The Farmer-to-Farmer program is a long-term US government program which has, since 1984, posting experienced volunteers from US agriculture sector to short, typically three-week, assignments in developing countries. The program’s goals are economic development, food security, and people-to-people diplomacy. The volunteers come from US farms, agribusinesses, and universities, and during their assignments, they give technical support, training and coaching to a particular farmer organization, agribusiness, or university or ministry.
During the upcoming five years, Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) will be implementing the Farmer-to-Farmer program in Southern Africa (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Malawi, and Mozambique) and in the European country of Moldova. For each country, particular value chains or sub-sectors have been determined as focus; horticulture, legumes, livestock, and aquaculture are common foci in the region. Across the Southern Africa region, a special area of focus is the Fall Armyworm, given the devastation it is causing across the region. Volunteers are matched with an assignment that fits their professional background.
A US-based team supports the preparation of the volunteer for the assignment and a team in each target country works with the volunteer during the assignment and prepares and gives follow-up support to the organization receiving the volunteer. The volunteer’s trip and lodging are paid, and they receive a per diem for meals. A great majority of the volunteers have a positive experience and a large number do multiple assignments. Many volunteers maintain contact with the organization they worked with after the volunteer assignment.
Country
|
F2F Projects
|
Madagascar
|
Horticulture, rice, livestock, aquaculture
|
Malawi
|
Horticulture, legumes, aquaculture
|
Mozambique
|
Horticulture, poultry, service subsector
|
Zambia
|
Horticulture, legumes, aquaculture
|
Zimbabwe
|
Horticulture, legumes, livestock/dairy
|
Moldova
|
Organic agriculture, dairy/livestock
|