In May 2022, volunteer Daniel Lavin was Winrock’s first volunteer to travel from the US to West Africa for the Farmer-to-Farmer program in over 2 years. Dan traveled to Senegal to assist the Fass Jom Association in Financial Farm Management. He, along with country staff, trained a group of mostly women on managing their farming practices so they could take part in the development of their community and improve living conditions. Fass Jom Association’s goal is to establish a modern micro-enterprise capable of generating sufficient income and creating sustainable and economically profitable activities for its members.

Why did you want to volunteer?

For the last few decades, my focus has been on my children and my work.  My kids have moved on and my work requires much less time.  I continually recall memories of my service in the Peace Corps and wished there was a way to get involved with international development.  When I learned about Farmer-to-Farmer and specifically saw that their mission was to teach, I knew I had to get involved.  I’ve been working independently in Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Kenya, but hoped to find organizations that had greater reach to other countries and connections to communities seeking to empower themselves.  In the United States, even big “efforts” seem to have little effect.  When serving with Farmer 2 Farmer, even small “efforts” seem to have a big effect.   The appreciation from the host organizations, from the in-country staff, and from all those I come in contact with feeds the soul.

What was the highlight of being back in the field?

One big highlight from my experience in Senegal was a response from one of the students, a Muslim woman who surprised even herself.  Our focus was on teaching financial literacy, giving the students a chance to learn how to analyze business concepts and make educated decisions to improve profitability.  This woman returned to the training with a “spring in her step,” anxious to update the others.  She had returned home to educate her husband on the concepts of tracking revenue, identifying labor and material costs, comparing financial models, and creating a budget.  Even though he ran the family business, they both realized that her new skills would serve them both and help improve their financial situation.  It wasn’t our aim to create a cultural “shift,” but the result was amazing.  The other students applauded with delight.

What advice would you give a new volunteer?

The most important skills you can bring are flexibility, respect, creativity, and humility.  The more you can encourage active participation, questions instead of answers, and the willingness to “pivot,” the more likely you are to achieve success. Don’t try and solve all problems prior to your arrival; you really need to see the issues in context and listen to the host prior to making even the most basic suggestions.

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

As I grow older, I realize how little I know, but I maintain the willingness to learn.  I believe I contribute to a shared understanding from culture to culture by having everyone become a student and a teacher.  We all have something to share, and a lot to learn.

What, if anything, has surprised you on your assignments?

The world has become very small.  In 1988 it took me 54 hours to travel to Sierra Leone.  Letters took three months to arrive, and phone calls were reserved for emergencies.  World events meant little unless you were able to hear a faint BBC broadcast.  Now, travel takes half the time.  Emails are instantaneous, pictures and videos can be shared in real-time, and news reaches even the most remote villages.  This new reality allows me to participate in amazing communities, and share events with friends and family all over the world.  When the assignment ended, friendships built are maintained.

How does your experience affect your worldview?

Americans often think that development means “how do we make the world more like us?”  That is NOT my worldview.  Everyone lives with different challenges, unique cultural approaches, and solutions that make the world interesting.  I feel fortunate that I get to witness such differences, and then share these experiences.

The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program connects U.S.-based volunteers with our partners in developing countries to provide technical, hands-on training in communities. F2F is supported by funding through the U.S. Farm Bill which is then administered by USAID. Winrock is one of several implementing partners that sends volunteers around the world and currently works mostly in West Africa – Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal. Part of running the project successfully is having dedicated and enthusiastic volunteer recruiters. Darla, a Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) volunteer recruiter, has placed hundreds of volunteers in countries around the world over the course of her career spanning 21 years!

Darla Emby at the beginning of her Winrock career

Darla credits learning about Winrock to a serendipitous moment when she and her husband, Jeffery, were invited to the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute which sits atop beautiful Petit Jean Mountain in Morrilton, Arkansas. At the time, Darla was completing her Bachelor of Science degree in sociology and was looking for a career in something that would give her meaning and purpose. After the visit to the Rockefeller Institute, Darla was hired as a Payroll Clerk, kickstarting her career at Winrock International.

A few months into her new job, Darla had the privilege to hear Mr. David Pearce, a long-time Winrock volunteer, share his passion for the F2F program. David told Darla about the transformational influence F2F had had on his life and those he worked with abroad. According to Darla

“David was talking about getting the [Volunteer of the Year] award, and his recollection of volunteering and what all it meant to him, how much he loved it, and by that time Jeffery had done a volunteer assignment as well… it was speaking to me… I had chills, I had tears in my eyes, and I thought – You want to matter. You want what you do to matter and not just to me, but to other people as well. It all fell into place.”

Darla then transitioned to being a F2F volunteer recruiter. Darla explained she is most inspired by F2F because of the opportunities to meet different people and facilitate volunteer assignments that help people live better lives. “Everyone deserves to have food for their family and a roof over their heads”. Darla has traveled to countries in Central Asia and West Africa where over the years Winrock has placed F2F volunteers in countries like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Senegal. Darla’s trips abroad to visit with the Country Directors, host organizations, and volunteers gave her a deeper understanding of her work as a volunteer recruiter which further fueled her passion for F2F. Darla shared that one of the amazing aspects of the F2F program is the “person to person connection”.

Darla in West Africa with fellow Farmer-to-Farmer colleagues

The number one trait Darla looks for in a successful volunteer is compassion and empathy. Darla enjoys crafting relationships with each volunteer and has noticed those who are respectful, adaptable, and open to other cultures have the greatest level of success. Darla explained, “I want a volunteer that knows their field, but that is the easy part. It used to be the volunteer would stay in the host’s home and in some cases, they still do. There are literally no hotels in some of these areas. So, you want someone who is going to be respectful.”

During her 21 years with F2F, Darla has experienced many changes to the volunteer recruitment and mobilization process. The greatest change has been the use of cell phones. When Darla’s husband volunteered with F2F in Turkmenistan: “He didn’t have a cell phone. He had traveled once… He literally got on the plane and a day and a half later he landed in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan…It was like someone saying, ‘jump off this cliff and we are going to catch you before you hit the ground’. I didn’t hear from him for two weeks. I knew roughly when his plane got home. So, about 11 o’clock he flew in from Chicago and got off the plane [in Little Rock] and it was like, ‘what a leap of faith!’”

Now, because of cell phones, Darla can stay in more constant communication with volunteers, host organizations, and Country Directors, to more readily communicate safety information. Thinking into the future, Darla would like to see the Farm Bill and tax dollars continue to support F2F and expand volunteer support on additional Winrock projects.

We were inspired by Global Entrepreneurship Week (Nov. 8-14) and are excited to share the success of a youth entrepreneur in Guinea who has expanded her product line thanks to support received from Winrock’s Farmer-to-Farmer program. Enterprise Fatou et Kadija (EFK), a startup company in Guinea led by a young woman named Fatou Titine Cissoko, is gaining success by providing juice and jam products that meet market demand and quality standards.

Ms. Cissoko was trained in entrepreneurship topics by prior USAID-funded Associate Awards implemented by Winrock International and CNFA. As part of her participation in entrepreneurship

Ms. Cissoko displaying new product offerings from EFK after receiving F2F technical training.

training, Ms. Cissoko created a business plan and received a grant of US$ 900 (8,134,500 GNF) to start her fruit drying business, EFK.  Since starting the business in 2019, she has added the production of drinks and jams made from fruits such as ginger, pineapple, mango, etc.

Recognizing that she needed further technical and organizational capacity-building skills to grow her business, Ms. Cissoko reached out to the Guinea Farmer-to-Farmer program to receive

trainings in financial literacy and food processing and preservation to better produce tropical fruit drinks.

“During the financial literacy training, I learned how to approach financial institutions with my business plan. I admit that I was afraid because these institutions are very demanding, and as a young entrepreneur, I have no guarantees to offer. Nevertheless, following my meeting with them, two of the most important banks in the area came back to me and offered me credit opportunities…”, explains Ms. Cissoko. She plans to utilize a finance option soon to invest in expanding her production and feels that the banks’ willingness to offer her credit options offers an opportunity to prove that young entrepreneurs are solid investments.

The Farmer-to-Farmer technical training focused on processing techniques followed the financial literacy capacity building and has led to additional product offerings for EFK. Prior to receiving training, EFK was unable to produce quality ginger juice and jams. Since receiving training, EFK now produces and sells quality ginger juice, jams, and monkey bread juice, resulting in a 40 to 50% increase in profits. EFK has sold more than 300 bottles of monkey juice alone within the few months after learning of this new product from the Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer.

Ms. Cissoko and EFK’s goals are to continue to expand product offerings that meet quality standards and hope as the business grows that they are able to employ more young staff in the future.

Ms. Neelam Canto-lugo, adjunct professor at Yuba College in California, signed the agreement with EnerGaia on May 12, 2019, to provide financial support that will help develop women contract farmers for household production of spirulina in order to generate new income opportunities and empower women in rural Bangladesh. EnerGaia is a private company focusing on spirulina production, processing, and marketing of fresh spirulina and value-added spirulina products to Thailand, Singapore, and India.

Ms. Canto-lugo came to Bangladesh multiple times in between 2017 and 2018 as a volunteer to help the youth entrepreneurship development initiative of Winrock International’s Asia Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F, 2013-2018) Program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She conducted training on soft skills development, women empowerment, and curriculum development to build the capacity of the trainers and youth beneficiaries. She was also a recipient of Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer of the Year Award. 

After the Asia F2F project closed in September 2018, Ms. Canto-lugo kept in touch with the Winrock staff and her past hosts. She traveled to Bangladesh using her own funds to follow-up on the progress of the organizations and their beneficiaries, as well as conducted further training.

During one of these follow-up visits, Ms. Canto-lugo connected with the staff of the USAID Feed the Future Asia Innovative Farmers Activity (AIFA, 2015-2019) project, implemented by Winrock. Through those connections, she met with EnerGaia Bangladesh representatives and visited their spirulina research lab at the Department of Horticulture of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University in Dhaka. She learned about EnerGaia’s initiative to implement spirulina contract farming focused on providing income opportunities for rural women. Impressed with the potential benefits for the rural women, Ms. Canto-lugo promised to provide financial support for EnerGaia.

AIFA’s main mandate is to source, validate and market innovative agricultural technologies and practices for improving the lives of rural farmers. EnerGaia was selected competitively as one of the companies that would have its spirulina production technology tested and validated in Bangladesh’s local context. The AIFA project supported EnerGaia’s expansion into Bangladesh to benefit communities in need of more nutritious food and additional income opportunities. The project also worked to find funding opportunities for EnerGaia to establish a pilot spirulina production village in Khulna to empower women through improved livelihoods. Currently, EnerGaia is establishing a Spirulina Production and Training Center in Batiaghata Upazilla, Khulna District to train and develop spirulina contract farmers.

In May 2019, Ms. Neelam Canto-lugo returned to Bangladesh using her own funds and signed the agreement with EnerGaia to provide financial support. She visited the location of the spirulina production training center and met with the local women. Ms. Canto-lugo’s support will help develop 30 women spirulina contract farmers in Batiaghata under the EnerGaia contract farming model. These women will receive hands-on training from EnerGaia and a system consisting of 20 tanks (for each person) along with other essentials to produce spirulina. EnerGaia will provide technical assistance to the contract farmers for the production and buy back 80% of the production and encourage the rest 20% for family consumption. The initiative could change the lives of the women and their families and empower them with their own sources of income.

Mama joined Winrock in June 2014, but she has known about Winrock for many years, as she is a member of the Africa Women Leaders in Agriculture and Environment (AWLAE) network that Winrock helped form and strengthen in the 1980s. She received her Master’s in International Agriculture Education from the University of Arizona and spent many years working for the Senegalese Ministry of Agriculture and for the Food and Agriculture Organization. Mama enjoys working with volunteers because she learns from their variety of experiences and skills which she then applies on her own farm. She admires the volunteers’ dedication and motivation to share their knowledge with others. In her opinion, the F2F program addresses numerous development issues within the wider agricultural sector that benefits Senegal. On the weekends, Mama likes to go to her farm, where she keeps fruit trees, poultry, and livestock. 

Being part of the Farmer-to-Farmer team has allowed me to meet great people who have helped improve my knowledge in a variety of areas from agriculture production, income generating activity development, and management and leadership strategy.

With F2F volunteer, Erica Cummings, I learned how to make compost tea which is a very handy method of using manure without going through the whole process of making a compost pile, including the energy and time-consuming practices of watering the pile, turning it, and then spreading the compost in the field.

Erica Cummings demonstrating compost tea

This method does not require many tools. Combining it with a simple drip irrigation system gives amazing results; I have noticed a great improvement in my plants as the compost tea is introduced in the irrigation water, reducing the space and mess associated with more traditional composting.

With F2F volunteer, Julie Albrecht, I learned how to preserve and process fruits and vegetable by listening in on the two trainings she conducted with COFLEC, a local women’s group; I have learned how to process various fruits and vegetables such as tomato, mango, orange, and local fruits

What a delight to make my own mango jams and chutney using mango from my own farm! I have learned many different methods of food processing so I no longer fear the fruit and vegetable going to waste. One of the best aspects of this knowledge is that now I can propose useful activities to do with my friends and sisters when staying on our farm.

With F2F volunteer, Monica Norley, I learned how to make soap based on available agriculture products; this is another very fun and interesting activity to do on our farm with the many different ingredients available to us.

These and many other assignments have taught me a lot about other new topics I knew nothing about: beekeeping, aquaculture, and dairy product processing.

With the new program beginning, I hope to learn more about post-harvest processing, best practices, and innovative value adding techniques.

The F2F for AET program has inspired me to make my farm an informational and training site for agricultural production available to all city dwellers who are interested in agriculture or just in nature.

From all of us here at Winrock, Happy Thanksgiving!