agricultural

Wayne Burleson with local farmers From March 12-26, 2017, Wayne and Connie Burleson travelled to Nicaragua to complete two separate and very distinct assignments. Wayne, a retired range scientist and land management consultant, provided training in rotational grazing, through the use of electric fencing, to technicians and producers of the National Cattleman’s Commission of Nicaragua (CONAGAN) and the Nicaragua Chamber of Beef Industry Exports (CONICARNE), both based in the capital city of Managua. Meanwhile, his wife, Connie conducted workshops on composting, gardening, and sustainable crop management to children and students in the communities of Nueva Guinea and Camoapa. While the pair worked separately throughout most of their trip, their work overlapped in the city of Camoapa, a region known for its large cattle production and home to the Hogar Luceros del Amanecer , a semi-residential program ran by the Sunrise Foundation to provide educational and social services to youth in the...

Summary by Anthony Jilek of his recent trip to Nicaragua and how crossbreeding programs and record keeping can improve livelihoods for small dairy and livestock producers. Jerry Nolte, Julio Cisne and his herdsman evaluating Julio’s pastures near Matagalpa Most farmers in Nicaragua follow a very traditional system of dual-purpose livestock production. This means that the cows produce milk and the calves are raised for meat. Modern practices of management are not often followed. No production records are kept on the cows, and yields are simply calculated by dividing the liters of milk sold by the number of cows milked. The managers of slaughter plants have stated the cost to slaughter a 600 kg animal is the same as the cost to slaughter a 450 kg animal. Therefore, the larger animals are preferred. This includes cattle like Holsteins, Brown Swiss, and Brahman, large, late maturing breeds. Most steers are slaughtered at 3 ½ - 4 years of age. Heifers, young females cow without offsprin...

Above: Creamery owner Marilyn Cisne (left) gathers with worker Jamilette (near left), her daughter Alexandra and worker Helen for a taste-testing of yogurts. We worked on adjusting the tanginess, the density of the yogurt body, sugar, amount of flavoring and coloring. Asking the opinions of everyone in the creamery (and family) helped to include everyone in the new production process and give them ownership of the future product. Note the use of cheap and expired plastic containers. This was common as disposable and high quality stainless-steel products and equipment are less available here than in the U.S. The answer is queso fresco . It is a similar cheese to queso blanco, but with a creamier and softer white texture. It’s popular in Spain, Portugal, and across many countries of Latin America, including Nicaragua. This is the same type of cheese that is used to make dishes like cheesecake, enchiladas, as well as distinctively Nicaraguan cuisine like cuajada frita and Güirila. This ty...

You know that feeling when you just want to jump on an opportunity? Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Dr. Fabio Lima, an assistant professor from University of Illinois, must have felt like after his recent trip to Nicaragua, where he saw the tremendous potential for the Livestock and Dairy program in the country. As Fabio explains: “Nicaragua is a lovely country with a great potential. Considering its strategic location in Central America, its tradition to raise cattle, and vast farmland, an increase of efficiency could offer them competitiveness necessary to take a significant position in the global market.” Livestock production is a big part of the Nicaraguan agriculture sector. There are 130,000 Nicaraguan farmers who manage 5 million heads of cattle. But many farmers could benefit from technical assistance to improve their livestock management practices. Dr. Lima traveled to Nicaragua to help address on of the challenges in the livestock sector and improve productivity and profitability ...

Nicaragua's agricultural sector   provides a higher rate of employment opportunities than in any other country  in Central America . This can be problematic from a development perspective, though, as 43% of these agriculturalists are under 25 and have only 3.5 to 5 years of schooling. Moreover, 72% of the population of the country has not attended secondary school. Therefore, it is important to the country's economy to support agricultural training and education with a focus on student retention and growth opportunities. Among the coalition of organizations trying to engage rural youth and build new skills is CETAA , a vocational and technical school for environmental studies and agroforestry techniques. CETAA works closely with the 7 ethnic populations in Wawashang , a remote Caribbean coastal settlement in Nicaragua. Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer Sandro Lopes, a youth-in-development professional, volunteered with CETAA to propose a strategy to implement a 4-H curriculum , a glo...

Whether it’s facilitating capacity building workshops on agricultural production, processing, marketing, or another theme, a large part of the F2F program, in a sense, is about the diffusion of innovations. For this discussion, innovation is defined as an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other entity. Often times when a F2F volunteer gives a recommendation to a F2F host, the volunteer is encouraging the adoption of a particular innovation. While the process may seem fairly straight forward – volunteer gives a recommendation and the host implements it – the actual adoption of that recommendation is a multistage progression often referred to as the Innovation-Decision Process (a model developed by rural sociology professor Dr. Everertt Rogers).  Rogers' Innovation-Decision Process Model So how does this process look applied? Let’s take a look at how the Innovation-Decision Process progressed as a result of Bill Knox’s F2F assignment with the...