Faculty Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteers

By Mary Ann Reese

As U.S. agriculture becomes more global, we need to better understand in what ways global markets are potential customers or competitors," believes Larry Makus, faculty member in the UI Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology. That's one reason he has participated in three assignments to help farmers in emerging democracies abroad since 1994.

Another reason is to enrich his classrooms with his experiences during agricultural advising trips to Central Asia-Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. "I can bring those experiences directly into the classroom to give students a better understanding of how things are done differently, why, and what impact they might have on us."

A number of Idaho growers and agribusiness experts also volunteer in farmer-to-farmer programs.

While some UI faculty members ar-range their own international projects, spending a semester or a year on sabbatical in international programs, many like Makus, prefer the short-term FTF options. First authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1985, the missions aim to transfer knowledge and expertise of U.S. agricultural producers and businesses to middle-income countries and emerging democracies. Respected for the high-quality technical services it provides, the FTF program was reauthorized by Congress in the 2002 farm bill.

To date, more than 9,600 volunteer assignments have been completed in over 80 countries. Approximately 19 percent of all volunteers are women and about 39 percent of all individuals trained by FTF volunteers are women. Volunteers typically work with medium and small agro-enterprises, cooperatives, individual producers, agricultural extension and research agencies, and financial institutions.

Major areas of focus include horticulture and high value crops, income diversification, dairy and livestock, producer organizations, financial services, marketing and processing, and natural resources management.

From 2004 to 2008, FTF will operate in 40 countries, providing over 3,000 volunteer technical assistance assignments averaging three and a half weeks each. Eight organizations manage the missions aimed at reducing poverty and stimulating sustainable and broad-based economic growth.

For Makus, a final reason to volunteer is more altruistic. "All of us have an obligation to make the world a better place. And this is one way to do that."

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