News

Oak Harbor's Ronald Overmyer Volunteered to Help Farmers in Mozambique

| Sheri Trusty

Ronald Overmyer of Oak Harbor, Ohio, who grew up on a farm in Fremont and was Ottawa County’s first full-time 4-H agent, made his second agricultural advisory trip to Mozambique in October 2017. Overmyer returned to Africa as a volunteer consultant to view the progress that has been made since his first trip in 2014 and to offer further suggestions to the Samora Machel Farmer Association, a marketing association which serves rural farmers. Overmyer’s trip was made possible by the Farmer-to-Farmer program which is funded by U.S. Aid for International Development (USAID).

Thunderbird School of Global Management’s F2F Volunteers Create Business Incubator in Nigeria

| Michael Bassey

On August 21, 2017, the team from VEGA Member Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management Emerging Markets Laboratory (TEM-Lab), Craig Pearson, Fungai Mandaza and Rachel A, arrived in Nigeria to work with the Center for Entrepreneurship Development and Vocational Studies (CEDVS), Federal Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti. The trio went to support CEDVS’ quest to establish and manage a business incubator center.

Bridging the Food Gap with Community Farms and Education

| Rebekah Kates Lemke

In southwest Tanzania, there are several villages in the mountains with no WiFi or electricity, multiple transportation challenges and a scarcity of water. But these villages are also home to farmers who are successfully producing food for their families and friends on neighborhood plots of land. It’s those farmers Holly Budd traveled to meet.

Mushroom Farming Spawns in Malawi

| CNFA

Tisange Association tried multiple ways to achieve financial success; they sold vegetables from their farms, fresh baked bread from their kitchens, and meat from their livestock. They often took out multiple loans from the bank to support them, however, they soon fell into debt. The association, with 23 members from local farms, needed to figure out how to become financially stable. They knew that mushrooms, a traditional part of their diets, could help their profits.

A Hobby Becomes a Business

| CNFA

By reinventing Linga Fruit Wines as a business, there was a clear opportunity to have a more significant impact on local producers. With sufficient demand for its wines, a company would be able to provide these farmers with more stable incomes by purchasing more fruit.