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August 6, 2015
Restoring Coffee Farms in Guatemala
An emerging consensus among scientists blames changing temperatures for the disease that has devastated Central America's coffee production since 2012.
Coffee leaf rust, a fungus known as "roya," caused more than $1 billion in crop losses last year alone, and has cost the region hundreds...More
August 4, 2015
Improving Child Health and Survival in Guatemala
Jacinta Maroquin Pablo lost five of her children before they turned 2. Rosa Pablo Perez lost her middle child before she turned 3. Neither woman knows why, but they both know they waited too long to see a doctor. Not realizing how sick their children were, neither mother wanted to spend money...More
June 23, 2015
Farmer-To-Farmer: Achieving Food Independence
Shea Belahi will not be held down by a corporate glass ceiling. In fact, she won't be held down by any ceiling: her office is the open sky. She is fiercely independent and, at age 30, she's her own boss—running her own farm.
"I didn't know what to do with my life....More
June 4, 2015
Climate Change in Ethiopia: Counting Rains
How do you measure a year? Twelve months? Three hundred and sixty-five days?
In the eastern-most part of Ethiopia, Jemal Bedhaso measures a year not by the number of months or days, but the number of rains.More
February 6, 2015
Sustainable Agriculture: Better Crops for Nigeria
Through the narrow openings that weave in and around the potatoes, beans, sesame, banana, corn, yams and cassava on her farm in central Nigeria, Mwuese Jato introduces her latest crop with particular pride: "TME 419!"...More
January 27, 2015
Helping Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Nigeria
Under the shade of a mango tree, dozens of women gather to learn about preparing healthy meals for the children in their care. Some are orphaned. All have suffered hardship that has left them vulnerable in so many ways, including malnutrition....More
October 28, 2014
Sustainable Rwanda: Coffee Growers Diversify
The mud-packed walls of the Mazimpaka's family room show the strong influence of young people: Hanging among the rosaries and pictures of St. Mary are posters of Miss Rwanda, the Rwandan singer Christopher, and the Rwandan boy band Dreamboyz. The room's only window shines a square of light on...More
October 28, 2014
Rwanda Animal Fair: Goats and Hopes
When Therese Umuhire looks at her new goat, she envisions, well, something else.
"I dream of when I will get a cow from that goat," she says, nodding at her goat as it grazes on a hillside in Nyamirambo village in southern Rwanda....More
July 14, 2014
Catholic Relief Services: Faith. Action. Results.
Editor's Note: This article is a contribution to a week-long blog carnival on USAID's John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program. From July 14-18, F2F program partners and American volunteers are...More
April 25, 2013
Madagascar Moms Learn Nutritious Lessons
Like all concerned mothers, Victorine Minoarison and Helene Baotlata sacrifice for their families. They skimp on their own meals so their children can eat more. They work hard in their fields in rural Madagascar to harvest enough rice to sell and eat throughout the year.
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