Technical Trainings and Projects

It’s official—the class of 2022 PCTG agriculture volunteers are fully trained (as of the end of March)! In classic Peace Corps style, our In-Service Training (IST) involved a mix of classroom and field-based learning from 8 AM to 5 or 6 PM each day, Monday through Friday, with a couple of Saturdays thrown in for good measure. I absolutely feel more prepared to serve, having been trained in advanced gardening techniques, tree nurseries and planting, soil amendment production, value addition, beekeeping, and small-scale poultry. However, one of the more positive outcomes has been how much this has made me want to get back to site—certainly, not something I thought would happen after having showers, air conditioning, and tasty foods for the month of March. Fingers crossed that that means I’m PCV material!

The fully trained Ag cohort alongside our counterparts.

A simple biochar maker with some finished product (right).

Many of the individual trainings offered fascinating and important information for successful service. I am particularly interested in biochar, a soil amendment that can be produced from leftover organic matter (e.g. millet stalks) using pyrolysis and that, when added to soils, helps retain water and nutrients, lasting for some hundred years. Alongside composting and other organic fertilizing methods, it can massively contribute to crop yields over its lifetime and would be a centerpiece to a slew of soil restoration initiatives I would be excited about introducing to the community. If you yourself are interested, you can find more information here.

After the first week, we had host-country counterparts come to the training center for 3 separate workshops: gardening and agroforestry, beekeeping and small-scale poultry, and project design and management (PDM). The first training offered some small benefits to my counterpart, but it was during the second workshop that his eyes lit up. We now have plans to help my community set up an apiary, consolidating the currently existing bee-boxes/hives into one area, and expand its operations with Kenyan top-bar hives. We also hope to begin a chicken enclosure and coop at my host family compound and use it as a training ground for any interested members of the community to imitate the project. Expect more on both of these ideas!

Meanwhile, it was highly illustrative to go through the PDM workshop toward the end of IST. Although I have worked on large(ish)-scale and long(ish)-term projects before (my Eagle Project and senior thesis come to mind), having a training on specific steps and considerations for running a successful project jumpstarted our thinking on what will be my most significant project: replacing both community garden fences. We touched on all aspects of the project, with particular foci on the sustainability of the project after close of service, community representation and participation in the process, and proper monitoring and evaluation. While the immensity of all the necessary considerations are daunting, I feel far more excited and confident with this framework in mind.

A cow looks to exploit a vulnerability in one of the community garden fences.

To write it out more clearly, here are most of my project ideas at the moment (please let me know if you have thoughts on any or all!):

Replacing the community garden fences
Running a best-practices garden in my family compound + hosting associated trainings (particularly relating to soil amendments)
Starting and maintaining a small-scale poultry project in my family compound + hosting associated trainings
Starting and maintaining a small-scale orchard on the backside of my family compound + hosting associated trainings
Optimizing and expanding community beekeeping operations + hosting associated trainings
Planting trees at the schools and health center
Encouraging agroforestry on farmlands + hosting associated trainings

Please follow along for forthcoming updates!