agricultural

Clare Licher, owner of the Arizona-based family-run business PhiBee Aromatics, not only possesses thirty years of experience in aromatherapy and essential oils, but is also a frequent Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer. In the past, Clare traveled to Jamaica in both 2016 and 2017 to consult with the Yerba Buena Farm regarding the establishment of a commercial essential oils distillery and market growth potential. Most recently, she traveled to Haiti to again utilize her highly-specialized knowledge of essential oils to assist the non-profit, Prosperity Catalyst, and their Haitian affiliate Fanm Limye. [Left] Clare during a workshop in Jamaica in 2016. [Right] Clare during her assignment in 2017. Fanm Limye has operated in Haiti since 2012, working directly with over 400 beekeepers in Western Haiti. Most recently, the organization has assisted beekeepers in cultivating essential oil-yielding plants to provide nectar for their bees and scent candles made from their beeswax. Clare helped Fanm Lim...

By Sarah Brinkley, F2F Volunteer In Haiti I’m thrown into a world of chaos: the smell of diesel, heaps of traffic-impeding garbage, pigs and goats feasting freely—extreme poverty. Though I have traveled to farming communities throughout Latin America, I had never seen such hardship. My assignment with Partners of the Americas brought me to Cap-Haitien, the original capital of Haiti. I was debriefed upon arrival. The Partners’ USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program appointed me to serve as a Coffee Production Specialist. My expertise was needed to survey coffee production, implement agricultural management strategies, and train the local co-op (including farmers, extension agents, and university students). I was optimistic about how my assignment would unfold, who I would meet, and what I would learn. On day 1, I made the rutted, 2-hour journey south through the Nord department to visit the co-op of Association des Travailleurs de Dondon (ATD). In Dondon, I was first acquainted ...

Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer, Andy Lohof, offered his business expertise this past December to help build the strategic management and business planning skills of a local farmers association. He specifically assisted the Association des Travallleurs de Dondon (ATD) in drafting a business plan that will make them economically competitive in the local and world economy. Andy organized and led group exercises and workshops to combine various inputs from the participants and ultimately create a new business plan that will improve efficiency and increase yields. Workshop participants taking a group photo with Andy  [Left] Andy recording ideas from workshop participants during a  brainstorming session [Right] Participants actively engaging in an exercise Andy was a volunteer on this very same project back in 2014, and was moved to see that the President of ATD had already invoked some of the business management recommendations he had made....

Back in February 2017, longtime Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) volunteer Robert Sterk returned to Haiti to lead various beekeeping seminars in and around Port-au-Prince.  During this apiculture-oriented assignment, Mr. Sterk also worked alongside SAKALA, an F2F host, to establish community apiaries where local farmers and youth groups could be trained on various beehive management methods and techniques. Given the impact of the first assignment had on these communities, he decided to return to once more to Haiti in July 2017 in order to build on the progress that had been made.   Upon arriving in Port-au-Prince, Mr. Sterk prepared and led a series of beekeeping workshops with SAKALA associated farmers. These included a series of hands-on trainings related to 1) bee biology, 2) colony health inspections, 2) varroa mite testing with sugar roll, as well as 3) treatment strategies. He also had the opportunity to travel to several communities outside the capital. In the community of Kensco...

Myriam Kaplan-Pasternak is a veterinarian, farmer, agricultural development practitioner and now CEO of Haiti Coffee. Since 1971, Myriam and her husband Mark have owned and managed Devil's Gulch Ranch in Nicasio, California, a diversified family farm that supplies high-end restaurants and wineries as well as educates children about nutrition and food production. Her experience in international development began in Niger, where she was a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1983-85 focusing on nutrition. Since 2007, Myriam has been working with Makouti Agro-Enterprise as a Partners of the Americas’ Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer. Throughout her 16 F2F assignments in Haiti, Dr. Kaplan-Pasternak has used her technical expertise to support the needs of impoverished communities in Haiti for which she received a Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2010. Her efforts intensified following the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which she along with her husband and children experienced firsthand. She c...

In March of 2017, Dr. Jacqueline Jacobs, a poultry extension project manager at the University of Kentucky, traveled to Haiti to conduct a USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer assignment with local host SAKALA under Partners of the Americas' Rural Enterprise Development project. SAKALA is an organization that provides technical assistance to groups throughout Haiti and runs a community center in the heart of Haiti's largest underdeveloped area, where youth come together to grow, learn, and play. The purpose of the assignment was to train older students on how to raise poultry and  develop a poultry flock at the community center that can be used as a training tool for the school. As SAKALA supports other communities around the country, the second part of the assignment was to give outreach and technical assistance to these groups. Dr. Jacobs provided SAKALA with several recommendations to assist them in developing their poultry operations. These recommendations consisted of a 6-tier de...

If You Give a Man a Rabbit By: Abe Fisher, F2F Volunteer - Haiti   Who does not enjoy a cookie and a tall glass of milk? While in the U.S. a cold glass of milk and a delicious cookie is commonplace, in Haiti, this delicious treat is regarded differently. Bon Bon Te cookies are a finite tradition given to pregnant women and hungry children across Haiti. While most U.S cookies contain chocolate and lots of flour and sugar, Bon Bon Te cookies are made from water, cooking oil, salt, sugar, and clay. The clay is found in the deep pits and caves that make up Haiti's Central Plateau. The clay is shipped to urban areas like Port-au-Prince where they are sifted and strained to remove small rocks, branches, or other “ foreign objects. ” After being processed, the clay is used to make Bon Bon Te . Despite providing impoverished Haitians with a cheap source of nutrients, much of these "cookies" are laden with parasites which for many Haitians can lead to  medi...

In case you missed it, here's a quick video synopsis of Melissa Delzio's trip to Haiti: We love our volunteers! Email Stephanie Verganza (SVerganza@partners.net) to see how you can get involved and write your own story!

By F2F Volunteer Melissa Delzio Citadel of Henri Christophe, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti “Beyond the mou ntains, more mountains” Our guide, Eddie, gestures broadly to the horizon. “That’s a Haitian proverb. It reminds you not to think you are that important; there is always someone greater than you.” Looking out at the mountainous landscape surrounding the ruins of the Citadel of Henri Christophe, I find myself wondering about other interpretations. The land here is beautiful, lush and tropical. The mountains jagged in every direction until the land hits the sea, the Northern Coast of Haiti. Eddie points to where Columbus’ s Santa Mar ía ran aground, the point of colonization. The Citadel and nearby ruined palace of Sans-Souci represent the lost dream of the Haitian king (and former slave), Henri Christophe. Christophe, together with Jean-Jacques Dessalines, launched the world’s first successful slave rebellion, dramatically overthrowing the French — who were outnumbered by a factor of mor...