I recently submitted a paper to my advisor at Colorado State University as part of an internship program I completed. Here is an excerpt I thought I'd share with you all:

 "Upon arriving in Ghana, I had prepared myself for the differences and similarities I would see between the agriculture practices I am familiar with back in the United States and the practices used in this West African country. However, I quickly found that no amount of studying can compare to a first-hand experience. It was humbling to realize how diverse agriculture is across the planet and how much I have yet to learn.

The first and most obvious difference I noticed was the climate, and therefore, the crops grown. A year-long growing season and high amounts of rainfall allow for crops such as cocoa, banana, plantain, mango, cocoyam, sugarcane, pineapple and cassava, all with which I am very unfamiliar. By physically seeing and touching these plants and speaking with the Ghanaians who produced them, I was able to learn things like: how to tell a banana tree from a plantain tree (they look very similar), how to propagate new cassava plants rather than plant them from seed, cocoa seeds must ferment before being dried and roasted, there is both an edible variety of cocoyam and an ornamental variety of cocoyam, fast-growing plantain trees are intercropped with cocoa seedlings to provide shade, and it takes a full year from planting a pineapple to the first harvest.

I also noticed how different the farming practices are in this country due to the low income levels of the farmers. Although I had expected this coming in, it was eye-opening to actually witness someone using a cutlass to slowly remove weeds on a large field or to see goats and chickens running free, literally everywhere, because fencing is too expensive or to watch a tro-tro (large van used for public transportation) drive by, filled to the top with cassava roots, because very few people have vehicles, much less a truck to transport produce. This made me realize that many of the “solutions” I had for the problems of African farmers were not solutions at all if they depended on a resource they could not easily obtain.

Finally, I have realized that despite language barriers and geographical differences, when you meet a person who is dedicated to their work in agriculture, that passion is universal. Farmers in Ghana care about their crops and livestock and worry about weather, pests, yields and the market, just like in the United States. Agriculture educators search for new, innovative information to pass on to their students, just like in the United States. Students studying agriculture at senior high schools or universities in Ghana have decided to spend their lives working in the industry that feeds the world, just like students in the United States.

 In conclusion, I would like to encourage any student, who is given the opportunity, to venture outside their familiar, comfort zone - experience, first-hand, a culture or practice different than your own. You will quickly notice the differences, and you will come to recognize the similarities. My guess is that you will walk away from the experience with a greater appreciation for your home and a greater understanding of the diversity of our world; I know I have."

Lyndee