| CNFA
It is easy to feel that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought life to a standstill. But life does carry on. Every day, the news is full of stories that illustrate the innovative solutions that individuals and organizations are adopting to adapt to this challenging environment—and when needed, to fulfill their …
| ACDI/VOCA
Written by María Cecilia Pfund on 2/13/2020
Food truly unites us all. It is a cultural experience and being immersed in another culture opened my eyes to foods and traditions that enhanced my life in many ways.
Last month, I returned home to Washington, D.C., from a short-term volunteer …
| ACDI/VOCA
Meet Ross Penhallegon, a volunteer heading out this month on his 109th assignment. He and his wife Kate are dedicated to helping people around the globe. They’ve volunteered 1,417 days, that’s nearly four years, in pursuit of this objective. Before heading to Kyrgyzstan for their 21st trip there, we caught …
| Partners of the Americas
USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Guatemala Host Adapts Business Model and Perseveres
Like others throughout the world, many farmers and agribusinesses are beginning to suffer substantial economic losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of them, however, are leveraging knowledge and skills gained through the USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer Program (F2F) and are now better-positioned to …
| ACDI-VOCA
Entrepreneur Gocha Gagashvili started his milk collecting and cheese production business in 2008 in the small village of Kurdgelauri in Georgia’s Kakheti Region. Almost a decade later, in 2017, he welcomed Steve Morgan, a U.S. volunteer with ACDI/VOCA’s USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer Program in the Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia regions. The Farmer-to-Farmer Program mobilizes highly qualified U.S. volunteers, who provide technical assistance with the goal of increasing productivity and raising farmers’ incomes.
| ACDI-VOCA
Fruit production employs more than 35,000 people in the Kyrgyz Republic’s Issyk-Kul Oblast, where more than 1,000 hectares of land is covered by orchards. The export potential of this industry is considerable. But many farmers lack basic knowledge of pruning and grafting, organic farming, and pest and disease prevention.
| ACDI-VOCA
Sen Seong is an entomologist based in Gurnee, Illinois, and a recurring volunteer with ACDI/VOCA’s Farmer-to-Farmer which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development. Read our Q&A with Sen below and learn more about how to volunteer with ACDI/VOCA.
| AVOP Farmer-to-Farmer
Two new sub-awardees join the Farmer-to-Farmer Program: High Atlas Foundation and Grameen Foundation. High Atlas Foundation will be implementing Farmer-to-Farmer in Morocco and Grameen Foundation will be implementing Farmer-to-Farmer in the Philippines.
| ACDI-VOCA
After first hearing about the Farmer-to-Farmer Program in 1994, John Bobbe eagerly signed up to volunteer in Poland. The program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development, mobilizes volunteers like John to provide technical assistance to farmers, farm groups, agribusinesses, and others in developing and transitional countries...
Kalumu Nzumi knows how to grow mangoes. In fact, she is very good at it, even though she still gets surprised by the amount of money she earns in a given season. That’s because six years ago, she did not produce anything she could sell; she would plant maize but …