers who are concerned primarily with dressing percentage or baptisms, birthdays, weddings or other celebrations that may have a minor interest in the color, sex and appearance of the animal.  Informing the various requirements to the producers with rewards for meeting them would help.  While Tabaski requirements are well-known, the quotidian requirements are not regarded as equally important.

Fattening animals is becoming more frequent, especially for women.  We did not encounter it much, but the few people who were fattening animals did not seem to be aware of nutritional requirements, especially for protein, minerals and roughage.

The source of animals to fatten are either the market or the producer’s own herd.  Buying on the market is riskier because the fattener is unaware of any health problems that may reoccur and a producer is not normal going to sell his best animals for fattening.  To be financially successful, the fattener should also have their own source of feed.  Buying all inputs cuts margins too thin.  Supplements such as oil seed cake or bran, mineral salt, molasses/urea can be purchased, but the main dietary components for energy and protein are better produced by the fatteners themselves.

Suggestions to be studied for their feasibility are planted pastures with inter-seeded legumes (lablab and others) and forage trees such as Leucaena, Gliciridia.  and others adapted to Malian conditions.  Small ruminant fattening as a sideline to other agricultural processing enterprises producing by-products to be used as feed has been successful in other countries and can be successful here.

Mali is a contrast of tradition and modernism.  The farmers do things very traditionally, but when there is some new appropriate technology or procedure that is within their means, they jump on it with both feet.  They don’t hold onto the notion “this is the way we’ve always done it.”  It makes my work a lot easier.

Winrock International invited me to volunteer in Bangladesh as part of the Farmer-to-Farmer Program funded by USAID.  In Bangladesh, the Farmer-to-Farmer program engages skilled American volunteers to provide training and technical assistance to support youth entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector and to strengthen agricultural education and training institutions.  My assignment was to visit local beef cattle fattening farms and locally available feed sources to assess the existing status, practices, problems, and opportunities to improve practices of beef fattening activities in the community, and to conduct two 3-day trainings on improved beef fattening for the host staff and youth group members with a focus on youth entrepreneurship development.  The Rural Reconstruction Foundation (RRF) hosted me, as part of its mission to seek and accomplish “the comprehensive development of underprivileged men, women, youths, and children towards understanding a civil society with respect of full democracy, liberty, equality, justice, peace, and solidarity”.

This was my first Winrock volunteer experience, my first visit to Bangladesh and my first visit to Asia. I enjoyed Bangladesh since the day of my arrival in Dhaka City.  During my assignment, I visited farms, worked with farmers, and participated in the two three-day training for the youth beef fattening group members.  I value and admire the great interest shown by all participants to enhance their beef fattening knowledge and make of it a mechanism to improve their lifestyles. All farmers that we visited were very attentive to our recommendations on how to improve their production system. They wrote the recommendations on animal management, feeding practices, and animal comfort.

Visiting local beef farmers at Jessore District, Bangladesh

The RRF technical staff and the beef farmers showed a great attitude during the 3-day training sections. All participated actively during the training, asking many questions. The RRF staff showed critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, especially during the ration formulation exercises where we used local feed resources to formulate beef cattle diets.

Training RRF technical staff in beef cattle diet formulation using local resources

RRF Beneficiaries – Beef Fattening for Youth Entrepreneurship Development

Professionally, I will share this experience with my colleagues from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico and encourage them to volunteer in this type of activities.  I will also share this experience in the classes that I teach to undergraduate and graduate students of at the University of Puerto Rico. It is very important for the student population to know about how volunteering aboard can improve the livelihoods for so many youths around the world.

In closing, I really appreciate the new relationships I have acquired with people from the RRF and Winrock International. My special and personal gratitude goes to Mr. Badal Golder, Project Manager Specialist, Winrock International, and Mrs. Shahnaz Begum, Assistant Director, RRF, for their friendship and professional support during the activities. This experience, working with Winrock International in Bangladesh, has enriched my life and I feel it has empowered my career.  After 22 years of teaching Animal Sciences, I believe that a higher education degree is not complete without the experience to be a volunteer and have the ability to help and transfer to people the knowledge that we have had the opportunity to acquire during our life.

Dr. Herring was nominated by the Myanmar team because of his ability to quickly absorb the local situation in the field and adapt those observations into an informative presentation and training. He got along well with all the farmers he met, was well prepared and focused on the work. “Dr. Herring’s assignment and shared information delighted the host and cattle farmers, it presented real opportunities in livestock export if they practice cattle farming systematically. It pointed out potential investment areas and possible collaboration between US and Myanmar” Ai Kyaw, Chief of Party, Myanmar. We asked Dr. Herring to reflect on his volunteer experience and the trip to Myanmar, his responses are below.

My Winrock volunteer assignment was to assess the Myanmar cattle industry and to make recommendations regarding potential improvements and developments as the industry there transitions from a draft-based cattle industry toward more organized beef production. I was in country from 1 to 13 January 2018, and my host was the Myanmar Livestock Federation (MLF).

Cattle market near Pyawbwe. These cattle are bred and used for draft purposes. the farmers prefer gray cattle to red cattle. All transactions at this market must be completed by noon.

1.Why did you want to volunteer?

I am interested in opportunities that expand my knowledge base, especially those that also help other people involved in animal agriculture, and particularly those involving cattle producers.

Successful cattle grower operation where the farmer purchases cattle for a specialized market and provides adequate feeding for improved cattle performance compared to typical cattle management in the region

2. What was the highlight of your most recent volunteer assignment abroad?

The most valuable resource in the world is people, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and interacting with people involved in the various aspects of livestock production in Myanmar, and experiencing their culture and friendship.

Dr. Herring and the owners of a successful dairy farm. They have 56 cows on 2.5 acres of land in a suburban area near Yangon. The owners had also organized a milk collection cooperative company.

3.What made your Winrock volunteer trip distinctive?

I had never been to Myanmar or this part of Asia. One of the most distinctive aspects of this trip was seeing the degree that farmers rely on their cattle for draft work and transportation, and to personally visit and contribute to one of the less developed countries of the world.

The Myanmar cattle industry is transitioning from traditional draft use to beef-emphasized production

4.How does your experience affect your worldview?

The first thing it does is reinforce my thoughts on how fortunate people in the USA and other developed countries are regarding our daily lives. Many in developed countries do not realize how little of our annual income we have to spend on food. In the USA, in particular, we also have many liberties that people in other countries do not have. The second thing it reinforces is how similar people all over the world are.

The gentleman is Zayar Chit Sein, and his meat market purchases and fabricates 3 beef
sides per day. He supplies some restaurants and hotels in Yangon.

5.What advice would you give a new volunteer?

1) Keep an open mind about seeing new cultures and circumstances; it will be a great learning experience. 2) the people you meet will be very appreciative of your choice to volunteer. 3) don’t be afraid to ask questions, and always have patience and politeness. 4) the only impression some people may ever have about the USA could come from their experiences with you.

Meeting between Dr. Herring, Winrock Farmer to Farmer, Myanmar Livestock Breeding, and the owner of a bull buyer operation interested in receiving information regarding nutrition and how to start a beef cow herd

6.Why should people consider volunteering?

It will be a tremendous learning experience, and it will be rewarding personally. Even if there is a day or two that you wonder why you agreed to volunteer, you will be glad you decided to do it.

The owner of “The Prime Rib” restaurant in Yangon, U Myint Thu, hosted Winrock F2F staff and volunteers. U
Myint Thu is a member of the Myanmar Livestock Federation and is committed to producing value-added
cattle and beef products.

7.How have your assignments made a difference in your own life?

I have become more motivated to help cattle producers whenever I can. I have also become more motivated to work with producers and industry groups in developing countries.

Dr. Herring gives an interview to a local TV station after a meeting between him, MLF officers and government officials.

8.How do you feel about the support from Winrock, whether before, during or after your assignments?

The support I had before the trip was excellent. The in-country support that I received in Myanmar was outstanding and surpassed my expectations. All Winrock personnel were very professional and courteous in all my activities. The Winrock Asia F2F Myanmar staff were excellent partners working closely with MLF to organize informative meetings, tours, and farm visits that not only helped me understand their industry and livestock production conditions but also helped me understand the culture and daily lives of Myanmar people.

Bull buyer operation near Myingyan

9.When your friends and family find out that your volunteer assignment was abroad, what do they say or ask?

The main questions they ask are about how different things were there compared to here. Some of those things include food (rice at every meal and lots of spices!), living and driving conditions (which were much more congested than we are used to, and most cars are right-handed because they are used to cars from Japan, but they also drive on the right side of the road), and the cost of various household items (food and many items are much cheaper there than in the USA).

Food markets in Yangon are open 6:30 to 10:00 5 or 6 days a week. Many people buy their food daily because they have little storage area in their homes or have no refrigeration for perishable foods.

10.What do you do when you’re not volunteering?

I am a professor in the Animal Science Department at Texas A&M University, and teach classes and conduct research regarding beef cattle production. However, my most important job is that of dad and husband, and my biggest challenge is time management. I also enjoy working outdoors on the small cattle operation my family and I have.

11.Does anyone in your life play a role in supporting your involvement? In providing inspiration?

I try to minimize time away from my family, but they are huge supporters of me when I choose to go on volunteer assignments. As my children have become older, it has become easier for me to volunteer more. Both of my parents also encouraged me early in life to perform service and volunteer type activities.

12.Do you keep in touch with your host organization? [Host organizations are the organizations that receive volunteer support]

Yes, mainly through social media. I hope to continue communication with them in the future.

Dr. Herring with cattle farmers near Yanthar village in the Mandalay Region

13.How do you feel that your volunteer assignment has contributed to creating a shared understanding of different cultures through person-to-person interactions?

I am very glad to have contributed in a small way to a big-picture activity. The more that people understand and appreciate each other’s cultures, the more effective communication can be achieved, and more efficient learning and improvements can be made. The interactions I had with cattle farmers was very enlightening for both me and them.

The Schwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. The first shrine on this site was built around 558BC and structures have been added to it by kings and queens through different dynasties.