Posted by Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin on January 12, 2012
I’ve known Daniel Ajpop Garcia since he was a small boy in Totonicapan Guatemala. So I am really looking forward to his arrival in Minnesota this weekend – as a new Rural Enterprise Center intern and student in the University of Minnesota’s MAST International program.
MAST stands for Minnesota Agricultural Student Trainee and its mission is to improve global understanding by providing educational and cultural enrichment through international exchange. Working with the Rural Enterprise Center in Northfield will be part of his three-month MAST experience.
Daniel graduated from the National Central School of Agriculture (ENCA) in 2008 (the same school that I attended in Guatemala, and is currently continuing his studies in agriculture business management at the Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, Zamorano.
At ENCA, he worked on crop production systems including vegetables, fruits, ornamental plants, extended season systems (greenhouses), cattle ranching, pig production, egg production and managed the student broiler production projects, and many other activities aimed at improving the productivity of small farms as well as building the capacity of families and communities to sustain and increase food security.
At Zamorano, Daniel continues to learn the science behind farm production critical to rural communities, but with a larger systems view – gaining experience in post-harvest processing, larger scale natural resources management, technologies such as GPS and GIS and the application of these tools to improving landscape-based ecological management for communities, and other approaches to the challenge of scaling up capacity to produce more food sustainably.
Daniel’s work with the Rural Enterprise Center will expand his understanding of the food and agriculture system in the United States. Part of his time will be focused on two specific pieces of our program’s systematic approach to addressing poverty:
Financing: Review and analyze the strategies followed by credible programs and organizations serving the financial needs of immigrant populations in other parts of the country – and compare those experiences to our financing strategies and opportunities.
Production: Review and refine our free range poultry production manual, with a focus on nutrient management, soil chemistry and manure management; identify research projects to complement the development of a larger and more permanent student-based production research internship program at the Rural Enterprise Center.
I’m hoping his time in Northfield will be a positive experience for him. I’m sure it will help the Rural Enterprise Center continue to make progress in some important areas. But to begin, it is good to catch up on what’s happening in my home country and with my old, young friend.
In case you haven’t heard, Rural Enterprise Center’s program director Reginaldo (Regi) Haslett-Marroquin’s home burned to the ground last Wednesday night, Nov. 23. Regi and his family, and their pets, are all fine — and for that we’re very grateful.
People in the Northfield community and beyond are pulling together to support the family in a variety of amazing ways. Read the Northfield News story here, with links to a new Facebook page, volunteer opportunities, info about a Dec. 16 benefit concert, and donation opportunities at Just Food Co-op and through First National Bank of Northfield. Friends have also set up an online donation site.
Keep a good thought this week for the family — and for the generous community that has surrounded them.
Posted by Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin on November 23, 2011
Thank you to the contributors to both our Main Street Project and the Rural Enterprise Center fundraisers at GiveMN.org. We are already putting your support to work. This morning, Bob Kell our Training Farm and Agripreneur Incubator manager was out in the field observing the start of the work towards the first two year-round free range poultry production units. These first units will allow us to launch the Agripreneur Incubator in the Spring of 2012. Two more production units are scheduled for construction in early spring for placement of recent graduates from the Agripreneur Training Program. Our fundraising campaign for this project continues through December 31st, your contributions will be put to work immediately.
Zenaida and Modesto want to grow corn and beans here, as they did in Mexico.
Jaime is looking into land where he could build a coop and raise chickens with other training participants.
Jose is eager to start working towards owning his own farm — he dreams that his children could experience growing up in the country like he did.
These are just a few of the visions being realized by some of the twenty-one participants in the first-ever Agripreneur Training Program of the Rural Enterprise Center, which just came to a close with a graduation ceremony last month. The training program began in May, and almost every participant stayed dedicated to the classes through the summer. The program included in-classroom farm business planning and some in-field experiential learning.
The classroom training was dynamic, as participants worked through all aspects of fundamental business planning: finances, human resources, marketing, communications, and operations. We learned and laughed through many role-playing experiences, reflected poignantly on personal values and how they play out in a business, and struggled (and triumphed!) through many new financial-management skills and building a chicken coop together!
At the end of the training, every participant completed an introductory business plan that will serve as an excellent baseline for the further opportunities for land and financing that we hope to be able to connect them to as their agripreneurial plans develop.
When asked how she thought the training would assist her in the future, one trainee responded, “What won’t help me? Everything I learned is going to help me! This training is something that will help a small family business grow.” Another participant commented that she is glad that the training will help her “get ahead and not fall into problems.”
We have learned as much (if not more!) from this training as the participants, and the coming months will include immense evaluation of our training curriculum and process, to include all the great feedback gleaned from participants. We’ll also be giving ongoing support to participants, to help them continue to develop their business plans and connect with all necessary resources.
Stay tuned for much more information in the coming months — there will be many opportunities to support the exciting plans of this first class of training participants!
The Rural Enterprise Center is a program of Main Street Project that focuses on enterprise development. Our mission is to strengthen communities by bringing together the support infrastructure, systems, resources and programs that rural entrepreneurs need to succeed. More...
I’ve known Daniel Ajpop Garcia since he was a small boy in Totonicapan Guatemala. So I am really looking forward to his arrival in Minnesota this weekend – as a new Rural Enterprise Center intern and student in the University of Minnesota’s MAST International program.
continuing his studies in agriculture business management at the Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, Zamorano.
