Training on tractor management and operations in Ghana

In September 2009, I traveled to Ghana, Africa for ACDI/VOCA to help the farm workers who work on some of the farms that belong to the National Association of Agrie Mechanisation Service Centre. The Service Centre has a supply of new John Deere and Farmtrac 70 horsepower Tractors that they rent or lease to the different farms that belong to the Association. My project was to teach the workers how to service the Tractors and to adjust the plows so that they would do a good job of plowing. I had a super interpreter and we had 5 different farm locations for which we traveled over 1000 miles in Ghana. We had a Nisian SUV and a good driver, as well as Lawrence Addison, Chairman of the Association. David Wagner, another ACDI/VOCA volunteer, also joined us and spent many hours working up a business plan for the Association.

We would spend two to three days at each farm conducting meetings with the workers which would last two to three hours. My interpreter would help me stress safety on operating the equipment and how to do a good job of working the soil. After the meetings we would go to the field with the equipment, where we found out fast that the workers knew that the tractors had a high gear and a throttle and they knew how to operate them, but were not aware tractor speed affects the efficiency of the plows.

The fields have hard spots in areas and with the plow set too shallow and with the tractor going too fast the plow would come out of the ground and skip over the hard spots. A lot of my instruction included thorough explanations to the group that the hard spots needed to be plowed like the rest of the field so crops would grow there and that the fields would yield much better crops.

We would demonstrate this by resetting the plow and having the driver put the tractor in the gear that is designed for plowing, showing them a real difference in the improvement of the plowing. Most of the workers were glad to learn how to do a better job. They learned that being the first one done does not always make for being a good farmer. It is the quality of work that counts.

I hope that my meetings with the workers and the managers will give long-term benefits. Everyone treated me great and it was a real pleasure for me to have to have these projects and to meet and work with so many great people.

This was my 22nd trip to someplace in the world and the projects keep getting better.

Sincerely,

Bill Kunzman

Bloomfield, Iowa

Proper Banana Fertilization: A volunteer assignment in Lebanon

In August 2009, I traveled as an ACDI/VOCA Volunteer from my home in Florence, Alabama to Beirut, Lebanon. This was my second trip to Lebanon; my first being a brief stopover in September 1975 on a Pan American flight from Iran to the US, as a returning Peace Corps Volunteer. The first visit was shortly after the start of the Lebanese Civil War and the Pan Am flight was met by armored personnel carriers, in contrast to the second visit in August 2009-- a peaceful arrival without event. Arriving at midnight, I was met by Noubia Gribi of ACDI/VOCA Lebanon and her husband Sid. They had big smiles which made me feel welcomed. They transported me (this jet-lagged volunteer) to my hotel in Beirut where I welcomed the time to rest.

The following morning, I was met by Mr. Charbel Abou Haidar of ACDI/VOCA Lebanon. After a brief orientation at the ACDI/VOCA Beirut office, Charbel and I left for the site of my eight-day assignment in South Lebanon. Along the way, Charbel indicated various points of interest, including the American University of Beirut. We arrived in the early afternoon to the ancient city of Saida where my hotel overlooked an ancient fortress built during the period of the Crusades and situated in the waters of the Mediterranean—completely water locked. I later learned from the hotel staff that my hotel, as well, was built by the Crusaders, around 1100-1200 A.D. After checking into the hotel, Charbel and I went to visit my host the Hariri Foundation and Mr. Ibrahim Hariri (Program Director, Agricultural Development) and Mr. Ali Dimassi (Field Coordinator). They gave me a tour of their agricultural research station where they were developing methods of growing bananas under net houses and drip irrigation. These innovative techniques were demonstrated to the banana farmers in South Lebanon.

On the next day after a good night’s sleep, I met my host with the necessary energy to fulfill my mission goals, that is: 1) helping the banana growers in South Lebanon with their fertilization program for bananas, and 2) determining whether they were applying more fertilizer than required for profitable yields, thereby increasing the potential for environmental pollution.

Ibrahim and Ali took me on banana grower site visits as well as to an impressive agri-input dealer in Saida, where banana growers could purchase the latest technology of irrigation (drip irrigation), fertilizers (water soluble and slow-release fertilizers), hybrid seeds and pesticides.

We visited banana growers in South Lebanon where I gained an understanding of how growers were cultivating their bananas and the fertilization programs they were using. These visits were my latest exposure to banana production; my previous exposure having been in Central America in the 1980s, where I was a Research Agronomist dealing with the development of best fertilization practices for bananas being produced under the Dole label.

Based upon the visits, I saw growers who were using some of the best agronomic tools related to irrigation (drip irrigation) and fertilizer technology

The banana farmers provided information about the amounts of fertilizer they were applying to their banana crops. Using my soil fertility background, which includes a two-year stint with the International Fertilizer Development Center in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a comparison could be made to the established agronomic information on the amount of nutrients required by banana plants in order to provide economical and profitable yields for growers. Based upon the comparison made, it appears that farmers could possibly reduce the application of fertilizers to their banana crops by 20%, without significantly impacting the banana yields. In order to validate the impact, a recommendation has been made to the Hariri Foundation to seek funding to do cooperative on-farm fertilizer trials, measuring the yield impact (positive or negative) where present commercial rates of fertilization are compared to banana yields from plants grown with 20% less fertilizer. A reduction of fertilizer use by 20%, without having a negative impact on banana yields, will save the banana farmer $530/acre. The cost of fertilizers makes up approximately 30% of the farmer production costs to produce bananas.

Based upon the assignment, it was established that banana farmers need to take soil samples for determining the nutrient status of the soils where bananas are grown. The results from commercial soil testing laboratories and portable soil testing laboratories should be evaluated in the formulation of a fertilization program leading to profitable yields and a reduction of potential environment pollution. The development of the fertilization program would be prepared with the participation of agri-input dealers. This is a viable extension activity that the Hariri Foundation can conduct on behalf of the Lebanese farmers.

Prior to leaving Lebanon, I met with Mr. Hassan Istaytiyyah (Farmer-to-Farmer Country Director for ACDI/VOCA) who gave me his perspective and personal experience of the 1975 to 1990 Lebanese Civil War. By having the opportunity to serve as a volunteer to Lebanon and interact with the Hariri Foundation, on behalf of the USAID funded Farmer-to-Farmer Program implemented by ACDI/VOCA, I left Lebanon, encouraged that the country, having survived and emerged through many years of civil strife, will continue to be a productive and enjoyable place to work and live.

--Steve Kovach

Olive Oil Venture in South Lebanon

Early on a sunny Beirut morning in late May, Steve Orr, Managing Director of the Lebanon Business Linkages Initiative (LBLI), picked me up at the hotel for a trip south to investigate an olive oil plant that, after several years of successful operation, had been shut down by the War of 2006. With us was Youssef Fares, an entrepreneur who is in the middle of an ambitious restaging of his family’s olive oil business in Northern Lebanon and an expert on many of the hurdles facing the industry today.

The conversation during the two-hour trip south, interrupted by a security checkpoint and presentation of credentials, revolved around those hurdles. An estimated 57% of Lebanese farmers grow olives on 22% of the country’s cultivated land; crop sizes vary from 75,000 tons in the bad years to as much as 190,000 tons in the good.* Much of the crop is pressed into olive oil of which only about 7% is exported. Several explanations are offered for the relatively low export number; higher relative costs, lack of scale, a local market that prefers regular oil to the extra virgin grade that sells internationally, lack of marketing skills, etc. The challenge for the day was to determine if a plan could be developed to reopen this plant that could overcome these export market obstacles while providing jobs both in the business and indirectly in local support industries.

With the help of the former site manager, Firas Farche, we found the plant in a pleasant valley just a kilometer from Lebanon’s southern border. Olive groves which had been left in their natural state without pruning or fertilizer, covered much of the hills above the plant and afforded a view of an ancient Crusaders’ fortress high on an adjacent ridge. Fortunately, the plant had been properly shut down and was not damaged in the conflict. The layout of the facility and the choice of the equipment had been well thought out and included the large stone grinding wheels that distinguish the traditional oils. A list of improvements, actions necessary to recommission the operation and estimates of costs and capacities were easy given the prior experience.

Over tea at Firas’ home, talk turned to contracting for high grade olives and the complexities of packaging and shipping premium product internationally. While nothing will be easy, it became increasingly apparent that getting the marketing right will be the toughest challenge faced by the venture.

For that, Steve’s LBLI project is in an ideal position to recruit the right resources and integrate them into a team. By the time I left Beirut 10 days later, discussions had already been held with the prior owner who promised personal efforts to re-connect with former customers, leads for possible investors were being pursued, and meetings had been held with experts in distribution, in marketing organic foods, and in developing interactive e-commerce sites. Many of the components of a business plan have been assembled for a recommendation to have the business going in time for this year’s harvest just 4 months away.

Our home in Minneapolis serves olive oil with our bread now instead of butter. Its rich history dating back before Biblical times and the distance it has traveled give it richness I never fully appreciated until that sunny Friday. Lebanese olive oil is a little hard to find locally but I’m counting on the folks at FtF, LBLI and USAID to solve that problem in the near future.

--Jim Beardsley
* ICU/ROSS, September 2008

Southern Egypt Hardy-Crop Research and Application

On February 3, 2009 I traveled with Mr. Youssry Hassan (FtF Field Coordinator) to Charq Tamia Association- Fayoum governorate. We reached a greenhouse area located in the desert. There were three houses, each about 100m long and 50m wide. They were full of benches containing tomato seedlings to be transplanted.

I met with Mr. Emad Said, chairman of the association, and talked with him about the preparation of greenhouses. He said they had no water restrictions and used drip and flood irrigation in the fields. Nutrients for the plants in the field were added to the irrigation water as well as to the soil. Tomato harvest begins around June 10 and continues for 75-90 days. The major disease is powdery mildew and they have spider mite problems.

They have three basic seasons: September to March, March to July and March to October, depending on the variety of tomato in the field. Soil analyses provide information regarding nutrient requirements. They have a problem with Calcium which results in blossom-end rot in the fruit. The average yield for the tomatoes is 25-30 MT/Ac, in the Fayoum region they produce 30 MT/Ac.

He said one of the major problems in the region is the local farmers continue to use traditional production methods which result in low crop production. Information the farmers receive from ACDI/VOCA has improved production. Heinz has given them contracts that guarantee them a fair production price of 2 LE/crate. The price changes yearly according to the export market. The farmers also grow marjoram, geranium and chamomile herbs that they sell to local companies in Alexandria.

Twenty-five day old tomato seedlings were being grown in the green houses for local farmers. They were getting 80% germination from seeds provided by Heinz. I suggested they use a better seed planting method to get better germination. 50-60 foam trays (209 cells each) were needed to plant an acre of tomatoes. Some plants exhibited nutrient deficiency symptoms which could be corrected by adjusting nutrients added by the overhead sprinkler system. Seedlings were grown in coconut shell medium obtained from Sri Lanka. Nutrients in the irrigation water were added ten days after germination. Plant size and stem strength could be affected by disturbing the plants daily but they did not have equipment for this procedure.

I then went to the field where harvesting was in progress, mostly by women. Workers harvested ripe fruit in buckets and placed the fruit in wooden crates for shipping. Nearby fields contained tomato-wheat, cabbage-broad beans as double crops. Onions were also grown. Water, provided by a large reservoir, was filtered and pumped through a drip irrigation system.

During the return trip I observed mostly desert land but one area of 25000 Acres was being cleared for future agriculture use. Table grapes were already planted in this area. We returned along a road that links Giza with Beni Suef governorates, where many crops were grown along a local canal.

--Keith Hawxby

Making cheese with feeling...

Over the last few years ACDI/VOCA has regularly sent me to Armenia to assist dairy plants adapting soft cheese production. It is not all that different in method from the traditional cheese, called Lori or Chanagh, except there is a need to retain more moisture in the curd before and after pressing. Generally, soft cheeses call for larger curd particles and less stirring over a shorter period of time. For the Armenian cheese makers, that can appear to be a questionable procedure.

I was on my way to two cheese plants near Goris in the southern part of Armenia with my translator and trusted assistant, Gayane, and I was talking to her about how to get the two cheese masters to understand that our type of cheese did not require brute strength but rather a certain gentleness. Our driver was saying, "Good luck! Have you seen the muscles on Armand at the Elola plant or Kimik’s at Balaki"?

Actually, we were more like a three-man team, because the driver of our USDA SUV had become a partner over many such trips. His name was Ashot, and besides being an exceptional driver, he had a passion for music. In particular, he had developed a fondness for Gounod’s "Ave Maria", and he had a CD with several different versions; in fact, the entire CD was "Ave Maria". My place in the SUV was always in the back, and there I would quietly drop off to sleep to the stirring sounds of "Ave Maria". I got to like the rendition by the Russian soprano, Taranova. I have listened to "Ave Maria" for hours on end, from Yerevan to the Georgian border, to Lake Sevan and back again and on this trip…for four hours… all the way to Sissian. This town was strategically located in between the two cheese plants, and that was where we were going to stay overnight.

However, Ashot and Gayane, mindful of my cultural needs, insisted we should see the famous Tatev Monastery complex, established in 1895 and named after Eustateus, a disciple of St. Thaddeus the Apostle. They told me, it was some distance to get there and high in the mountains. Now, I happen to be not very keen on mountain driving, because I have a fear of heights, but I got into the car and settled myself in the back. Soon enough we were driving along a steep canyon along a winding narrow road; it was getting dark and I could just barely see the lights from a few houses far down below. I scooted up in the corner away from the abyss and felt nauseous. Of course, Ashot had "Ave Maria" blaring at full volume, so I said, "Ashot, I have had my fill of her; please put on something else". Ashot obligingly asked Gayane to select another CD. So she put in a CD with waltzes of Johann Strauss and the joyous sounds of "The Blue Danube" soon filled the car. Ashot liked that music…very much! To my horror the car now started to swerve along the road to the waving motion of the waltz. First we were close to the edge of the canyon, where I was staring over the brink, then, we were sweeping along the mountain wall and back again. Cold sweat was running down my face, and I was clinging on to the panic strap. With trembling voice, I begged "Ashot, put back Ave Maria, PLEASE!" With Taranova’s sweet voice ringing in my ears, we reached the monastery under a shining full moon to a wondrous experience. Eventually we got safely back to Sissian.

The next morning, we were at the Elola plant and we were in the midst of a demonstration of what later became known as Armtermani, a soft and delicate cheese. Gayane was doing the stirring, while I was observing with a critical eye. I felt the cheese grains between my fingers and thought this is working out really well. All of a sudden, I realized what was happening, "Gayane, are you singing Ave Maria?" She blushed and with an elegant swirl of the paddle, I heard her clearly

: Ave Mariiiiieeeaaahh :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRL32IX4B8w

--Poul Hansen

Helping a Small Food Processing Factory in Uganda

Greetings from Uganda, a country in East Africa just south of Sudan and between Congo and Kenya. Winston Churchill called Uganda “the Pearl of Africa” because of its lush vegetation and rolling hills. The equator runs right through it, but because it is on a plateau at the elevation of 3000’ and above, the temperatures are moderate year round – 80’s during the day and 60’s at night.

I’m at the end of a two week assignment working with a small food processing company, which bottles passion fruit juice, pineapple wine and tomato sauce. The director also runs classes in various management and technical subjects for what he calls “youth entrepreneurs”. These are men and women, ages 20 through 35, who are starting small enterprises in food processing.

The food processing factory is a small building on the director’s two acre farm outside of town. There are about 6 buildings side by side forming a rectangle with a large courtyard in the middle. There are 2 classrooms, a kitchen, an office, men’s and women’s small dormitories with bunk beds, the factory and a storage shed. The outhouse is in back among the banana trees. In addition to the director, his wife and their 14 month old baby girl, there were 9 students (3 women and 6 men), a dog, a kitten, 5 chickens and 3 small pigs. The livestock ran free and occasionally visited the factory and the classroom.

The director’s wife cooked a snack for all of us at 11 and a full meal at 2. The 3 women helped when they could, but sometimes his wife was so busy she had to put the baby with us in the classroom. Other times, when she was free, she would attend class and occasionally breast feed the baby. Somehow this was all a little different than teaching at Babson, Lehigh or Northeastern University.

On these overseas projects, the client is requested to provide me with transportation from where I'm staying to their office or factory. I've been driven in everything from an old Russian Lada to a very comfortable Mercedes. This time, the mode of transportation was a motorcycle (see photo above) for the 15 minute commute. The highway presented some potholes, the dirt road through town a few washouts and the path for the last half mile required dodging various farm animals, chickens and children. It was reasonably safe when dry, but on several occasions we traveled the route just after a rain and the dirt was slippery mud.

The classes covered marketing, pricing, label and package design, new product development, quality control and manufacturing procedures. Washington had led me to believe I'd be doing just a little teaching and a lot of hands on work. It turned out the teaching was about 80% of what the director wanted so a lot of it came right off the top of my head. I found it difficult to get the students to participate in any discussion. They are accustomed to being in awe of their teachers and very reluctant to say anything themselves. I did break them up into groups of 2 or 3, and then they opened up among themselves.

The director and several of the students plan to produce jams and knew a bit about recipes, but had no idea of the proper method of packing properly to insure sufficient shelf life. We covered recipes and then got into the method of vacuum packing used everywhere around the world. If you do any home canning or preserving including jam making with Sure Jell, what you’re doing is vacuum packing.

We ended everything 2 days ago on Friday with a graduation ceremony with ACDI/VOCA providing certificates showing the students had received instruction in all these subjects. This seemed to please them more than anything, but if I had been able to give them Harvard MBA diplomas, they would have been even more pleased.

I had been here in Uganda 5 years ago and worked with a large food processor which puts up jams, sauces, honey and some canned vegetables. After I returned to Kampala on Friday I got together with my contacts at the large processor. I was pleased to find out that they had incorporated quite a few of my recommendations and that the company was doing well. They were also very helpful in providing me with a source in Kampala for the director of the smaller factory and his students to obtain suitable jars and also a supplier of pectin for the jams.

I’m heading home tonight.

--Jeff Neville

First Impressions Are Key

In the spring of 2007 I had an assignment in Dushanbe, Tajikistan as a forage agronomist. The first meeting with the host is very important because the first impression is the most lasting. They usually ask difficult or trick questions to see if you are the expert you are purported to be. On most assignments I usually pass with flying colors in the first few minutes. But this day I could not. The host wanted me to do the impossible and I was not making any positive points, even my interpreter was having his doubts on my expertise. The host wanted me to build him a rocket ship but he did not have the resources to build a bicycle. I felt like I was failing, something that has not occurred in 20+ assignments. I need a way to redeem myself.

In my despair I looked over the farm compound and saw a saddled horse tied to a post. I asked the young man who owned the horse if I could ride it, maybe to show everyone at least I could ride a horse. Everyone at the farm including the host gathered around and wanted to see the American's horse riding folly. I had some trepidations since there was a lot of machinery around that could cause a problem especially if the horse wanted to play rodeo.

Ha ha! Not the case. The horse had a lot of spirit and needed a strong hand. To everyone’s amazement I put the fine animal through his paces and did some fancy stuff around the compound. Everyone cheered. Seeing this my interpreter, an athletic guy, not wanting to be shown up got on the horse. He could not get it to move or do anything. After that episode I got the respect and confidence I was trying to get in the first place. The rest of the assignment went off without a hitch.

--Peter Pitts