Farmer to Farmer

Farmer to Farmer, commonly abbreviated F2F, is a United States international development program financed by the United States Agency for International Development through agricultural legislation and implemented through cooperative agreements with nonprofit organizations, universities, development groups, and other technical-assistance institutions. Rather than operating as a conventional consumer brand or commercial company, it functions as a people-to-people agricultural exchange and volunteer technical-assistance platform. The program’s central model is demand-driven. Local organizations identify practical challenges and work with F2F country offices or implementing partners to define short-term assignments. Volunteer advisers, generally drawn from American farms, agribusinesses, cooperatives, universities, financial institutions, and agricultural service organizations, then provide specialized assistance. Assignments may address production methods, postharvest handling, food safety, business planning, marketing, processing, access to finance, organizational strengthening, agricultural education, climate adaptation, and natural-resource conservation. Local partners remain responsible for applying recommendations, while implementing organizations support logistics, translation, coordination, and follow-up. Congress initially authorized the worldwide program in the 1985 Farm Bill, with funding linked to Title V of Public Law 480. The initiative was later formally designated by the 2014 Farm Bill as the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program. The name recognizes John Ogonowski, a Massachusetts farmer and pilot who supported Southeast Asian immigrant farmers, and Doug Bereuter, the former congressman associated with the program’s legislative sponsorship. The designation connected the program’s international agricultural work with its broader goals of civic engagement, cross-cultural understanding, and public awareness of United States development assistance. F2F serves private farmers, producer cooperatives, community organizations, credit institutions, extension services, input suppliers, agribusinesses, and other host institutions. Its geographic and technical scope is broad. Program activities have covered horticulture, livestock and dairy, staple crops, coffee, cacao, rice, aquaculture, poultry, legumes, food safety, rural enterprise development, financial services, agricultural training, postharvest systems, agroforestry, and environmental management. The program also seeks to improve food security, raise farm and rural incomes, support sustainable economic growth, strengthen local institutions, and increase resilience to climate and environmental pressures. By its thirty-fifth anniversary in 2020, the program reported more than 19,000 volunteers or volunteer assignments serving in over 115 countries and assisting more than 135 million people. For the 2013–2018 cycle, reported results included more than $442 million in increased annual sales among assisted organizations, $75 million in increased annual incomes, approximately 163,000 people trained, and participation by women representing 41 percent of those trained. The same reporting also credited volunteers with contributing time valued at more than $28 million and host organizations with mobilizing $40 million toward development efforts. For the 2018–2023 cycle, USAID awarded cooperative agreements to eight core implementing organizations. The program was structured around 37 core countries and more than 3,000 planned volunteer assignments, generally lasting about three weeks. A related Agricultural Volunteer Opportunity Project broadened the model by testing nontraditional volunteer sources, supporting smaller implementing organizations, and funding specialized country or thematic projects. Because individual activities are delivered by multiple implementing partners under USAID agreements, Farmer to Farmer is best understood as a distributed public-development program rather than a single operating enterprise.

Farmer to Farmer was created through United States federal agricultural and foreign-assistance policy. Congress authorized the worldwide program in the 1985 Farm Bill, with its initial financing connected to Title V of Public Law 480. The program established a mechanism through which American agricultural professionals could volunteer their time to assist institutions in developing, middle-income, and emerging-market countries. The program’s operating approach has consistently emphasized locally requested and technically focused assistance. Host institutions can include farmers, cooperatives, community groups, lending organizations, extension services, input businesses, processors, and other agricultural enterprises. Implementing partners identify needs, recruit suitable volunteers, arrange travel and local logistics, provide translation when needed, and monitor how recommendations are used after an assignment. This structure allows assignments to be tailored to local conditions rather than delivered as a uniform package. Over time, F2F expanded beyond direct production advice. Its work came to include farm and agribusiness planning, cooperative governance, marketing, processing, financial access, training systems, postharvest management, food safety, natural-resource stewardship, and climate-related adaptation. The program’s stated objectives therefore combine agricultural productivity with broader aims: sustainable economic growth, food security, stronger local capacity, environmental conservation, and improved understanding of United States foreign assistance among American and international audiences. The 2014 Farm Bill gave the program its formal commemorative name, the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program. John Ogonowski was a Massachusetts farmer known for helping immigrant Southeast Asian farmers and was also a pilot killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Doug Bereuter was the former member of Congress associated with the program’s sponsorship. The designation recognized both the program’s agricultural roots and its people-to-people character. F2F marked its thirty-fifth anniversary in 2020. By then, program materials reported more than 19,000 volunteers or completed volunteer assignments, work in more than 115 countries, and assistance reaching over 135 million people. Reported results for the 2013–2018 five-year cycle included more than $442 million in additional annual sales, $75 million in additional annual incomes, approximately 163,000 people trained, and women accounting for 41 percent of those trained. Volunteer contributions were valued at more than $28 million, while participating host organizations mobilized an additional $40 million. For 2018–2023, USAID selected eight organizations to implement the core program: ACDI/VOCA, Catholic Relief Services, CNFA, IESC, Land O’Lakes Venture37, NCBA CLUSA, Partners of the Americas, and Winrock International. Their portfolios covered dozens of countries and included food safety, livestock, horticulture, coffee, cacao, aquaculture, rural enterprise development, agricultural education, financial services, and postharvest systems. The Agricultural Volunteer Opportunity Project supplemented these core agreements by testing new volunteer sources, supporting nontraditional organizations, and funding specialized projects in countries and sectors such as sustainable intensification, coconut production, extension, and livelihood development.

• 2020

  Thirty-fifth anniversary

  [1]Farmer to Farmeren.wikipedia.org

  The program marks 35 years of volunteer agricultural assistance and reports more than 19,000 volunteers or assignments in over 115 countries.

• 2018

  USAID begins the 2018–2023 implementation cycle

  [1]Farmer to Farmeren.wikipedia.org

  USAID awards cooperative agreements to eight core implementing organizations, with programming planned across 37 core countries.

• 2014

  Program receives its commemorative statutory name

  [1]Farmer to Farmeren.wikipedia.org

  The Farm Bill designates the initiative as the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program.

• 1985

  Congress authorizes the worldwide Farmer-to-Farmer program

  [1]Farmer to Farmeren.wikipedia.org

  The program is initially authorized through the United States Farm Bill, with funding linked to Title V of Public Law 480.

A demand-driven, volunteer-led international agricultural development platform that transfers practical expertise while strengthening local organizations, food systems, livelihoods, and cross-cultural understanding.

• Technical assistance · 1985

  Core Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer assignments

  Short-term, locally requested assignments pair American farmers and agricultural specialists with overseas host organizations. Technical subjects can include production, livestock, horticulture, agribusiness, marketing, processing, organizational development, training, and environmental management. Implementing partners coordinate logistics, translation, and follow-up so that recommendations can be adapted by local institutions.

• Volunteer program development · 2018

  Agricultural Volunteer Opportunity Project

  AVOP is a complementary component intended to test new approaches to volunteer assistance. It draws on nontraditional volunteer sources, helps smaller or newer organizations build implementation capacity, and supports specialized assignments in particular countries or agricultural themes. Sub-awards operate as focused Farmer-to-Farmer programs with oversight, mentoring, training, and knowledge-management support.

• 2018

  Expansion through a multi-implementer program cycleStrategy

  Background

  USAID structured the 2018–2023 cycle to deliver agricultural volunteer assistance through multiple specialized organizations and overseas USAID missions.

  Action taken

  Eight organizations received cooperative agreements for core implementation, complemented by the Agricultural Volunteer Opportunity Project.

  Aftermath

  The model expanded the program’s country coverage, technical specialization, and ability to test nontraditional volunteer and implementing organizations.

  Source

• 2014

  Adoption of the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter designationStrategy

  Background

  The 2014 Farm Bill formally connected the program with John Ogonowski’s agricultural and immigrant-farmer work and Doug Bereuter’s role in sponsoring the initiative.

  Action taken

  The program was designated the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program.

  Aftermath

  The Farmer-to-Farmer name continued in common usage while the expanded statutory name recognized the program’s people-to-people and legislative history.

  Source

1. 1Farmer to Farmeren.wikipedia.org