Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer Opportunities: University Lectures and Labs in Tajikistan with CNFA

Most USAID Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer projects involve a U.S.-based expert who gives advice and shares expertise with groups of growers, producers, sellers, or members of a cooperative in a foreign country who have requested help with particular issues. The NGO staff (in this case, CNFA) in the foreign country (Tajikistan) evaluates the issues presented by the local growers and develops a project proposal; then the NGO staff in the United States screens the proposal and recruits volunteers.  Occasionally a project will be proposed that doesn’t follow this exact pattern: this was the case here. There is very little expertise available in Tajikistan concerning commercial hydroponic crop production, although some growers do use drip “fertigation” when growing vegetables in soil in sunken, Chinese-style greenhouses. The Engineering–Technologic Faculty of Khujand Polytechnic Institute of Tajik Technical University (ETF KhPITTU) founded in 2010, offers 20 different disciplines to students pursuing a 4-year course of study, but none of the faculty have any training in hydroponics. The faculty wants to prepare the students for jobs when they graduate and they know that many of the students will work locally. They are aware that local vegetable producers often complain about decreasing production levels because of disease and nutritional problems related to the soil and they believe that some farmers might switch to hydroponic growing if they were provided with the appropriate information. Students trained in hydroponics might find good jobs working for companies or growers that are interested in implementing this technology, and so, faculty members approached CNFA for assistance. The proposal was approved and a volunteer was recruited to provide university-style lectures and practical laboratories in hydroponics to be taught at the University as a short course. Translation of the presentations into Russian was provided although some students spoke good English. Some laboratory materials were brought from the United States and others were purchased locally. Some hydroponic books were given to the university faculty, as were electronic files for a syllabus, lectures, and labs. Students, faculty members, and some growers attended the short course. U.S.-based horticulture teaching faculty should watch for this type of opportunity to appear again. Some may find this classroom situation more appealing than one where they may be asked to work under less familiar or uncomfortable conditions.