We are excited to welcome Hunter Adkins to the Field of Hope family as our newest fellow! With a strong foundation in faith and a passion for agriculture, Hunter is eager to contribute to our mission of empowering communities through agricultural education and leadership development.

Hunter’s introduction to Field of Hope came through one of his mentors and our 2023 Fellow, Rebekah McCarty, who recognized the alignment between his values and our organization’s mission. Rebekah’s enthusiastic recommendation two years ago sparked Hunter’s interest, and now, as a new member of the Field of Hope community, he is eager to deepen his relationships and make a meaningful impact.

Hunter said his decision to apply for the fellowship was driven by his desire for personal and professional growth. Field of Hope’s faith-based approach and commitment to serving others through agriculture resonated deeply with him.

He said, “FOH’s values align with my own; from being faith based to wanting to serve others through the lens of Agriculture. I am ecstatic to be working within the Youth Agriculture Education and Leadership Development pillars. I can not wait to work alongside the Ugandan teams to help advance Ugandan agriculture and agriculture education. ”

Hunter’s journey to Uganda begins on July 8th, with his arrival in the country set for July 10th. He will be living in Lira and working with Field of Hope until September 23rd. During this time, Hunter is most excited about visiting schools and building strong, personalized connections with the youth of Uganda. He is passionate about teaching them more about agriculture and sharing his faith, hoping that this experience will foster mutual growth and learning.

At Field of Hope, we are delighted to have Hunter join us on this journey. His commitment to our mission and his eagerness to learn and serve inspire us all. Stay tuned for updates on Hunter’s adventures and experiences in Uganda—his journey promises to be filled with growth, discovery, and impactful connections.

What is it? 

Harvest Money Expo Conference is Uganda’s biggest agriculture and agribusiness annual exhibition event that always takes place at Kololo Independence Ground in Kampala. The event is organized annually by Vision Group in partnership with Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF). The Expo started in 2017 following a successful selection of the 10 best farmers in Uganda that allowed them to travel to the Netherlands for farming exposure. The event brings together model and smallholder farmers, non-governmental organizations, agricultural government agencies, financial institutions, and agricultural private sector actors like agro-input companies, mechanization, and farm equipment dealers, agro-processors among others. The Expo takes three days and different exhibitors showcase their innovations, technologies, and new products to farmers, students, agricultural extension workers, and aspiring entrepreneurs to take farming as a business. During the event, several training sessions such as urban farming, piggery, goat rearing, dairy, poultry production, and vegetable production are always conducted by experts to equip participants with practical knowledge and skills related to agriculture.

Why do we go?

Field of Hope and Harvest Money Expo share the goal of improving farmers’ livelihoods through access to financial services, technology, and knowledge. Therefore, the Harvest Money Expo Conference provides a unique learning opportunity, creating a network and collaboration with actors in the agriculture value chains, and sharing knowledge, skills, and experiences on best practices to empower the smallholder farmers, youth, and students that Field of Hope works with. The Expo also provides a path where the Field of Staff working with schools learn about new agricultural technologies, and techniques, such as urban farming and school gardening that can be shared with partner teachers.

What did you learn? 

Harvest Money Expo presented many learning opportunities for Field of Hope staff. “During the three days at Harvest Money Expo, I was able to learn and improve my knowledge and skills on farming as a business through diversification of enterprises, value addition, marketing strategies, and risk assessment and mitigation. Exhibitors and experts demonstrated innovation and skills in a modern intensive system of growing crops and rearing animals that are climate change resilient. With this wealth of knowledge and skills gained, I hope to be in a better position to build resilience among the smallholder women farmers and youth that Field of Hope supports” Joseph Apea – Program Associate

“As a person who heads the Youth Agriculture Education program, the Harvest Money Expo allowed me to acquire knowledge and skills that will improve my service delivery to the teacher, the students, and the farmers. I have acquired knowledge and skills in aquaculture, poultry, goats’ management, and vegetable production. All those skills will help me in giving technical advice and monitoring the Inspiring Students in Agriculture Grants and training of farmers. I have also created connections with different companies and other private sectors that will provide genuine agricultural inputs to both partner schools and farmers” David Obong, Program Associate

What can we use for Field of Hope this year with what you both learned? 

• Implementation of Leyi Naa Piggery Project. With piggery training sessions and a training manual from National Animal Genetic Resources Center & Data Bank during Harvest Money Expo, Field of Hope will effectively and efficiently implement the said project.
• There are opportunities for partnership with other organizations working or supporting similar activities like Field of Hope.
• Inspiring Student in Agriculture Grant (ISAG). Through network and collaboration, we created value chain actors like Uzima Chicken, and Grain Pulse among others, implementation of ISAG projects in different schools will be easy as these actors will provide necessary services like good breeds of chicken, feeds, seeds, and other inputs.

By: Joseph Apea & David Obong

Welcome to the Field of Hope family, Chris Hafner! Chris, the son of Field of Hope’s co-founders Mike and Cathy Hafner, brings a wealth of passion, insight, and dedication to our organization as he joins us as a board member.

Chris’s journey with Field of Hope began long before his official appointment to the board. Having admired our mission and the impact we’ve made in Uganda for over a decade, Chris’s admiration grew exponentially after he had the opportunity to travel to Uganda with one of our founders, a former board member, and a Fellow. During this trip, Chris had the chance to meet and get to know our Ugandan staff, gaining firsthand insight into the universal significance of agriculture among Ugandans and its pivotal role in improving lives across the country.

Impressed by our long-term approach to building knowledge and expertise within Uganda, Chris was particularly drawn to our commitment to improving food security and economic opportunities for smallholder farmers. Witnessing the dedication and impact of our Fellow program and the response of Ugandan farmers to Field of Hope’s initiatives solidified Chris’s desire to become actively involved in supporting our efforts.

As Chris embarks on his journey as a board member, he said he is most excited about the opportunity to learn and grow alongside our organization. Chris brings invaluable expertise in business and talent development, which he hopes to leverage to contribute fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to our operations. He is eager to immerse himself in understanding how our organization operates and to explore new avenues for organizational growth and effectiveness.

With a focus on being inquisitive and open to learning from his fellow board members and our dedicated team, Chris is poised to make a significant impact in shaping the future of Field of Hope. We are honored to welcome Chris to our board and look forward to the invaluable contributions he will bring to our mission of creating sustainable change and improving lives in Uganda.

We are thrilled to announce the newest addition to our Field of Hope family: Sarah McCord! Sarah has been an integral part of our  organization since her fellowship with us, and we are delighted to welcome her aboard as a junior board member.

Sarah has been diligently working towards completing her Master of Science in Agriculture at Missouri State University while also juggling part-time work at a bank and serving as a graduate assistant for the university. Her dedication to her studies and her passion for making a difference in the world are truly admirable.

Currently, Sarah is in the final stages of collecting research for her thesis and is set to graduate with her degree in May. Following her graduation, she will embark on an exciting 10-day trip to Germany with MSU, an opportunity she is eagerly looking forward to.

Despite her busy schedule, Sarah expressed her eagerness to join the Field of Hope board to provide youthful opinions and stay actively involved in supporting our organization. She believes that Field of Hope brings immense joy, light, knowledge, and learning to her life and others, and she knew she wanted to continue her involvement since the day she flew home from her fellowship.

One of Sarah’s greatest aspirations is to show other fellows and friends that they can stay connected to Field of Hope in a variety of ways. She is incredibly honored to share her voice and experiences with the board and is determined to contribute wholeheartedly to our mission.

We are beyond grateful for Sarah’s dedication and enthusiasm, and we are thrilled to have her leadership, insights, and faithful commitment on our board. Welcome back to Field of Hope, Sarah! We are grateful to have you with us on this journey, and we look forward to the positive impact we will make together.

I always have a little chuckle when I find myself in places I would have never imagined going. coming from the girl who never got on an airplane till I was 20 years old, and it was to Kenya, Africa. Life begins at the end of our comfort zone!

This trip to Uganda, was to help me gain experience in International Agriculture to help pursue a career in the industry. Although, 10 days before I left, I was hired as the Texas Organic Program Coordinator. I was still determined to go to Uganda. As I wandered myself to Uganda, I really had no idea what to expect other than we were going to be hosting Agriculture teacher training.

I wouldn’t say my job was on the front lines, but maybe more behind the scenes. A little hint from the Lord to let me see the bigger picture. I was behind the face of the camera. Trying to slow time down in a glimpse of a memory. Being behind the camera in Uganda, I witnessed my favorite people dancing and singing to the beat of the music. I was able to catch the love on their faces when they received new material for teaching their children. Capturing the hard work and determination to make sure their students were able to receive all the opportunities they could give them.

My time with Field of Hope at the teacher training was sweet. I met so many sweet faces sitting behind the camera. I loved being able to meet with the teachers on a real note and see their real-life stories. To hear their highs and lows of being a teacher in Uganda.

Traveling to new places can broaden our perspective and help us learn about different cultures and ways of life. It’s amazing how much we can learn from exploring new parts of the world. And even if we don’t travel far from home, trying new things and challenging ourselves can also be a great way to grow and learn.

Hi; I am Emmanuel Opio, a teacher and Head of Department for Agriculture at St Gracious secondary school Lira. In today’s era, practical learning is absolutely necessary, especially in the vocational and pre-vocational subjects which includes agriculture. In my homeland, Uganda,
agriculture rings the loudest bell, being the back bone of the economy, due to its ability to employ over 80% of the citizens and uphold food security. So, it is in the best interest of many schools to have many agricultural projects that support hands on learning. This may present shortcomings in different ways but most commonly, finances. The good news is that some schools including St. Gracious secondary school were able to get a lift financially and that is what I would like to share with you today. At “SAGRASS” we now have a fully running poultry project where our learners freely interact with and are able to see and touch everything they learn about poultry and this was made possible by the grant given by Inspiring Students of Agriculture Grant (ISAG) under Field of Hope. The ISAG grant was to the tune of 1000 US dollars from which we were able to buy the stock, feeds, equipment, medicines and vaccines. I got to know about Field of Hope through a social media forum after which I applied for teacher training program. During the training, we were guided on how we could apply for the Field of Hope ISAG grant.

That was in the year 2023. We wrote our project proposal which was approved after scrutiny by Field of Hope staff . We later wrote a business plan, submitted and were approved by Field of Hope followed by a feasibility visit (assessment of the school readiness to host the project) by their staff. This was followed by signing of the memorandum of Understanding between school and Field of Hope. The grant was released into the school account. At St. Gracious secondary school, we started rearing 254 chickens from chick stage that provided a comprehensive learning experience for our students. The breed we keep is a mixed, dual-purpose. We are having a steady progress with a few challenges which are learning areas for the students.

We hope to have a 20% increase in the number of birds by the next stocking. The success of the Field of hope project funded by ISAG at our school is basically attributed to the strict observation of rules by the students in the management areas of feeding, parasite and
disease control, biosecurity and general housing conditions. The project has changed a lot if things already, from making learning easy and real to igniting interest of students and even teachers to practically take up poultry farming. All poultry related lessons are all being conducted from within the premises of the poultry house. The project has enhanced hands on experience and has encouraged practical learning.

The students are self-motivated in doing the project work and surprisingly we have already witnessed a rise in the number of students leaving other optional subject for Agriculture. It has stimulated some students to start their own at home which has greatly impacted the community like on one occasion the deputy of the school requested for the breeders contact and ordered his stock immediately, since he already had the structure.

On behalf of St. Gracious secondary school I would like to acknowledge the support of Field of Hope ISAG grant and confirm that it is really helpful to the learners, staff and the community out there and for the first time I feel like a great teacher. You are really doing a big job in the move to ensure sustainable agriculture for a stable global food security.

BRAVO, Field of Hope! BRAVO, ISAG.

Angela Hurst is one of our 2023 fellows. Currently in her master’s program at Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater Oklahoma, Angela is studying International Agriculture. She is currently on-the-ground in Lira, and staying at the program office-house.

Angela decided to apply for a fellowship after learning about FOH’s mission. She said, “I knew that I wanted to try and be apart of that mission.  I came into this degree not truly knowing what I wanted as a career, but knew I was being called to use my background in animal science as a tool for the development or improvement of food and nutrition security in developing nations.” Her background in animal science is incredibly helpful this summer, specifically to the expansion of our smallholder farmer advancement pillar where we are implementing animal projects.

Ms. Hurst is giving her expertise in animal sciences, but also hopes to learn from Uganda. She said, “I love learning about new people and cultures and look forward to experiencing this within Uganda.  I am just so excited to get to work with people and serve them in a way that will help them.”

Angela intends to bring what she learns, in every way, back home. She explained, “my family loves when I share what I have learned in school and I can’t wait to be able to share this with them.  I believe that if people are open to learning new cultures and ways of life, we can get closer to a united form of the world.” She also specifically wants to share a specific piece of Uganda with her mom–fabric! Angela said, “My mom also likes to sew and I can’t wait to bring home some fabric that will not only remind me of my time with FOH, but also be a great conversation starter when I wear it around good ol’ Oklahoma.”

We cannot wait to see all that Angela does this summer, and how this experience impacts her. Best of luck, Angela!

My name is Solomon Okello, a student of Makerere University serving with Field of Hope as an intern. I have passively spent almost two years with Field of Hope, since 2020, but actively spent a month with this amazing organization.

Field of Hope has three interesting pillars which include youth agricultural education, smallholder farmer advancement, and leadership development. The intersecting feature common to all these pillars is vision of capacity building, and I have had opportunity to interface with all of them.

The most interesting fact about Field of Hope is their unquenchable thirst and zeal to build capacities of members of the rural communities to step out and move above the poverty line below which most of them are currently living.  After intervention by Field of Hope, members are being nutritionally food secured and financially stable and sound, developing students’ passions towards agriculture and its related disciplines as well as training the future global leaders responsive to future global demands.

Talking about smallholder farmer advancement pillar! During the little time I spent with Field of Hope, my superiors and I happened to run farmer group trainings in close to seven different farmer groups on different fields such as financial literacy, animal production and management, vegetable production and cassava production but the unifying response that participants in these different groups showed was the urge and willingness to learn new agricultural practices and technologies and this deeply communicated to me how much Field of Hope and its investment into SHFA is needed by rural communities. While at the training grounds, you see these groups of women coming through for the sessions and all you can empathetically imagine is going on in their minds are the questions of “how am I going to carry today’s family burdens?” but it’s interesting to see the activeness and the passion they portray in their faces full of smiles to learn new technologies.

Coming from a family that undertakes small scale farming, I told myself while still in my first year at campus that “you left home to make it better”. This statement meant studying agriculture and being in position to use the knowledge acquired to positively make better the status of not only my own home but also homes that have the same or similar status which are the small-scale farming families which constitute the highest proportion of the farming communities in Uganda. So, with the different farmers’ trainings that I actively participated in across Lango sub-region, I joyfully feel like it’s a “dream come true” knowing that I have delivered the information and that participants have taken it for their consumption and therefore the betterment of their respective homes and people around them. However, the dream became even much more pronounced and stronger in my mind when one of the female participants called and requested me after the animal production training that “my son, please come back and help us again and again” and her request speaks to the world on how much the agricultural knowledge extension to the rural communities is needed.

But wait, I can’t fail to talk about Field of Hope team! There is a way that God has set Field of Hope unique in all aspects! You know, every time you journey into a new environment there is always that one question of “how will my first 2, 3 or 4 days look like?” and so from the time I left campus till I reached Lira this question never skipped my mind. Stepping into the office premise, the games in my mind changed on seeing the environment that different amazing personalities within the team created in the office and it immediately painted an image of colleagueship rather than student-boss relationship in my mind. This image made it extremely easy for me to fit within the team. The fear of God and borderless love in these people made it much simpler for me to fulfill my internship objectives and I deeply pray that the team continues with the same spirit to help thousands of internees who will come through over the time to fulfill the respective objectives and become professionals who are responsive to their societal and global needs.

Field of Hope team is completely full of people who are “down to earth”, knowledgeable yet having endless passions to learn new things to deliver to the communities they serve. Hard work and team spirit within these people is one of the key lessons I learnt and amidst this hard work, spicy stories would never miss but what leaves a permanent “water mark” in my mind is the fact that every story cracked whether in office or along the way to the field would be seasoned with a Biblical scripture which tells a lot how much prayer as one of the core values of the organization is observed.

Finally, I extend my deep heart-felt appreciation to the general management of Field of Hope for granting me the opportunity to serve in the organization and for the subsequent supports of all kinds offered to me. At individual level, I extend my appreciations to Alexa Major the Executive Director, Olivia the Program Manager, Walter Okullu the Country Coordinator, Agnes Obote the General Coordinator, through whose decisions I was granted the opportunity and supports. I also extend my appreciations to Nicholas, Program Officer, Joseph, Program Associate and David, Program Volunteer through whose knowledge and guidance I successfully accomplished my objectives. Great thanks to the two fellows from US, Rebekah McCarty and Oluwabukola Makinde for the excellent company and valuable pieces of advice that never left me the same and for being great inspiration to me. In one of the conversations with her, Bukky told me that “your opportunities are as many as the networks you create” an advice which changed the way I used to look at things around me.

Now, it is my deepest prayer that God richly expand the territory of Field of Hope so that it can be in position to accomplish its mission and individually bless both US and Ugandan team.

By: Solomon Okello, Intern 2022