Supporting Farmers in Senegal and Learning Lessons for Virginia

By Lydia Fitzgerald, Virginia Tech and Natural Resources Conservation Service Partnership Soil Health and Integrated Conservation Agronomist, Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences 

Working with farmers to build their soil, boost economic sustainability, and increase agronomic productivity has always been my passion. That is why I was thrilled to have the opportunity to travel to Senegal with Ozzie Abaye, a professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, during the summer of 2023 to work in partnership with Counterpart International on the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program. 

In my current role as the first Virginia Tech and Natural Resources Conservation Service Partnership Soil Health and Integrated Conservation Agronomist, I am fortunate to partner with and work alongside farmers, NRCS staff, VCE agents, the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, and many other organizations to promote soil health and integrated conservation agronomy. Last year, we hosted a train-the-trainer Dig and Demo Program. I took the concepts, demonstrations, and teaching style from the Dig and Demo course and adapted them to train facilitators in Senegal who then trained local farmers. 

It was incredible to work with the Senegalese farmers and hear about their experiences in implementing conservation practices. It was eye opening to see how even in a drastically different climate, cropping system, and culture soil health principles still held true. While the practices were different from what I was used to, the principles stayed the same. It is impossible to describe the inspiration that comes from seeing a farmer have an “ah-hah” moment when they connect their real-life experiences to the soil health principles and science behind them. 

One workshop activity was a soil show and tell session. Each farmer brought a handful of soil and told the story behind it. They shared how they had seen their soils and crop yields change over time as they adopted practices that kept the soil covered, minimized disturbance, maximized living roots, and energized diversity. This was one of the most impactful activities, which reinforced one guiding principle that I have learned — relationships are powerful! It is not always what you know but who you know and trust. 

For me, a pivotal moment occurred when reflecting on the workshops. Abaye shared her perspective, based on more than 30 years of agricultural development work, stating that we tend to focus on empowering our audience, which is a good thing. However, we must listen to our audience to ensure that we are aware of their capacity to utilize the additional knowledge and skills that we equip them with. This applies to work done in Senegal and in Virginia. We must promote understanding to empower farmers, but we must also ensure we are working alongside producers to help, not hinder.  

My experience in Senegal working with Counterpart International and Abaye reinforced many key principles and introduced a fresh perspective on educating and providing Extension programming.  

You must listen to understand, so that you can engage with people in their own context.  

You must understand the local context to create and nurture relationships.  

You must establish trusting relationships to cultivate impactful education and Extension programming.