Lizard on the Loose

It was another great day in Haiti! The weather is beautiful and lots of awesome things are happening. Believe it or not, plans changed again today. After a delicious pancake breakfast we headed back to the cafeteria for a question and answer session with farmers at the Haitian Ag Summit. There is a lot of issues with diseases attacking a variety of crops. There was also a tense moment with concern for goats on the loose ravaging crops. Following the Q and A session we had several presentations from students on banana, cassava, and coffee. They covered everything from planting to crop protection to value added practices. Below is a group of students discussing cassava production.

We returned to the dorm for lunch when we heard screams from the girls room. There was a gecko on the loose in the girls room. Some of the girls even found the top bunks without using the ladders. The guys proceeded to try and catch the gecko. Fun fact for the day: Gecko's shed their tail as a defense mechanism and it still has nerve endings. (Wait until I can upload the video!) Our translators stepped in and caught the gecko and removed it from the girls room.

For the afternoon portion of the summit the attendees traveled to the irrigation gardens to see the students work. Due to the large number of attendees we stayed back on campus as they shuttled farmers to the garden in smaller groups to protect the gardens from damage from a large crowd. We will travel to the irrigation gardens tomorrow morning with the students to collect soil samples.

Since we stayed back we took the opportunity to work on our logistics lesson. We assisted Kristie by putting together Christmas gifts for children in the area that have been sent down. When we had the presents put together we took a short walk and purchased two bags of rice and one bag of beans. We then packaged the rice and beans in smaller portions that we will be able to deliver to area families later in the week.

We had several dinner guests tonight! Agriculture students that are supported by individuals and organizations from around the Cedar Valley joined us. After dinner we played games and taught the Haitian students how to play the card game Spoons.

We are now sitting outside reviewing notes from the Haitian Ag Summit. As we reflect on the summit it has been truly inspiring. Farmer after farmer thanked UCCC, the students, and the Global Agriculture Learning Center at Hawkeye Community College for the work that is being done. JeanJean shared that he has received multiple calls today from summit participants that were amazed by all that is being done and look forward to continued partnership to improve agriculture in the area!

"I have a spider in my bag! Want to see?"

It was a fantastic first full day in Haiti! This morning we found out that the Haitian Ag Summit was set to start today and finish tomorrow, January 4th. We changed our plans on the fly and it was a very successful day.

We started off by helping organize name tags and registration for he farmers in attendance at the summit. It was a full room with over 200 in attendance. The students from UCCC shared their test trials and results utilizing compost tea that we have assisted with over the past year. The results they have found have been spectacular with great yield increases. We look forward to digging into the data deeper with the students over the next couple days. After lunch we had an open forum session where farmers shared challenges facing them for us to work with in the future.

Following the summit we enjoyed a tour of campus and the story behind the development of UCI. The progress that is being made is remarkable. As we were heading back to our dorm we were met by a participant from the summit who said, "I have a spider in my bag! Would you like to see?" as he proceeded to pull a bucket of tarantulas out. We were all intrigued, but a little cautious.

We ended the day with a visit from Nelson, who is a former witch doctor who has converted to Christianity. We had a great discussion on the effects of voodoo to the society and agriculture in Haiti. We look forward to tomorrow and the second day of the Haitian Ag Summit. It will be the field day of the summit as we head to the gardens.

Excitement for Haiti

Today started early with us departing from the hotel at 2:30 AM for O'Hare. Our flights took us from Chicago to Miami and then to Port au Prince, Haiti this afternoon. It is always great to see the excitement from the students as we arrive into Haiti and start our travels to UCI near Caiman.

Below we make our way out of Port au Prince as we head to the mountains.

After making our way through immigration and receiving our luggage we loaded up a couple vans and started our trek to campus. We only had to travel about 60 miles, but due to road conditions and the terrain it took us over three hours. Once we arrived on campus we enjoyed a dinner of chicken legs, rice with bean and onion sauce, and fried plantains. Now we are all settling into our rooms and enjoying sitting outside under our favorite tree in front of our dorm.

Tomorrow we are going to tour campus and surrounding areas, help with some Christmas gifts for children in the area, and plan for the Haiti Ag Summit later in the week. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you over the next week.

Chilling in Chicago

This afternoon the majority of our group met at the Waterloo airport to begin our trek to Haiti. We have a great group with a variety of backgrounds for our time in Haiti. We have a layover in Chicago tonight before an early flight Monday morning.

This year we have Alyssa, Katelin, Morgan, and Tessa who are students at Hawkeye; Cole who is a student at Iowa State and Iowa FFA State Officer; Arlan, Bob, and Darwin who are community members; Kelsey who is the Director of Iowa Education Program's at the World Food Prize; and Meghan and Brad faculty at Hawkeye.

We had a great dinner sharing conversations and getting to know everyone better, before some relaxation at the hotel. Kelsey will join us here in Chicago later tonight and we look forward to having her with us over the next week.

Check back for daily updates to follow our adventures in Haiti!

Rainout Shelters Provide Droughts

Linked below we highlight technology being developed by a group in Australia to assist researchers with plant breeding and developing drought tolerant varieties. While rainout shelters are not a new technology these from Australia have some new features that make them unique. Look over the linked article and take advantage of the discussion points below to guide your conversations.

Rain Out, Research In

Discussion Points

• Explain the purpose of rainout shelters and why they are important.
• What benefits do these new rainout shelters from Australia have over traditional rainout shelters?
• Why is it important to test new varieties in the field and not exclusively in greenhouses?
• These rainout shelters provide an environment for great research and the varieties being developed provide great promise. What challenges still face getting these newly developed varieties to the farmers around the world that need them? How can these challenges be overcome?

Dairy and Asian Nutrition

What hunger and nutrition looks like is changing in Asia. The article linked below takes a look at hunger and nutrition trends and issues in Asia. We encourage you to read the linked article and have conversations with others around the globe utilizing the discussion points provided.

Dairy Potential Ally in Asian Nutrition

Discussion Points

• What has been the trend in regards to hunger in Asia in the last 25 years and why have we seen this?
• How are diets and health changing in Asia and why?
• What is the difference between hunger and malnutrition?
• Why are small dairy farmers in Asia key to battling malnutrition?
• What are additional ways that nutrition can be improved in Asia as well as your local community?
• Often times people will state that "healthy food starts with a healthy soil." What does this statement mean to you?

Smallholder Farmers Have Huge Impact

More and more we hear about the great impact that smallholder farmers have within agriculture. While we often hear this there is not a lot of information on location, size, and other details relating to smallholder farmers. A recent study from the University of Minnesota is working to provide some of this data. Read through the linked article below and utilize the discussion points to guide conversations in your classrooms, coffee shops, and communities around the world. If you want to dive into the topic deeper the complete study is linked within the article providing further analysis and data.

Map of Farming Households Created

Discussion Points

• There has not been a lot of information/data regarding smallholder farmers in the past. Why do you feel this is the case?
• Why is it important to understand the number, location, and distribution of small farms?
• Study the "Mean Agricultural Area" map provided. What jumps out to you?
• Why are smallholder farmers key to feeding our world?
• This map is a great first step in collecting data and information regarding smallholder farmers. What other information would you like to see collected and why?