The John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (FTF) Program
Active Farmer-To-Farmer Programs
Examples of Volunteer Assignments
Partners of the Americas
Haiti – Forestry/Erosion Prevention:
FTF volunteer Norm Bezona helped to establish a bamboo cultivation
project in 1999 to help local Haitian farmers combat erosion.
Since its inception, the project has completed two phases
– introduction and propagation of new species and
education of farmers as to the multiple benefits of bamboo;
and second, expansion to include additional NGOs and interested
agricultural groups in other regions, and distribution of
the plants to individual farmers/collaborating groups for
nursery and communal reforestation projects. On his first
trip, Mr. Bezona delivered 200 plants representing 12 bamboo
varieties donated by the Quindembo Nursery in Hawaii. Since
his inaugural visit, Bezona has traveled to Haiti three
times to expand the reach of the project. Propagation techniques
such as root division and branch cuttings have since generated
over 40,000 plants from these original 200. Fifteen thousand
bamboo plants have already been distributed throughout the
country – 50% of these have been used for the rehabilitation
of soils on riverbanks, ravines and protected natural areas.
The other half was delivered to collaborating organizations
and individual farmers. Of the 2,000 farmers who received
plants, most farm one to two hectares of land and state
they have planted 50% of the bamboo plants for construction,
25% for crafts and 25% for erosion control and reforestation.
Honduras – Specialty Coffee: Farmer-to-Farmer
volunteers train specialty coffee producers in Honduras
in quality control. By identifying problems and establishing
strategies address them, volunteers have improved coffee
farmers’ access to international specialty markets
and ultimately increased their incomes. This project is
particularly viable because world-wide consumers are growing
more interested in purchasing specialty and gourmet coffee,
a trend that gives coffee producers an opportunity to capture
higher profits (almost 100% increase per pound) in the international
market. Most importantly, volunteers have established linkages
between small-scale growers in Honduras and U.S.-based buyers
in Vermont. In August 2002, Vermont-based Green Mountain
Coffee Roasters purchased 16,000 pounds of fair trade, organic
coffee from the Central Cooperativa de Cafetaleras de Honduras.
The fair trade price was set at $1.41 per pound, more than
twice that of prices on the New York Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa
Exchange, which hovered around $.65 per pound. Farmer-to-Farmer
volunteer Rick Peyser’s experience has been particularly
valuable to the newly formed 2,300 member Specialty Coffee
Association of Honduras (SCAH). Mr. Peyser has worked with
coffee exporters to help them follow the strategies developed
by the Specialty Coffee Industry of America. This cycle
includes developing industry quality standards “from
the tree to the cup,” therefore focusing on all stages
in the production cycle.
Winrock International
Bangladesh – Dairy Feed: Land is
scarce in this densely populated and disaster prone country
and therefore, grazing land for livestock is shrinking day
by day. Also, due to poor genetic potential of milking cows
coupled with non-availability of balanced supplemental feed,
the national average milk production in Bangladesh has remained
very low (in the range of 1.5-3.0 liters per cow per day).
In this backdrop, FTF volunteer Dr. Roy Chapin helped to
develop the first dairy feed program in Bangladesh, which
included developing a computer assisted program for formulating
rations for lactating cows, a calf starter ration and a
ration for growing heifers. “Making dairy feed is
the intermediate step in having more milk, meat, money and
manure produced in Bangladesh so people there will have
more protein, energy, vitamins and minerals in their diets,
more money in their pockets and more rice straw converted
to fertilizers to increase soil fertility”, Dr. Chapin
mentioned in his comments after the assignment. In practice,
feed produced following Chapin’s formulation is showing
highly encouraging results with an average increase in milk
production by around 40%, which means, the cow that earlier
gave an average of 5 liters milk per day, now with Chapin
formulated feed is giving 7 liters. Feed production plant
manager Mohammad Khasru and marketing officer Jadu Gopal
in a recent interview mentioned that demand for their dairy
feed is increasing and the marketing horizon is gradually
being widened to cover most of the strategic dairy pockets
in northern, eastern and north eastern parts of the country.
Nepal – Apple Production: Volunteer
John M. Aselage owns and operates a 40-acre high-density
apple and peach orchard, apple tree nursery, and roadside
market for fruits and vegetables in Green Forest, Arkansas.
He completed four assignments with apple growers in the
remote Himalayan mountain district of Mustang over the period
1997-2002. The assignment objectives included: increasing
apple production, increasing income of apple farmers from
increased sales revenue, improving capabilities, practices
and technology of apple production including methods of
pest and disease control and appropriate methods of handling
and storage. In January 2002, he briefly visited Nepal to
donate 76 shoots of apple varieties brought from the United
States to his previous FTF hosts. Apple production has increased
in Mustang from 450 tons in 1998 to 2,260 tons in the year
2002. With the adoption of sound tree training, pruning
and improved overall apple orchard management productivity
on an average has increased from 27 kg per tree to 40 kg
per tree (48% increase). Apple growers have increased sales
revenue by $18,300 in 2002 representing 20% increase over
the sales revenue of $ 90,600 in 2001. Apple farming is
increasingly becoming an important contributor to income
of farm families in Mustang despite problems caused by its
remoteness and inaccessibility.
ACDI/VOCA
Armenia – Dairy: Mr. Truman Graf, a former Professor
of Agricultural Economics at the University of Wisconsin
and an expert on diary pricing, spent two weeks at Ashtarak
Kat CISC Milk Company in Armenia during August 2003. While
there, he conducted dairy farm and plant conferences analyzing
and quantifying data and operational system information
on milk pricing and milk quality programs and conditions,
which is preparatory to developing and assisting in planning
implementation of a country-wide milk component pricing
program. He also developed a component milk pricing system,
quantifying component prices, and quantifying quality incentives.
Upon his return to the United States, Mr. Graf has contacted
his Senators and Congressional Representative to relay information
regarding his volunteer trip and experiences. He has also
given presentations to a local Kiwanis Club chapter and
to members of the University of Wisconsin faculty.
Russia – Poultry: Tomskaya Poultry Co. located in
Tomsk, Siberia, requested a poultry expert who could advise
on best design of poultry houses. The host appreciated that
the volunteer Mr. W. Carson Coleman was a “hands-on”
adviser, who pointed out a lot of low-cost changes that
could be made to improve the environment for the birds.
The host implemented many of the suggestions including installation
of floor fans to mix air and reduce temperature variations
and installation of additional thermometers and humidity
gauges. Six months after the assignment the company registered
a 16% increase in egg production (from 7,981,200 to 9,250,000
dozens). Sales of eggs increased by $590,000 and heat leaks
were reduced by about 4%. Finally, nine new employees were
added.
Farmer-to-Farmer Program Contacts
Gary E. Alex, Program Manager
Tel: (202) 712-4086
Fax: (202) 216-3579
E-Mail: galex@usaid.gov
Albert Yeboah, Program Analyst
Tel: (202) 712--1627
Fax: (202) 216-3010
E-Mail: ayeboah@usaid.gov
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