Welcome Home 2016-2017 Fellows

On June 26, we welcomed home our third class of AgriCorps Fellows from Ghana and Liberia. As a team, they trained 90 teachers in experiential education, taught 800 students agriculture and integrated sciences and built the capacity of 700 4-H and FFA members.

Chairman Conaway Mentions AgriCorps

In May 2016, Representative Mike Conaway, Chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, traveled to Ghana and visited two 4-H Ghana schools and AgriCorps sites. Chairman Conaway recently spoke about AgriCorps at a hearing on foreign assistance and agricultural development. To hear the Chairman’s comments, click the video below.

National LEAD Contest Held in Ghana

4-H Ghana hosted the first-ever National Leadership, Education, Agriculture and Development (LEAD) contest in Koforidua, Ghana. The contest brought in more than 300 students from all over the country who competed in parliamentary procedure, Agriculture Creed (adapted from the FFA Creed) and debate. AgriCorps and 4-H Ghana will continue to develop the LEAD contest as a way to train and promote the next generation of leaders in Ghana.

Liberian Students Host Extension Workshop for Local Farmers

Students in the National Diploma in Agriculture program at Booker Washington Institute in Liberia took their knowledge outside the classroom and hosted an extension workshop for local farmers. The students used experiential teaching methods learned from Fellows Anna and Nathan Glenn. Read more about the workshop on Anna’s blog.

AgriCorps Partners with Elanco

AgriCorps has established a relationship with Elanco Animal Health to better support the shared goal of feeding a growing world. Newly hired Elanco employees can apply to serve as an AgriCorps Fellow and return to full employment with Elanco at the end of the fellowship. New Fellow and Elanco employee, Carries Stephens, will serve in Ghana with the 2017-18 class.

Returned Fellow Spotlight: Kelsey Barnes

Kelsey Barnes served as an AgriCorps Fellow (ACF) from 2015-2016 at Gbulahagu Junior High School in the Northern Region of Ghana. She is a agricultural sciences graduate of Mississippi State University. You can read more about her experience on her blog.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being an ACF?

For me it’s seeing the change in behavior with your students and farmers trying new things. It’s rewarding when people in your village come to you with questions on how they can make their farm better.

How did your experience with AgriCorps shape your perspective on global food security?

AgriCorps gave me an opportunity to personally learn and experience food security issues and the difficulty of assisting with those issues.

What would you say to somebody who is thinking about applying for AgriCorps?

AgriCorps is one of the most efficient and effective agriculture organizations that doesn’t use money, but rather education, to empower other people in agriculture.

What have you been up to since returning from Ghana?

I’m getting a masters in International Agriculture Development at Texas A&M University. I have studied abroad in Coast Rica, worked on an agriculture project in Haiti, and I’m currently an intern for the U.S. Senate Ag Committee in Washington, D.C.