Guatemala Farmer-to-Farmer Program Highlights
Partners' Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program is playing an important role in strengthening rural development in Guatemala by upgrading capacity-building, supporting rural value chains with high potential for impact, focusing on gender, and facilitating strategic alliances with public, academic, private, and international cooperation.
Partners Works to Achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 8
Did you know that the Latin American and Caribbean is now the second most enterprising region in the world? According to the World Bank, four out of every 10 Latin American youth hope to become entrepreneurs. It takes a supportive community and a wealth of resources for entrepreneurship to be a feasible venture. This is especially true when there is a cultural stigma of failure.
Haiti NSP Results in Sustainable Health Initiative
As Partners of the Americas' Haiti Nutrition Security Program (Haiti NSP) enters its final closeout phase, the Agriculture and Food Security team is gathering statistics on its three-year impact
Aromatics Expert Trains Essential Oil Makers in Jamaica
Essential oils have a high price tag on the commercial market, due to both the time- and labor-intensive processes of producing them and the plethora of health benefits they provide consumers. While Jamaica is home to a variety of aromatic plants used to make essential oils, there are currently no major distilleries located on the island to produce these unique products.
Farmer-to-Farmer Brings Reforestation to Dominican Republic
It is estimated that throughout the 20th century, the Dominican Republic lost 75 to 85 percent of its forest coverage from deforestation. While deforestation has slowed over the past couple of decades, the country is still recovering from the high levels that occurred, mostly between the 1960's and 1980's.
Salsa Expert Teaches Tomato Canning to Panama Villages
"I have been making salsa since I was 6 years old, when my task for dinnertime was to peel roasted chilies," Carmen Pacheco-Borden of Boulder, Colo said. Pacheco-Borden's family immigrated to the United States from Mexico when she was 12 years old, and she went on to obtain her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Chemical Engineering. After teaching university classes and having three children, Pacheco-Borden decided it was time for a new path in life.
Pulses Recipes from Our Kitchen to Yours
As an ode to the United Nations dubbing 2016 the International Year of the Pulses, we are highlighting recipes containing beans in our cooking demonstrations. Pulses provide protein, complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Like other plant-based foods, pulses contain no cholesterol and little fat or sodium. Below are two of our favorite pulses recipes, from Haiti to your home.
Como Ser Mujer
Me llamo Andrea, soy oficial de campo para el programa F2F en Guatemala. En unos pocos meses más cumpliré mi segundo año trabajando para Partners dentro del programa. El tiempo se ha pasado rápidamente y en el proceso he aprendido muchas cosas nuevas, cada tema es diferente para cada asignación y cada asignación es una nueva oportunidad de crecimiento personal e intelectual.
How to Make a Square-Foot Garden
Have you considered growing your own garden, but don't think you have the space? Square-foot gardens are a useful way for city-dwellers and suburbanites alike to grow fresh, organic vegetables on a budget. Partners' F2F volunteer Arlen Albrecht recently traveled to Guatemala to train urban and rural community members in building square-foot gardens, contributing to their household nutrition and food security. And today, we're sharing his instructions with you.
Pulses are Vital in 2016, Says UN
Since 1960, the United Nations dubs each year a new topic that deserves international awareness or appreciation. In 2015 we celebrated the International Year of Soils, and this year, the United Nations has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses!
Happy 30th Anniversary Farmer-to-Farmer!
"Farmer-to-Farmer puts a face on U.S. foreign assistance," the Honorable Douglas Bereuter, former Member of Congress and Farmer-to-Farmer founder, remarked to the room of staff and volunteers who had gathered to celebrate the program's 30th Anniversary in Washington D.C on Dec. 3.
Partners Strengthens Coffee Cooperatives in Haiti
Between plant disease, pests, and changing weather, farmers face more than enough challenges related to growing, harvesting and producing their crops. Once the crop has been collected, there is another set of problems for farmers to address in order for them to sell their goods-ones that require a whole host of management skills that many small farmers lack.
Mother Leaders Bring Nutrition and Healthcare to Haiti
Partners' Haiti Nutrition Security Program (Haiti NSP) began educating women and families about healthcare in some of the most poverty-stricken areas in Haiti in 2013. Haiti NSP's Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Altrena Mukuria, presented her findings for the role Care Groups play in exposing Haitians to nutrition and healthcare information at this year's annual American Public Health Association (APHA) Conference on November 3, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.
#WorldFoodDay
On October 16, people around the world come together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger, fighting for the basic human right to food. While the world produces enough food to feed every person on the planet, one in nine people live with chronic hunger.
Empowering Women in Coffee
This blog is reposted from Partners of the Americas' Farmer-to-Farmer blog.
Women in Haiti play a valuable and important role in the country's coffee sector. They are actively involved in the production, export and selling of coffee, but having minimal access to land, credit, training, and leaderships positions due to gender-based inequities limits their economic opportunities.
A Week in the Life of a Mother Leader
Marie Guerline Ostine is a Mother Leader each and every day of the week. Living in Carrefour, one of greater Port-au-Prince's four districts, Ms. Ostine continually serves her neighbors by providing nutrition and health education through the Haiti Nutrition Security Program (NSP).
Feed the Future-supported Farmer-to-Farmer Trainings Pave the Way for Guatemalan Mushroom Production Lab
At Asociación Visión Maya, expectations for the Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) trainings could not have been higher. Based in Sololá, Guatemala, Visión Maya is an association of almost 200 oyster mushroom producers - over half of whom are women. The group's members are dedicated to the production and marketing of fresh oyster mushrooms.
Launching Guatemalan Peanuts to the Next Level Through Integrated Marketing
My partner, Jennifer Rangel and I are graduate students at Florida State University. Jennifer is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Media and Communication Studies and I am pursuing a Master's degree in Integrated Marketing Communication. We both have a passion for travel and helping others so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Farmer-to-Farmer program in Guatemala this summer.The Farmer-to-Farmer Program is implemented by Partners of the Americas and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
A Look Inside the Haitian Coffee Industry
Coffee is a beloved beverage in the U.S. It's hard to turn a corner in most major American cities without encountering the aromas from a nearby Starbucks. But while a majority of Americans consume coffee every day, many give little to no thought to where their coffee actually comes from.
#Just1Thing Can Make a Difference
Today is World Environment Day (WED), and this year's theme is Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care. In honor of the day, the UN is asking for everyone to pledge to doing "one thing less" to help reduce our negative environmental impact. Why? Because, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon puts it: "Although individual decisions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose, we can make a tremendous difference."