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USAID's John Ogonowski
Farmer-to-Farmer program sends U.S. specialists as volunteers to assist
farmers and agribusinesses all over the globe. Winrock International
and Florida International University (FIU) have been selected to
implement this program in the core countries of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers provide
assistance to individual farm enterprises, cooperatives, farmers'
associations, agribusiness', rural credit institutions, universities,
and agricultural youth groups overseas on short-term technical
assistance assignments. Farmer-to-Farmer specialists volunteer their
time and expertise, while the
program covers all travel, lodging, meals and incidental expenses.
Volunteers are recruited from universities and agribusinesses all over
the United States and the average length of assignment is 15 to 20
days.
Click here to hear a success
story from the Winrock Development Report
Background
The Farmer-to-Farmer (FTF)
Program was first authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1985 to provide for
the transfer of knowledge and expertise of U.S. agricultural producers
and businesses on a voluntary basis to middle-income countries and
emerging democracies. The program relies on the expertise of volunteers
from U.S. farms, land grant universities, cooperatives, private
agribusiness’, and nonprofit farm organizations to respond to the
local needs of host-country farmers and organizations. Over the past
five years, 2300 volunteers have had the satisfaction of completing
assignments in 33 countries around the world. Because of the
programs’ success, U.S. Congress
re-authorized the Farmer-to-Farmer Program in the 2002 Farm Bill, and
designated it the John Ogonowski FTF Program in honor of one of the
pilots killed on September 11, 2001.
To read more about: John
Ogonowski.
The
program seeks to promote agribusiness and international trade capacity
development in various world regions. Another goal is to promote economic
growth by empowering citizens to proactively change their economic
standing through education and training. Winrock
International and Florida International University (FIU) have been
selected to implement USAID’s
John Ogonowski Farmer-to-Farmer (FTF) Program in Latin America from
FY2004-FY2008. Winrock and FIU’s program goal is to increase
rural prosperity and promote trade-led economic growth in the core
countries of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador by
enhancing the capacity of farm producers and rural industry to benefit
from domestic, regional and international trade opportunities.
Winrock International
Winrock
uses innovative approaches in agriculture, environmental protection,
renewable energy, leadership development, and policy to increase
long-term productivity, equity, and responsible resource management.
Since 1991, volunteer assistance has increased productivity and income
in more than 25 countries.
Winrock
works with farmers, local organizations, research and educational
institutions, and policymakers to improve agricultural productivity,
sustainability, and income in developing countries. Efforts include
research, information dissemination, training and education, policy
analysis and development, and improving the ability of institutions to
respond to changing needs.
For more information,
visit Winrock’s web-site at www.winrock.org
Florida International University's Involvement
Utilizing
the expertise at FIU in many fields dealing with Latin America, the
Entrepreneurship Center obtained the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer grant of
$4.2 million in conjunction with Winrock International, to help support
agribusiness entrepreneurship in Central America. FIU provides business
know-how to help farmers in Central America learn to better identify
trade opportunities and increase exports. The college will receive
approximately $868,000 in funding throughout a five-year period and
will send graduate student experts and business professionals in the
areas of marketing, entrepreneurship, information technologies,
accounting and general business skills to provide technical assistance
and training to farmers and farmer organizations in these countries.
FIU also recruits agriculture experts with backgrounds in everything
from mango flowering to pest management.
FIU draws from other areas for experts who can assist
farmers in creating sustainable business models. FIU's role is to find
qualified volunteers to teach these farmers how to develop successful
businesses models and become competitive in the growing global economy.
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