Riva Brown
By: Kyra Waller
UCA Office of Media Relations
University of Central Arkansas Associate Professor and Global Learning Specialist Riva Brown has received the Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Volunteer of the Year Award.
Brown was nominated for the award by Winrock International for her work in Senegal in July conducting comprehensive digital marketing training for the members of the economic interest group (EIG) Kawral Rewbe Gourel Hadji, a women’s organization dedicated to producing organic moringa and hibiscus.
The Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to provide technical assistance from U.S. volunteers to farmers, farm groups, agribusinesses and other agriculture sector institutions in developing and transitional countries to promote sustainable improvements in food security, agricultural processing, production and marketing. F2F was initially authorized by Congress in the 1985 Farm Bill. The program was designated as the “John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program” of one of the pilots killed Sept. 11, 2001, and of former Congressman Bereuter, who initially sponsored the program.
“I was very surprised because it was my first time as a Winrock volunteer, and I did not know there was an award. Preparing for and during the volunteer experience, I was laser-focused on doing a good job because I wanted to make sure that I represented America and Arkansas well,” said Brown.
Brown’s volunteer work included a five-day workshop focused on website creation, social media optimization and digital marketing.
Kawral Reewbé President Youma Sow said, “The most important aspect of this training is not what we learned or digital media but participatory methods used by volunteers to make these soft skills understandable for a group of ladies with prior schooling and no computer skills. The volunteer used feedback from participants to develop a website, select pictures, design pages and create an online ordering platform. She developed all the materials that we can access from our smartphones with low connectivity. These tools will be easy to use and share with our stakeholders who will see what we are doing on our farm. We thank Diewo Mary [Brown’s local name] for all aspects of this interesting training.”
ABOUT WINROCK INTERNATIONAL
Winrock International is a recognized leader in U.S. and international development with a focus on social, agricultural and environmental issues. Inspired by its namesake, Winthrop Rockefeller, Winrock combines scientific and technical expertise with entrepreneurial innovation to deliver market-based solutions that improve lives around the world. Winrock’s mission is to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources across the globe. F2F is implemented in Guinea, Senegal, and Sierra Leone by Winrock.
