Agriculture happens all over the world, and yet after a while, you come to realize - it's a really freakin' small world. There's everyone who used to work for the same company (and the string of legacy companies behind it).... There's everyone who knows your major advisor... And let's not forget, in my particular case, my unintentional stalker R., who - unbeknownst to either of us - belonged to the same tiny department at Purdue, got a job in the lab next to me, and moved into the same apartment complex. Thankfully, she became my very good friend also.
But here is the final example of how small the world of agriculture is, a closing argument if you will: Earlier this year I sent an e-mail to one of my old managers just to keep in touch, and I just happened to mention I would be heading to Senegal. A few days later, he replied. He was writing from Senegal, as a volunteer with the same program, and traveling with the same coordinator that I will be with!?!
The Farmer-to-Farmer program is part of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and it has projects that seek to provide agricultural extension and advisory to farm groups and agribusinesses in developing countries all over the world. If this sounds at all familiar to you, reader, it may be because last year I completed two assignments in Nicaragua and Mozambique with the same program.
In Senegal, the Farmer-to-Farmer Program is administered by NCBA/CLUSA (that's the National Cooperative Business Association and Cooperative League of the U.S.A., respectively). My role as an Integrated Pest Management Specialist will be to provide technical training and consulting to millet (a type of cereal) and vegetable growers. I will be updating the blog with my experiences in the third installment of the Farmer-to-Farmer series if you want to read along...
To read more about my first assignment in Mozambique, you can start reading here:
http://richandjuliegetamoveon.blogspot.com/2011/07/farmer-to-farmer-program-introduction.html
My second assignment in Nicaragua begins here:
http://richandjuliegetamoveon.blogspot.com/2011/09/farmer-to-farmer-program-sequel.html
To learn more about the Farmer-to-Farmer program, visit the USAID and NCBA/CLUSA websites:
http://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/agriculture/farmer_to_farmer.htm
http://www.ncba.coop/ncba/what-we-do/farmer-to-farmer
But here is the final example of how small the world of agriculture is, a closing argument if you will: Earlier this year I sent an e-mail to one of my old managers just to keep in touch, and I just happened to mention I would be heading to Senegal. A few days later, he replied. He was writing from Senegal, as a volunteer with the same program, and traveling with the same coordinator that I will be with!?!
The Farmer-to-Farmer program is part of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and it has projects that seek to provide agricultural extension and advisory to farm groups and agribusinesses in developing countries all over the world. If this sounds at all familiar to you, reader, it may be because last year I completed two assignments in Nicaragua and Mozambique with the same program.
In Senegal, the Farmer-to-Farmer Program is administered by NCBA/CLUSA (that's the National Cooperative Business Association and Cooperative League of the U.S.A., respectively). My role as an Integrated Pest Management Specialist will be to provide technical training and consulting to millet (a type of cereal) and vegetable growers. I will be updating the blog with my experiences in the third installment of the Farmer-to-Farmer series if you want to read along...
To read more about my first assignment in Mozambique, you can start reading here:
http://richandjuliegetamoveon.blogspot.com/2011/07/farmer-to-farmer-program-introduction.html
My second assignment in Nicaragua begins here:
http://richandjuliegetamoveon.blogspot.com/2011/09/farmer-to-farmer-program-sequel.html
To learn more about the Farmer-to-Farmer program, visit the USAID and NCBA/CLUSA websites:
http://transition.usaid.gov/our_work/agriculture/farmer_to_farmer.htm
http://www.ncba.coop/ncba/what-we-do/farmer-to-farmer
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