Colombia Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program
Award: PDP-2014-2
Dates: September 1, 2014 – September 30, 2017
Project Work Plan FY2016
SUBMITTED TO:
Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA),
Washington, DC
1. INTRODUCTION
The Colombia Farmer-to-Farmer project strategy implemented by Purdue University likely
differs from other Farmer-to-Farmer projects to date. While most projects focus on specific
value chains, and organizational capacity building with needs determined solely by host
organizations, in Colombia Purdue and its implementing partner Universidad de Los Llanos
(Unillanos) are carrying out a project that aims to create a model local food system
within the implementation area of Meta. This higher-level objective was identified as a
need for sustainable rural development during project proposal planning, by Unillanos
after visiting Indiana. Assignments are identified based on host organizations’ needs, as
identified by Unillanos in conversation with these hosts. And, in some cases, other funded
projects (USAID and Colombian government) that promote rural development through
small producer capacity also request volunteers. Unillanos cultivated relationships with
most of the host organizations through research and extension work carried out over
previous years, and continuing. Some examples of these relationships can be found in a
recently published report, The Viability of Family Farm Agriculture in the High Plains
Region of Colombia (translation)1. The families studied in this report comprise producer
organizations, such as Association of Women of Ariari, the Association of Women
producers of Aloe Vera, the Agro industrial Cooperative of Cacao Producers of Meta,
Assocation ‘Juntos,’ and many others. Additionally, Purdue has identified areas in which it
partners to build the capacity of Unillanos to carry out research and extension services to
support the needs of small producers. These areas and opportunities will be detailed
below.
During FY2016, Purdue will continue to implement the Colombia Farmer-to-Farmer
(Colombia F2F) Program in two locations in the department of Meta: Ariari and Altillanura.
Fourteen volunteer assignments were planned for this year, but because of start-up
complications in FY2015, we fielded only 8 volunteers in FY2015, and so will field 18
volunteers in FY2016. A discussion below outlines our plan for meeting volunteer targets
in FY2016.
Table 1 summarizes revised travel for volunteers, and staff LOP and per year. In
consultation with VEGA, Purdue may request additional international travel if we are able
to obtain Colombia USAID or other USG Mission Buy-in.
Table 1. Proposed International Trips
US Volunteers
Number of Int’l. Trips
FY2015
Number of Int’l. Trips
FY2016
Number of Int’l. Trips
FY2017
Number of Int’l. Trips LoP
Colombia
Country Staff
US Staff
Total
8
2
4
14
18
2
2
22
14
1
3
18
40
5
9
54
Proposed FY2016 project activities are summarized in the work plan below.
1
https://www.scribd.com/doc/267322800/La-Viabilidad-de-La-Agricultura-Familiar-en-La-Altillanura#scribd
Page 1 of 8
2. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Purdue University Operations
Purdue is responsible for overall management of the project, including recruiting and
supporting volunteers; managing logistics to field volunteers; managing communications
on budgets and procedures with VEGA and USAID; and identifying new strategies and
resources to benefit the Small Farms and Local Food Systems focus of the project. In year
two, Purdue will continue recruiting volunteers; will continue to mentor Unillanos in
project financial management; and will identify additional opportunities to promote the
project and its strategy. Moreover, Purdue continually seeks complementary activities and
opportunities to advance the project goals and objectives. We have been successful in
identifying several of these, and detail on these will be provided in the Year One Project
Report.
Unillanos - Colombia Country Office
Unillanos will continue to develop SOWs, based on requests from producers and producers’
associations, and projects working on our focus areas. They will continue to promote the
availability of volunteers for such assignments, as well as promoting the overall project
goals and objectives related to a local food system. Unillanos monitors adoption of
volunteer recommendations, and barriers to adoption. They have produced process
assessments showing which groups have adopted practices. Unillanos undertakes research
on issues related to smallholder farmers’ production and development issues, and
information from this research contributes to project implementation. The report
referenced in notes on page one is an example of this.
Environmental screening
Purdue has provided USAID with PERSUAPs previously undertaken in Colombia by
Chemonics (in 2003), and ARD (in 2007). The USAID Mission in Colombia has said that they
find these reports sufficient and do not require further reports. However, both Purdue and
Unillanos feel it would be helpful to have more detail about pesticide use and practices, as
well as sources, in Meta. Therefore we are in the process of determining whether there is a
local source (from ICA, for example), who can respond to the questions from USAID’s
Pesticide Evaluation Report and Safer Use Action Plan (PERSUAP) document, or whether
we will field a volunteer to undertake this assignment.
Coordination with the Colombia USAID Mission and GoC
Though the Farmer to Farmer project is only just starting up, Purdue has had several
consultative meetings and email communications with the Colombia USAID Mission’s
environment and livelihoods officers. Purdue will coordinate with the Mission particularly
on the Mission’s Objective 3 of its country strategy: Improve Conditions for Inclusive
Rural Economic Growth.
The Colombia F2F country director already coordinates with ongoing USAID-funded
activities such as the Land and Rural Development Project (implemented by Tetra
Tech/ARD); and UNHCR and UNDP through the Building Sustainable Solutions program.
Page 2 of 8
Additionally, we intend to continue to field a limited number of volunteers to support the
Colombian government’s Territorial Consolidation Program in Meta. The areas of this
program are outside the two defined areas of Altillanura and Ariari, but our work
contributes to USG and GoC priorities, as well as our objectives for the program. There are
additional security issues in these areas, but volunteers are accompanied by Colombian
Security Forces. In FY2015 we fielded one such volunteer on a ‘Mature Cheese’ assignment,
and will likely do a follow-on assignment in FY2016.
Purdue was recently asked by a US State Department representative in Bogota to submit a
plan to extend the scope of its F2F project. This was done recently, and we await a response
to our concept. If our concept is funded (through VEGA of course), we proposed to extend
some F2F activities to Casanare or Vichada, as well as to cover some implementation costs
and small farm conference expenses.
4. COUNTRY WORK PLAN
We will ensure that our country
program, and project framework, A
Focus on Small Farms and Regional
Food Hubs, is implemented to
systematically build smallholder
capacity for the three objective areas:

Objective 1, Farm productivity
to increase yields: Improved
agricultural productivity through
sustainable agricultural practices and
natural resource management.
Volunteers will work with smallholder
Carmen Derusha, Community Development Educator from Purdue
farmers so that they understand and
Cooperative Extension in Indianapolis, works with Altillanura
are able to train others.
producers’ association on visioning and planning.

Objective 2, Processing and
Markets: Strengthened regional agricultural economy through value-added processing
and sustainable innovations along the value chain. Volunteers will provide technical
assistance in agricultural processing, product innovation, and marketing
Objective 3, Enhanced Networks: New and strengthened networks support small farms and
markets for local food systems.Ariari characterization and focus
The Ariari region is located in the foothills of the Eastern Andes, in the Northwest of Meta.
Soils are better than in Altillanura,and rainfall is plentiful. This area’s products flow
through Villavicencio to Bogota. Fruits, cacao and dairy are especially developed. Producers
here are both small and medium in scale, and tend to be better connected to markets.
Although there is a group of organic producers, most tend to use conventional agricultural
methods (mono-cropping and a lot of inputs), they are quite susceptible to pests and
diseases. According to the Secretary of Agriculture for Meta, productivity is much lower
than it should be, due to poor practices. Producers resist changing practices, and claim that
they lack only better access to markets and better processing opportunities.
Page 3 of 8
Altillanura characterization and focus
The Altillanura (high plains) is located in the North-Central part of Meta. It has less rainfall
and poorer soils than Ariari. One reason for poor soils is deforestation and overgrazing, on
fragile tropical (acidic and with high amounts of aluminum) soils. Small farmers in the
areas where we work with have restored soil biomass and fertility using agro-ecological
practices. These small farmers practice sustainable intensification of a wide range of
horticultural crops and animals. The most common among them are: Cashews, Mango,
Chontaduro Palm, Moriche Palm, Pineapple, Guanábana, Papaya, Yucca, Acacia, Pigeon
Peas, Cacao, Arazá, Plantain, Giant Granadilla, Braquiara Grass, Coconuts, Sugarcane, Yellow
Corn, Borojo, Mandarins, Oranges, Chili Peppers, Cattle, and Chickens. Small Farmers in this
region are very open to learning and applying new practices. They are passionate about
their farms and while they wish to expand their production, they have no desire to give up
their sustainable practices or to become ‘factory farms.’
There are also very large-scale farms in Altillanura. On these there is agro industrial scale
rice, rubber, African Palm, Corn, Soy, Pine trees, and fish processing. These are increasingly
encroaching on the lands of small farmers, and because of interest in expanding this kind of
farming, small producers are in danger of losing their land.
Proposed Volunteer Activities
Volunteer assignments are proposed as shown below (note that currently 18
volunteers are shown. We expect to shuffle assignments a bit, as volunteer availability
changes)
MONTH
NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS
ASSIGNMENT TOPIC(S)
1 (September)
3
Market linkages for small
farms; IT for market linkages;
Healthy agro-ecosystems with
focus on horticulture; Small
Farms Conference
Planning/Dairy Production
2 (October)
3
Business Planning; Plant
disease diagnostics; Plant
diagnostics IT applications
3 (November)
2
Biochar; Cacao production
practices; Agro-silvo-pastoral
management
4 (December)
0
Holidays/Develop SOWs
5 (January)
0
Holidays/Develop SOWs
6 (February)
2
Direct-to-Consumer Markets;
Farm Accounting
7 (March)
2
Water Conservation; Seed
Preservation
Page 4 of 8
8 (April)
2
Organic Production; Meat
Production and Processing
9 (May)
2
Appropriate Technology;
Marketing of Technology
10 (June)
0
Planning for Year 3 and
Monitoring
11 (July)
2
Organizational development;
Youth organizational
development
12 (August)
0
Small Farm Conference (Topics
Pending)
Toward development of a local food system and food hub
Purdue and Unillanos are working with a US business, 47Farms
(http://www.47farms.com/ and http://www.47farms.com/about), to assess the market
for the local food system and to develop software that consumers can use to order directly
from producers. The head of this business is of Colombian parentage, and has associates in
Colombia to follow-up as needed. One volunteer assignment was to promote market
linkages for a local food system, and in FY2016 we will be working very diligently on the
market aspects of this: to develop the market and to support producers. At least four
assignments will be towards developing the local food system and the market support
infrastructure for this. We have met with Unillanos Foundation to discuss the use of space
there and for this foundation to support an aggregation center in the same way as Purdue
Extension supports Hoosier Harvest Market.
Small Farm and Regional Food System Annual Conference
Each Year Purdue University teams up with Indiana Small Farmers to hold a Small Farms
Conference (https://ag.purdue.edu/extension/smallfarms/Pages/default.aspx) to provide
educational presentations and opportunities to network for the growing number of small
and alternative farming operations. The team is a collaborative effort, engaging
researchers, educators, and farmers to help foster this diverse community. Purdue and
Unillanos are planning a Small Farms conference in August of FY2016. We will invite
innovative Colombian Farmers and US volunteers to teach learning sessions at the 3-day
conference. We will promote the Small Farms and Local Food Systems concept at the
conference, and showcase new technologies, such as IT Platforms for direct-to-consumer
sales.
Purdue Faculty Seed Grant to promote tomato production in Altillanura
This seed grant was just awarded to a faculty member , Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi
n the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, and will promote Altillanura women’s
producer association members’ abilities to conduct field monitoring and testing of
tomatoes against blight and other diseases. One of the FY2015volunteer recommendations
was to promote more horticulture in the region. Aside from helping the women’s
Page 5 of 8
associations with field monitoring and detection of diseases, the grant will send a Unillanos
graduate student to Purdue to study with Dr. Iver-Pascuzzi, and is being led on the
Unillanos side by a faculty member who will incorporate the research and results into
Unillanos’ outreach to small farmers.
Purdue and Unillanos partnership to increase availability of plant diagnostic services to
smallholder farmers
Two of the volunteers for FY2016 will work intensively with Unillanos plant pathology
specialists to strengthen the diagnostic capacity of Unillanos’ lab, and with Unillanos’ IT
faculty to adapt a Purdue application for plant diagnostics. With this, it is expected that
smallholders will have much increased access to diagnostic services and recommendations
for their horticultural and grain crops.
7. PROCESS MONITORING AND FORMATIVE EVALUATION
All M&E materials have been developed. The project did not undertake a formal baseline
assessment due to lack of funds for such an assessment, but also because Unillanos and
host organizations are able to provide baseline information on practices, through data
gathered in their daily work. As volunteer assignments are developed and implemented,
F2F will staff gather and analyze baseline and impact information from volunteers, hosts,
and partner organizations through monitoring visits and interviews to determine quality,
effectiveness, and success of volunteer assignments. F2F staff have done a first analysis of
volunteer effectiveness – a formative evaluation, based on 31 volunteer recommendations.
Unillanos staff undertake the evaluations with groups of producers who have participated
in the assignments. This process included 15 organizations during the first evaluation,
which results will be detailed in the FY2015 Annual Report. These formative evaluation
processes will be carried out in FY2016, in June just before FY2017 planning is undertaken.
Expected Impacts: Indicators, Benchmarks and Targets
The project has specific objectives that differ from the Standard Indicators. Some of these
indicators are impact-level indicators that we will check closer to LOP, some are process
indicators and these are checked annually. Process indicators (standard and specific) for
this year are below:
Indicator (There are five specific indicators that are impact indicators and will be
checked at LOP. One specific indicator is a process indicator and is italicized below)
Years 1/2/3 (cumulative) Number of Volunteers
8/18/14 (40)
Number of Volunteer Days (Average 14)
106/252/196 (554)
Number of Host Organizations
22/25/30 (30 different total)
Number of Ag. Practices/Technologies Recommended
50/180/120 (350)
Number of Ag. Practices/Technologies Adopted
20/54/36 (110)
(Originally, four new practices per region, and eight new technologies, was the target for
LOP)
Page 6 of 8
# of Hosts request more than two volunteers per year
4/4/4
Number of Beneficiaries Adopting Recommendations
192/432/336 (960)
Number of Direct Participating Beneficiaries
320/4/560 (1,600)
Page 7 of 8