Farmer-2-Farmer: Guyana 2019

US AID (Agency for International Development) has a program specifically to assist with food security in countries all around the world through the use of specialists, such as volunteers through the Farmer-to-Farmer program (F2F), which provides technical assistance from US agencies to farmers and agencies abroad. The idea of being able to help farmers, both locally and internationally, is what inspired me to pursue a career in entomology – so my stating that I am ecstatic to be volunteering with F2F for two weeks in Guyana is an understatement. This particular volunteer program is being run through Partners of the Americas, a non-profit organization that coordinates the volunteers for the F2F program, so be sure to check them out if you are interested in such opportunities. During my time in Guyana, I will provide updates below.

Additionally, if you are looking for the resources or presentations I gave during my assignment here, they can be found on the Farmer-to-Farmer: Guyana 2019 Resources page.

Guyana F2F Wrap-up: Trainings and Visits

From June 16th till the 30th, I was in Guyana as a part of a two-week volunteer project through US AID Farmer-to-Farmer program, administered through Partners of the Americas. The whole first week was spent visiting farmers to learn about their pest challenges and pest ...

July 5, 2019 / Erfan Vafaie / F2F, General, Guyana, IPM, Presentations, tropical

Guyana Farm Visit 4: Permaculture in Georgetown

Today we visited an urban farmer group that pays special attention to permaculture. For those that aren't familiar with permaculture, it's a type of gardening or farming aimed at creating a self-sustaining 'ecosystem' that doesn't require intervention to manage insect pests or weeds. This strategy, ...

June 28, 2019 / Erfan Vafaie / F2F, General, Guyana

Guyana Farm Visits Day 3: Holy Fruits Batman!

Last Thursday, we visited a few farms in remote locations, referred to as "the bush" by the locals. Completely off the grid; using rain-water as their water supply, no need for electricity or using diesel generators when needed, fruits and vegetables everywhere, and the forest ...

June 25, 2019 / Erfan Vafaie / F2F, General, Guyana, Pests

Farm Visits Day 2: Coconuts and Chives

First thing in the morning, we headed towards the interior of Guyana, where we visited a coconut, pineapple, and other smaller 'cash crop' farms. The most important pest brought to our attention was the devastation being caused by a rhinoceros beetle; a beetle that bores ...

June 21, 2019 / Erfan Vafaie / F2F, General, Guyana

Guyana Farm Visits – Day 1

Today was the first day of visiting farms as a part of my time here in Guyana for the Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer program. The Journey We drove to region 6, which is far down south along the coast for a total of about 3 hours commute ...

June 19, 2019 / Erfan Vafaie / F2F, General, Growers, Guyana

Guyana Farmer-to-Farmer: Briefing

Our flight arrived early this morning, from Miami to Guyana. Our driver recognized us using our F2F hats we were provided in our orientation packages and started the one-hour driver to Georgetown. Like the couple other countries I have visited in South and Central America, ...

June 18, 2019 / Erfan Vafaie / F2F, General, Guyana

A bit about Guyana Agriculture

The current population of the whole country of Guyana is under 780,000 people in about 83,000 sq. miles of land mass. For a bit of context, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is about 9,286 sq. miles with a population of about 7,500,000! Agriculture is of great ...

June 16, 2019 / Erfan Vafaie / F2F, General, Guyana, Uncategorized

Getting Ready

In 2006, I took a course in Ecology instructed by Dr. Jeremy McNeil and subsequently chemical ecology instructed by him the next year. In this course, we learned about the interactions between plants and plants, plants and insects, and insects and insects using chemicals in ...

June 15, 2019 / Erfan Vafaie / F2F, General, Guyana

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