agricultural

A report recently released by the Climate Institute – "A Brewing Storm: The climate change risks to coffee" – uses existing data and compiles information from a variety of studies to indicate that climate change will have a strong effect on the global coffee supply. Rising temperatures threaten farmland, reducing the land area suitable for coffee farming. Extreme weather like worsening drought and heavier downpours also impact yields. Climate changes are intensifying the prevalence of diseases and pests like coffee rust and coffee berry borer, which contribute to millions of dollars in lost coffee beans every year. Additionally, farmers and laborers exposed to rising temperatures experience heat related illnesses that affected their long-term well-being, as well as their productivity. Complicating matters is the fact that the coffee market is currently saturated and producers are subject to price volatility. Because the majority of the world’s 25 million coffee producers are...

López (top left) giving the Benchmark email marketing seminar to CONAGAN and CANICARNE participants. About a year after his first visit to Nicaragua, Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Volunteer Eddy López returned in July 2016 to update and reinvigorate the branding and promotional efforts he previously developed with several beef and dairy organizations and small-scale producers. Over the course of his three week assignment, López reconnected with three national organizations, the National Livestock Commission of Nicaragua (CONAGAN), the Nicaraguan Chamber of Dairy (CANISLAC) and the Nicaraguan Chamber of the Industry for Beef (CANICARNE). With CONAGAN, López created new promotional materials to increase the organization’s visual presence and garner attention for their upcoming VII National Livestock Congress. He also developed branding proposals for their new national training center and for their regional congresses. Reuniting with CANISLAC allowed López to redesign their logo and strengthen t...

When you think of the Dominican Republic (DR), you probably imagine endless fields of bananas and rice. However, there is another agricultural sector booming in the northwest region of this Caribbean nation: greenhouse vegetable production. By 2014, the DR exported more than US$111.6 million of greenhouse vegetables, making it one of the most dynamic sectors in the agricultural industry of the country. Currently, there over 930 million square meters of greenhouses throughout the DR. Dr. Liburd (far right) meeting with researchers from the agricultural research center One of the key organizations in the greenhouse sector is the Cluster de Invernaderos de Jarabacoa, or the Jarabacoa Greenhouse Cluster. The Jarabacoa Greenhouse Cluster was established in 2002 and is comprised of over 100 member farmers in the Jarabacoa region who produce vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant for local consumption and for export. The Jarabacoa Greenhouse Cluster offers technical ass...

Mike Doherty serves as Illinois Farm Bureau senior economist and policy analyst. He spent two weeks as a F2F volunteer in Nicaragua with Partners of the Americas. Below are his reflections:  Mike Doherty in the field Nearly all the growth in demand for Illinois’ agricultural production is in developing countries, also known as “emerging markets.” As the U.S. Grains Council has noted, the cattle-producing areas of southern Mexico and Central America represent a significant potential market for distiller’s dried grains from Illinois ethanol plants as well as other feed grain products. Most of this new demand will be from households that are generating income sufficient to afford daily meat consumption for the first time. I had an opportunity to learn something about that process of rural income generation, and hopefully help accelerate it, via a Farmer to Farmer (F2F) volunteer assignment in Nicaragua last year.  Although I felt well prepared and supported (thanks to the Partner...

Over the years, a number of our F2F volunteers have worked in the area of soil fertility. As synthetic agro-inputs can be pricey, oftentimes our volunteers teach hosts about organic soil fertility management practices such as the use of green manures, compost, companion crops, crop rotations, and animal manure. One common and inexpensive source of macronutrients, however, frequently gets overlooked: urine.  Stored goat urine at CEPROCAL In March 2016, F2F volunteer Rob Crook traveled to Guatemala for a two week assignment to train extension agents with the Center for Goat Production in the Altiplano of Guatemala (CEPROCAL) on how to make liquid fertilizer and compost using goat urine. CEPROCAL currently captures and stores the urine produced by stabled goats at their production center. While CEPROCAL technicians have speculated that the urine is an excellent source of nutrients for fertilizing home gardens and pastures, they did not know how to best utilize it and in what quan...

F2F Volunteer Cynthia Ocamb recently traveled to the Dominican Republic to complete an integrated pest management assignment focused specifically on Black Sigatoka. The DR is one of the biggest producers of bananas in the Caribbean and one of the most devastating diseases affecting crops is a leaf spot disease called Black Sigatoka, or black leaf streak. This disease causes significant reductions in leaf area, yield losses of 50% or more, and premature ripening, a serious defect in exported fruit.  Dr. Ocamb examining leaves for disease In meetings and field visits with producers and technicians, Dr. Ocamb explained why infected leaves should be removed regularly: “to reduce the leaf area with active infections and suppress subsequent spore production” and showed each producer what the early stages of Black Sigatoka look like and how the spores travel via water from infected leaves to uninfected ones. She also noted that leaf tips (rather than the entire leaf) can be removed if les...

Rincon Grande Farming Operation F2F volunteer Colehour Bondera recently traveled from his home in Hawaii where he owns and operates a certified organic vegetable farm to complete an assignment in the Central Highlands of Guatemala. Mr. Bondera worked with agribusinesses to clarify the path to organic certification for mixed vegetable and fruit production operations near Antigua and Guatemala City. In addition to field visits and intensive discussions with host leaders, Mr. Bondera led several interactive workshops covering topics related to organic certification, discussions of the differences between “the ideal and the actual” organic plan, distinctions between production and processing, how to change an existing system, and effective planning. His recommendations included increasing the use of worm composting for soil and nutrient enrichment; incorporating trees and/or perennials for crop diversification, shade, nutrient access and/or border protection for overall organic system heal...