Two faculty members from UW-Stout ventured last month to the Central American country of Nicaragua. It's called the Americas Farmer to Farmer Program, and it's designed to provide technical assistance to farmers and agribusinesses in developing countries.

Biology faculty member Arthur Kneeland was in Nicaragua for two weeks in January. He shared his expertise in entomology with local farmers in the country in an effort to build safer practices using insecticides.

"From an entomology standpoint, going to Nicaragua is amazing. The biodiversity of insects down there is absolutely stunning," says Kneeland.

But some of those insects can plague farmers there. An insect known as the zebra chip has been wreaking havoc with the potato crop. Farmers depend heavily on insecticides but they have a lack of training along with being unable to read the label.

"so you'll see people using insecticides with no protection what so ever, and these can be very dangerous chemicals," explains Kneeland.

This not only puts the farmers and their families at risk, but it also leads to contamination in the food supply. He says "if you aren't careful and apply the chemicals in the proper way, the insects will form a resistance very quickly, especially, in a place where there's four growing seasons and so they can potentially be applying them year long."

Nicaragua passed a law that requires farmers to get a good agricultural practices certification. The group that went down there educated local extension agents who work with farmers throughout the country.

"It's coming from a Nicaraguan to a Nicaraguan, the transmission is much better."

Getting the certification can be tough for many farmers who are poor but Kneeland says they are on the right path. The country hopes adopting these good practices will support their internal economy by reducing imports and increasing exports. "To see this small scale agriculture and how they can make it sustainable is really fantastic,” says Kneeland. He says it's always an adventure going down to Nicaragua. For him it's a growing experience helping these farmers that work with a land and climate very different from back home.