Progress 08/15/04 to 08/14/08

Outputs
This project addressed national needs of higher education to make curricular changes in undergrad programs that provide field-based research intern-/extern-ships to ensure broad exposure to international learning. Poverty has no discipline boundaries. It belongs to no single discipline. We engaged faculty/students from many disciplines. As a result, faculty, students, Malian agricultural scientists together grappled with critics of foreign aid, dismal economic reports from Africa (Calderisi, Easterly, Ayittey, Sachs), ideas for improvement (Yunus, Mortenson, Chambers et al., Savory and Butterfield), ways to appreciate what is (Norberg-Hodge). Existing courses changed. New courses arose, some became all-university core courses. Courses came initially from Departments of Modern Languages, Plant Sciences / Plant Path, Communications, Agricultural Education, Business, Engineering, Entomology. Approaches, goals, methods of these courses developed by grant partners at 5 institutions were similar: 1) Explore causes/solutions to rural poverty holistically by discovering interconnections of health, agriculture, governance; 2) Gain skills appropriate to one's academic major to provide leadership in alleviating poverty worldwide. Faculty shared syllabi. Students connected on Skype/video conferencing with each other, with Malian mentors. Faculty met 50 wks/yr (and continue to meet) in a virtual conference room for 1 hr to discuss, plan, share skills in exploring causes/solutions to rural poverty holistically. Parallel courses arose at Montana State, University of St. Thomas (UST), Virginia Tech (VTech), and at our newest partner, University of California-Riverside. Courses arose from year-long cultural preparation/scientific method courses preparing externs for work in Mali. New courses included mainly students who have or will work in material resource poor communities, not necessarily in Mali. Thus, this curriculum change is sustainable, not dependent on USDA or external funding. At Montana State, this poverty course for seniors/juniors was horizontally/vertically integrated into the curriculum. Graduate students, other post-bac students choose the course along with undergrads majoring in engineering, horticulture, political science, French, marketing, neurophysiology. Two other poverty courses are now offered for sophomores/juniors. These concepts are also introduced in freshman-level University Core courses. At UST, this poverty course includes graduate, MBA, students (Project Management) as well as undergraduates in engineering, French Language, and Sociology. A novel teaching style resulted: Action Research. Students connect weekly with Malian mentors to solve real, current, village-based problems during the semester. As a result, UST devoted one of 10 senior design teams to 'peace engineering.' that specifically addresses appropriate technology issues in underserved populations. Students take on technology transfer challenges in material resource poor communities, e.g., Malian villages. An estimated 9,450 faculty hrs (59.4 months, 4.9 yrs) were cost-share contributions during the grant by Montana State, UST, Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC), VTech. PRODUCTS: A fundamental product was interdisciplinary, multi-institutional, vertically integrated, highly engaged, new faculty focused on subsistence farmer-to-farmer communication. Faculty reached out of disciplines/institutions to challenge undergrad students, mainly non-ag, to consider agricultural issues, grapple with contemporary problems, e.g., hunger/disease in Africa. US faculty gathered were: Montana State, Entom (Dunkel), Plant Sci/Plant Path (Weeden, Jacobsen, Sands), French (Giusti), Civil Eng (Jones), Adult/Tech Ed (Frick), Land Resources/Environ Sci (Montagne), Vet/Molecular Biol (White); UST Comm (Sauter), Computer Sci (Misra), French (Shams), Schools of Eng (George, Abrahamson, Bennett)/Business (Saly, Owens); at CDKC, Science (Madsen), Native Amer Studies (Spang), consulting faculty in Soc (Ward, Solomon), Adult Ed (McCartney), Entom (Ntoukam), Food Sci (Kante); VTech, Entom (Toxicology [Mullins], Bee Biol [Fell], Medical Entom [Adelman]), Plant Path, Physiol, Weed Sci (Westwood). Private sector companies provided mentoring: Visual Storytellers, Roseville, MN. (Bartholomew), Compatible Technology International, Inc.St. Paul MN (Sentz, Clarke), Shea YeLeen NY/Washington (Wright), 3-M Minneapolis MN (Walker). Faculty exchanged training with 8 Malian mentors providing ground-work in Malian language, rural societies, other Mallian cultural aspects. With parallel grants (USAID/HED grant to F. Dunkel, Montana State), 7 mentors [Food Sci/Adult Ed (Kante), hydraulic engineering (Ba), Plant Path (Thera, Camara), tissue culture (Adama), plant breeding (Coulibaly), small enterprise (Tamboura)] remained in US 2 of 4 grant yrs. The other grant yrs they worked in Mali with US faculty/students, continuing sustainably in follow-on projects. The Malian mentor team was a second major product. Mali Agribusiness Network, an entrepreneurial incubator, sustains curriculum changes in 4 original US universities/tribal college, now 3 more US universities. Essential to action research was Malian mentor training / training they did with our undergrad students (prize-winning dvd, Junior Mentors Synergize Partnerships [Grue, Dunkel 2005] www.montana.edu/mali). Malian mentors focused on the village, became a layer of connection, cultural translation, permanent African home for ideas evolving from inquiry. Malian mentors were mid-career professors/scientists in national agricultural university (IPR/IFRA)/research (IER) organizations, Peace Corps-Mali (ag/nat resources) trainers. Products of undergraduates collaborating with US/Malian mentors/farmers include: sustainable, local material, evaporative cooler prototype for perishable fruit/vegetablestorage; village-level shea quality analysis kit; village-based integrated malaria management; HP-TLC for neem analysis in Mali Natl Environ. Toxicol Lab; improved shea hand mixer; journal manuscripts on preferred farmer communication paths (Dunkel et al. in review) and village-produced herbicide from potash (Martin et al. 2008); laminated posters to teach/learn in Bambara, English, French, low literacy long-term cowpea storage IPM, important Mali children's protein; videos by/for Malian women farmers producing shea. OUTCOMES: Total U.S. audience impacted by course/community presentations, celebrations, resulting from grant was 14,111 persons. Main audiences were MT, MN, VA. Presentations given in 10 other states MA to CA, in Durban South Africa, in Mali for Peace Corps trainees. (See Appendix). Community celebrations became annual events: Mali Night-MT; Mali Night-MN; CDKC Ramadan feast (See Appendix).MT, an ag state with no Malians, gained venue to learn about Malians. MN with permanent Malian community now has venue to connect university / urban community. CDKC gained 1st overseas study option. Website www.montana.edu/mali developed extensive photo/report sources, 5 project videos, 80 viewing minutes. Grant funded 50 students: 41 jrs/srs; 2 grads; 7-2nd year CDKC students in 12 mo research projects mentored by US faculty/Malian scientists listening to farmers/facilitating information transfer between farmers. Fourteen students became grads/other post-bacs, 4 completed M.S. degrees (see Appendix). Thirty-six percent of student externs chose agriculture/life sciences-related grad programs. Former MT extern A. Williams returned to Mali as grad student continuing research. Former Montana State externs: completed Peace Corps (PC) interview (C. Smith); served in PC-Mali (B. Stull). Former MT intern completed PC-Mali Ag/Nat Res assignment (M. Hulbert). Former VTech extern is Office Mgr, US House of Rep, Agric Comm. Former MT extern became consultant for CDKC component. Of 10 CDKC externs, 7 completed assoc degree and began at university. One received B.S. degree. Working relationships developed in Mali: natl ag research inst (IER) IPM team [Dembele, Gamby, Traore, Thera, Camara, Diarra], Food Sci [Kante]); Central Vet Lab, Environ Tox Lab (Traore, Dem); natl ag university (IPR/IFRA), Ag / Hydraulic Eng (Ba), Small Enterprise (Tamboura), Tissue Culture Lab (Berthe); Natl Eng Inst (ENI)(Kante, Coulibaly, Coulibaly); Mali Med Sch, Malaria Research/Training Center (Thera, Traore); Villages Borko, Kati, Sanambele, Oelessabougou, Bougoula and 9 neighbor villages, Zantiebougou (Coprakazan women's shea cooperative), Dio/Diolla women shea producers; Community Learning Info Ctrs in villages Kangaba, Bougoula, Oeulessabougou; African training inst (INAGEF)(Fofana); USAIDMali; US Peace Corps-Mali (Kone). Awards due in part from work with this project were: Dr. George, UST service-learning award (2007); Dr. Gamby, natl Mali award for ag research (2007); Dr. F. Dunkel, nominated for Western Region Entomol Soc Amer Teaching Excellence (2008); former VT Extern C. George, 2008 All-USA College Academic First Team, one of 20 nationally; former VT externs C. George (2007), S. Hash (2006), top grad senior College Sci/Environ Studies; S. Hash (2005), 3rd in Undergrad Res Symp natl competition; Amer Soc of Agron, Crop Sci Soc of Amer, Soil Sci Soc for Mali research presentation; former Mali extern, G. Zerber, top graduate (2008) CDKC; MT grad student A. Grue, Dr. Dunkel (2004), 2nd prize, internat HED film competition (film abt externs mentoring); MT extern S. Magro, 1st prize HED internat Picturing Change competition; Malian mentors, externs,1st prize (2007), 2nd (2006) food festival. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Posters taught Americans about farmer-to-farmer communication. Suggested by farmers, 18 posters were given to Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) to use for teaching. PCVs were uncomfortable using posters. Posters were useful with farmers and in Malian schools. In Bougoula study (Dunkel et al. in review) we learned farmers prefer learning from a person then using illustrated guides. Posters were good tools in US classrooms to introduce African agriculture, use of local plants in integrated pest management (IPM), and nutritional issues like kwashiorkor. Adoption rates for poster information opened questions of poor uptake. Junior high students in village of Kati used posters with their parents about neem use in IPM plan to preserve cowpeas up to 9 additional months. No one adopted neem because of fear of bitter neem taste in cooked cowpeas. In Rwanda neem is used but dry legumes are washed before cooking (Dunkel et al. 1995). Kati students continued discovery-based interviews with parents and learned ashes were used to preserve cowpeas. One Malian mentor specializing in preserving cowpeas worked with students at MSU-B, They used ashes with outstanding results. This Malian scientist remembered that his mother used shea butter (shea) to preserve cowpeas. Returning to Mali, he / Dr. Dunkel introduced the shea/ashes idea for cowpea storage. The leader of a Women's Association stored cowpeas in perfect condition for 6 months. So, the poster series was most valuable in innovation of farmer-to-farmer communication. The Postharvest Cowpea posters worked, but not the way we thought they would! The greatest farmer-to-farmer information transfer occurred in small groups. Malian farm women also asked for a mechanical mixer to lessen the labor-intensive shea processing and for quality analysis kits they themselves could use. UST communication students produced a video now widely disseminated. It captured women in one village encouraging women in other villages to use the cooperative organization to help them economically with shea. They also asked for help exporting shea products directly to US. Successful projects were initiated by UST undergraduates/mentors for a sustainable cooling system for CLIC buildings. Design/redesign at Kangaba CLIC did not cool building enough; building was a poor design. System did use local materials, tools, and expertise. Ground cooling / building shading were added but did not solve cooling problem in this high heat-load building. A PCV gathered data for one yr, new evaporative cooling system was installed, using materials obtainable in Mali. A final design optimized for Malian conditions was produced at UST, shipped, reassembled in School of Engineering (ENI) by Malian engineering students. Faculty and students plan to adapt the design for offices/classrooms. This is an example of uptake by Malians of designs suggested by Malians. What is the use of cooling in agriculture Cooling perishable fruits/vegetables in storage is a problem hindering successful exporting of Mali's crops. UST facilitated donation, installation, training in Mali for ENI professors to teach Solid Works design software using appropriate technology in Mali. FUTURE INITIATIVES: Students/faculty at Northern Cheyenne tribal community college, Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC), study, explore, build skills on a beautiful but barren 450,000-acre (182 hectare) reservation. Realities of life there are grim. Nearly half of all families exist below the poverty line. Unemployment runs as high as 85%. Alcohol/drug abuse is appalling. Previous Challenge grant brought international study opportunities for first time to CDKC. In current grant, it became clear that 10 Northern Cheyenne student externs were gaining a special gift in their 'Journeys of Discovery' to Mali. Externs learned Malian villagers lived in material poverty orders of magnitude more severe than they were even able to imagine. Yet, farmers lived with joy, confidence, without drug/alcohol abuse. Cheyenne students suddenly realized with pride that their own rich cultural values of family, respect for elders, conflict resolution were very similar to those of Malian Bambara farmers met in Mali thanks to this grant. Students will publically share this discovery in collaboration with MSU and a professional videographer to make film for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Terra series. The hope is that this film will inspire 27,000 students in other 36 US tribal colleges/universities to view with similar pride/confidence their own cultural wealth. Action research on real problems related to material poverty, cultural wealth linked with a mentor team in the collaborating community fully engages students in learning. An action research course is planned with CDKCC faculty.Discovery-based course, 'Beyond Poverty' will focus on historical/cultural treasures of Northern Cheyenne, including work on archeological sites to explore agricultural background of this Plains Indian nation. Quiet Revolution in undergraduate/graduate education resulting from this grant is being captured by faculty team in book by that name. An environmentally sustainable cooling system was designed/constructed by UST undergraduate externs in Mali / in St. Paul MN. Constructing this cooling system is now part of the ENI curriculum. Products of Mali design classes will impove ENI / could be transferred to small entrepreneurs in Mali interested in commercially producing/marketing this sustainable cooling system. Mali Agribusiness Network, developed in part thanks to this grant, could assist in marketing / manufacturing. (interview: Dr. Camille George CMGEORGE@stthomas.edu) As a result of this grant is an entirely new partner, UCR, a minority-serving, agriculture-based university. Involvement of UST's graduate program will continue to grow. School of Business MBA (Project Management) will expand to involve Master of Accountancy program. To facilitate farmer-to-farmer teaching/learning, 2 non-profit NGOs are being created, partly as a result of this Challenge Grant. A Malian NGO, Nine Villages Inc.,was established in Mali to provide revolving, micro-credit directly to villages thanks to faculty/Bozeman community, interaction with Malian mentors/undergraduate students. Agribusiness Network, is incorporating in Mali, focused on sustainable service tasks to empower villages in solving their own problems.

Impacts
Curricula in Colleges of Agriculture at Montana State / VTech changed permanently. Action research/poverty issue courses now at 4 major universities. MT students in Health, Poverty, Agriculture: Concepts/Action Research engage with village whose holistic goal is to sustainably, locally manage malaria. Now popular, awarded permanent number, University Core designation, offered each semester to fulfillResearch/Creative Activity requirement. Curricula at University of St. Thomas (MN) has for first time in 123 yr history focus on agriculture integrated into service learning mandate in Schools of Business, Engineering, College of Arts/Sciences. First UST action research course, School of Business, Project Mgt dealt with village women's holistic goal to export their shea sustainably to US. Next semester, holistic, participatory processes applied, (Governance, Quality, Marketing, Transportation, Storage) interact weekly with Malian mentors/CSREES scientists at Montana St. Young peoples lives changed forever. VTech extern who earned Mali research awards reflects on 4 yrs ago, 'My experiences in Mali meant so much to me. They really changed the way I think about research and how our actions, decisions, and lifestyles affect other parts of world. I carry those memories with me every day.' Others said 'This research makes sense. It is real.' 'We make changes villagers want to make.' Former extern, now Oregon prof, 'Thank you so much for working so hard to make the Mali research experience possible. No doubt it changed my life more so than anything else I did as an undergraduate.'

Publications

• Abraham, J., and George, C. Full-building radiation shielding for climate control in desert regions. International Journal of Sustainable Energy. Submitted Jan 2006. (Abraham is UST mentor in Mechanical Engineering.)
• Biglefthand, R., K. Coulibaly, and F. V. Dunkel. 2006. Postharvest resistance to Callosobruchus maculatus in Malian cowpea varieties. Poster presented at the annual American Indian Research Opportunities Symposium July 20, 2006. (Raphael Biglefthand was a mentoree of Coulibaly and Dunkel and a Chief Dull Knife College Mali intern.)
• Dunkel, F.V. Assa N=Diaye Kante 1 , Ashley Williams,2, Sam Magro, Abdoulaye Camara,3, Sidy Keita,3, and Haoua Traore Sissako. 2009. Communicating Agricultural and Health-Related Information in Low Literacy Communities: Case Study of Villagers Served By the Bougoula Community Learning and Information Center (CLIC) in Mali. Journal of International Agriculture and Extension Education. In author review.(Williams and Magro were Montana State University Mali externs.)
• Dunkel, F.V., Kevin Sauter, C. M. George , Ada Giusti , A.N. Shams, R. Madsen, D.E. Mullins, R. D. Fell, and K.Toure Gamby. Discovery-Based Undergraduate Classroom Opportunities: Collaborative 2009. Research Support Programs (CRSPs). In review. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education.
• George, C. and A. Shams. 2007. The challenge of including customer satisfaction into the assessment criteria of overseas service-learning projects. International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering 2(2):64-75. ISSN 1555-9033.
• Kasimor, J. 2008. Projects in Mali, Africa: Putting initiative and ideas into action. News and Views: Under the Arches. p. 5.
• Lehman, A.D., Dunkel, F.V., Klein, R.A., Ouattara, S., Diallo, D., Gamby, K.T., and N=Diaye, M. 2006. Insect management products from Malian traditional medicine: Establishing systematic criteria for their identification. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 110:235-249. (Lehman was a Mali extern Montana State University program.)
• Martin, M.S., J.H. Westwood, M. N=Diaye, A.R. Goble, D. Mullins, R. Fell, B. Dembele, K. Gamby. 2008. Characterization of Foliar-Applied Potash Solution as a Non-selective Herbicide in Malian Agriculture. ISSN 1934-7235 2(1) http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2008/articles/1356.pdf (Martin and Goble were externs in the Virginia Tech program)
• Shams, A., and George, C. 2006. Global competency: An international approach. Academic Exchange Quarterly. 10 (4). 249-256.
• Shams, A., George, C., and Dunkel, F.V. 2006. The new 3-M: Minnesota, Montana and Mali: The synergy of collaborative international service-learning. Professional Forum Paper presented at Sixth International Service-Learning Research Conference, Portland State University Portland, OR.
• Abraham, J., and George, C., 2007. Full-Building Radiation Shielding for Climate Control in Desert Regions, Paper # 006P, Proceedings of Solar 200, National Solar Conference of the American Solar Energy Society, Cleveland, Ohio July 2007. = 25 people
• Batchelder, Lili Folsom, David DiBiasio, Camille George, Ashley Shams. 2008. Invited speaker and presenter at the Forum on Education Abroad, Boston MA, April 2-4th, 2008 'Approaches to Community Based learning' = 100 people
• Dylan, R. D.E. Mullins, R. Fell. 2006. The use of bio-based surfactants to enhance the efficacy of potash as a contact herbicide. National meeting of American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science society of America, and Soil Science Society of America (ASA-CSSA-SSA), Indianapolis IN. Nov. 2006 = 300 people.
• Mullins, D., L. Moore, S. Gabbert, and R. Fell. 2006. Quantification of azadirachtin extracted from neem leaves using HPTLC separation/development and Image J analysis. Presentation at national meetings of the Entomological Society of America, Indianapolis, IN. Dec. 2006. (Lisa Moore was a VTech extern)(estimated 300 people viewed poster)
• George, C., Cramer, S., Jasch, K., McIntyre, S., O Malley, K., Reed, J., Ragozzino, B. & Xiong, J., (2006). A Solar Powered Water Pasteurizer for Sub-Saharan Africa. Presentation at the 4th Annual Engineers for a Sustainable World Conference: Envisioning Sustainability. Iowa City, Iowa. September 28-30, 2006. = 40 people. This presentation was given by C. George, but one of the externs K. Jasch attended and also addressed the audience.
• Sauter, K, N. Gurusinghe, M. McKee, and N. Johnson. 2005. Farmer-to-Farmer: Teaching and Learning: a) Living with Shea Butter; b) How to form a cooperative; C) Benefits of shea butter cooperatives. DVDs produced by University of St. Thomas, Department of Communications, Produced in Bambara by Malian village women in Dio and Zantiebougou for all Malian women villagers.
• Shams, A. 2005. 'Experiential Pedagogy and Assessment for Study Abroad: Educating for Global Citizenship' Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) Annual Conference, Miami, Florida, October 5, 2005. estimated 50 people
• Shams,A., C. George, and F. Dunkel. 2006. 'The new 3-M: Minnesota, Montana and Mali: The Synergy of Collaborative International Service-Learning' Sixth International Service-Learning Research Conference, Portland, OR, October 16, 2006. 25 people
• Shams, A. and C. George. 2006. Examination of Assessment for Measuring Intercultural Awareness Impact in a Diverse Student Group during a Short-Term International Service-Learning Project. Poster at the 2006 Conference on Service Learning in Engineering. Washington, DC May 24, 2006.
• Smith, A.A., K.M. Myles, D.E. Mullins, R.D. Fell, S.F. Traore, Z.N. Adelman. 2006. Pilot study concerning prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum and onyong-nyong virus in Anopheles funestus in Mali, West Africa. Symposium on Arthropod-Borne Disease Vectors. Virginia Tech. estimated 150 persons attended. George, C. 2005. Presentation at Aveda Company, Minneapolis, MN. June 2005 = 10 people
• George, C. 2005. Presentation at Exploring Ethics Across the Disciplines, UST August 2005 = 10 people
• George, C. 2005. Brown Bag Discussion hosted by International Education Center (IEC) October 17, 2005 entitled 'The Shea Butter Project: Supporting Women in Mali, Africa'. = 30 people
• George, C. 2006. Invited speaker at the Graduate Women in Science Xi Chapter November 15th 2006 Interdisciplinary International Service Learning- Sustainability, Challenges & Rewards = 40 people
• George, C. 2006. Invited speaker at 14th annual spring professional development seminar sponsored by the Minnesota section of the Society of Women Engineers- March 10th, 2007. Engagement Opportunities for Sustainable Engineering: a three-year reflection. = 50 people
• George, C. 2006. Invited Speaker at ASME Midwest District C Student Leadership Seminar October 14th 2006 Community Service and International Service Learning = 50 people
• George, C. 2005. Presentation at the Conference on the Role of Engineering at Catholic Universities Dayton Ohio, Sept 2005 = 30 people George, C. 2005. Presentation at Sustainability as Security, Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), Austin Texas Oct 2005 = 40 people
• Hash, S.J., D. Mullins, 2005. Azadirachtin-A content in Malian neem leaves as determined by high-performance thin-layer chromatography. Poster presented at the international meetings of American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America (ASA-CSSA-SSA), Salt Lake City UT. Nov. 2005. Received third prize in Undergraduate Research Symposium competition. Estimated 1000 people viewed poster.
• Martin, M.S., A.R. Goble, M. N Diaye, B. Dembele, K.T. Gamby, D. Mullins, R. Fell, and J.H..Westwood. 2004. Characterization of foliar-applied potash solution as a non-selective herbicide in Malian agriculture. 4th International Weed Science Congress Abstracts Durban, South Africa, June 20-24. Proceedings p. 87. (Martin and Goble were externs in the Virginia Tech program) (Estimated 300 people viewed poster)
• George, C. (Oct 25, 2005). Sustainability of Overseas Interdisciplinary projects. Keynote speaker for Engineers without Borders Upper Midwest Professional Chapter, Minneapolis MN = 25 people George, C. (March 25, 2006). Sustainable Technology, Intercultural Awareness and Interdisciplinary Collaborations. Invited speaker at North Section conference and meeting of Engineers without Borders North Conference, St. Paul MN = 35 people

Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/06

Outputs
Thriving Mali extern programs are now underway at partner institutions Montana State University, University of St. Thomas (UST), Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC), Virginia Tech. Each program led to curricular changes in order to offer intern/extern program AND led to phenomenal uptake of subsistence agriculture issues into existing courses across campuses and into local city/rural communities. This year, extern programs/classrooms/communities, became closely linked to the Mali Agribusiness Entrepreneurial Incubator Center. The Incubator adopted evaporative cooling systems as first fee-for-product item. DVDs produced Year 1 by UST externs with Malian (Bambara) women farmers (Sauter et al. 2006) were this year distributed to all 13 Mali Community Learning/Information Centers (CLICs). CLIC national director agreed to provide these free to village women via CLIC managers showing DVDs on solar-powered laptops carried to villages on bicycles. These 3 Bambara DVDs featured women subsistence farmers encouraging other women farmers to develop cooperatives/associations to improve quality/markets/profits from shea butter production, main source of economic freedom for Mali women. This is a perfect example of externs learning cross-cultural skills/professional media communication skills while facilitating one Malian farmer group learning from another. Other examples of externs gaining skills/career ideas in international agriculture were: developing low-power cooling systems for CLICs or ag production applications; evaluating uptake by Peace Corps Volunteers/trainers of IPM postharvest cowpeas training; connecting farm families to US colleges via CLIC computers; designing /building village solar water pasteurizer; improving mixer design for shea butter; developing colorimetric kit to monitor shea butter quality; creating photo series for women producers to improve shea butter quality/export market potential; determining Mopti village needs/possibilities for clean water storage. An important unanticipated Year 2 benefit was strong synergy developed between Montana State externs/faculty mentors and CDKC externs. Montana State is likely institution for these Northern Cheyenne community students to continue their education. Extern program introduces Montana State campus/faculty/students to CDKC students. Simultaneously, the extern program gives Montana State students/faculty a chance to interact/draw comparisons with another indigenous culture. Euro-Americans and Native Americans are learning subsistence farm family issues. This USDA Challenge grant provided short-term visits of Malian scientists/educators to work with externs in US and aid faculty introducing subsistence farmer issues into classrooms. With parallel funding from USAID (HED) and UST, CDKC, Montana State, we extended Malians' visits. Assistance by Malians with community college/university courses, community programs/undergrad extern research made orders of magnitude improvements in project impact. We accomplished this with no faculty hours funded Year 2 by this grant. All faculty hours (estimated 3,150; 19.8 months)were cost share contributions Year 2 by Montana State, UST, CDKC, Virginia Tech. PRODUCTS: Montana State extern teams completed 3 research / creative projects: 1)Determine Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Malian Villages (Stacey Hellekson, Civil Engineering undergrad; Sidy Ba, Hydraulic Engineering professor Mali national agricultural university(IPR/IRFA), Montana State Environ. Engineering grad student; Dr. Warren Jones, professor Environ. Engineering; 2) Create illustrations for Quality Management Handbook for Shea Butter Producing Cooperatives / Associations in Mali (Anna Volkersz, Media/Theater Arts (Photography)undergrad; Assa Kante, food scientist Malian equivalent of USDA-ARS, Montana State Ag Ext. Ed. grad student; Dr. Dunkel, professor Entomology (Nat. Prod. Toxicology); 3) Quality Control by Village-Based Women's Cooperatives / Associations of Shea Butter for Export Markets: Development of in-Field Colorimetric Kits (Chris Sedlak, Chemistry undergrad; Kante; Dunkel). UST externs with mentors designed, constructed, tested solar water purifier for village-level, farm family use, completed extensive report (Sue Cramer, Kim Jasch, Shannon McIntyre, Kasey O'Malley, Bradley Ragozzino, Julie Reed, Jerry Xiong. 2006. Solar Powered Water Pasteurizer: International Service Learning UST. Final Paper PDF=11.7 MB, Build / Assembly Procedure PDF = 7.6 MB). Available in Appendix to annual report. UST Intern, Benjamin Dauwalter, received Young Scholar Award of $4,000 Summer 2006 by UST Undergrad Research and Collaborative Scholarship Advisory Board with Bush Foundation grant based on his research: Engineering of Low-Priced, Low-Power Cooling System, a follow-on of design developed by Mali externs for the Kangaba CLIC. Available in Appendix to this annual report. UST Intern, Daniel Shinozaki, completed a study for course, ENGR 481-01, Senior Design Clinic II, entitled: Economic Analysis of University of St. Thomas Mali Mixer Project. Available in Appendix to this annual report. CDKC Malian Externs continued evaluating Cowpea Postharvest IPM Poster Series developed by Montana State externs, produced by CDKC externs and field tested new IPM uptake survey for Peace Corps Volunteers developed by the CDKC, Malians,and Dr. Carol Ward / Yodit Solomon (Brigham Young University). CDKC Malian Externs, with instructor Bob Madsen, high school teacher MaryLou Johnson, 6 Lame Deer area grade-school classrooms developed a Northern Cheyenne cultural trunk externs delivered / presented in 3 Malian schools (towns of Oeulessabougou, Kati; American International School of Bamako) January 2006. Virginia Tech externs with mentors completed 4 projects: Nicholas Fingland, Azadirachtin extraction increased over traditional Malian village processes through fermentation; Lisa Moore, Addition of lipids to boost levels of azadirachtin extracted from neem in water extraction process; Robert Walker, Use of bio-based surfactants to enhance the efficacy of potash as a contact herbicide; Alison Smith, Study on the Prevalence and Vector Specificity of the O'nyong-yong virus in Mali. Other products in this reporting period, publications (including peer-refereed publication senior authored by extern), presentations, videos, are listed elsewhere in this report. OUTCOMES: As a result of Malian scientists / educators visiting our campuses, the entire extern experience, campus-wide involvement, and community interest were made orders of magnitude more valuable. At Montana State, increasingly more departments request to be involved. In this reporting period, new, senior faculty in 3 not-before-involved departments were engaged as mentors to work with Mali externs in Departments of Civil Engineering (Dr. Warren Jones), Plant Pathology (Dr. David Sands), Veterinary Molecular Biology (Dr. Mike White). This means potential now exists for these faculty to be involved in understanding the situation of subsistence farmers in material resource-poor countries and to visit Mali with their students. Usually this leads to subtle and sometimes quite overt changes in the curriculum that they teach, that is, they begin to incorporate issues of material-resource-poor countries in their courses. UST has also engaged new faculty and members of the local scientific community this year. Dr. John Walker, a 3M fellow, worked with the externs and accompanied them to Mali for the in-country construction and testing of their design. By the end of this reporting period, 2 additional faculty from Mechanical Engineering and from Information Technology (IT), a UST IT technician, and a Malian faculty mentor (Sidy Ba) joined the team particularly to contribute their expertise in the computer-assisted design program SolidWorks and strengthen the relationship with the Institute of Engineering in Mali (ENI). ENI is the institution that has the potential to provide substantial support to the externs in-country work They are also the institution that can provide on-going oversight to aid in long-term testing and improve adoption of designs created and constructed initially by the UST externs. Chief Dull Knife College externs and the faculty mentor (Bob Madsen) are now working closely with Malian graduate students at MSU. In particular CDKC is working closely with Assa Kante, food scientist at l'Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER), on dissemination of IPM technologies to Malian Peace Corps Trainers / Volunteers, and Malian farmers. IER is the counterpart of the USDA for Mali. Assa Kante is currently completing a M.S. degree in Extension Education at Montana State. Faculty from Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah), Dr. Carol Ward and Yodit Solomon, are continuing to work with CDKC on dissemination of IPM materials to Peace Corps Volunteers. This project was greatly enhanced when the Peace Corps' Agricultural Trainer, Mr. Yacouba Kone, visited Chief Dull Knife College last spring. Madsen and Kone developed strategies to distribute materials to Peace Corps Volunteers through targeted poster series, via the Internet through Malian CLICs, and through Malian dissemination agencies (such as IER with the help of Assa Kante). Assa traveled to Mali in March 2006 and June 2006 to conduct research with Yacouba and IER personnel on the cowpea project to follow-up on the CDKC externs project this year and to lay the groundwork for next year's externs. The CDKC team also worked closely with 2005-06 MSU externs and former Montana State externs. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: UST externs gave presentations at Engineers for a Sustainable World Conference, October 2005. (PDF file is in Appendices to this report.) Particularly notable is the following news article about our project: Said, Bashe. 2006. A different 3M: Minnesota, Montana, and Mali. African News Journal. Volume II, Edition 4. April 2006. Pp. 1 and 10. This article (available in the Appendix to this report) was the result of the joint meeting of the Montana State and UST externs, faculty, and administrators, and the Secondary Education Challenge grant Mali project as well (6 March 2006) (Readership = about 30,000 people in the Twin Cities) CDKC Malian Externs, CDKC faculty and staff, Malian graduate students, and MSU Mali Project personnel participated in an "East Meets West" dinner, cultural exchange at Chief Dull Knife College, created DVD available in Appendix. The night included traditional Northern Cheyenne foods, stories and dances. Fall 2005, Bob Madsen, Mary Lou Johnson, and Malian Externs worked with 6 local area classrooms to develop a Northern Cheyenne cultural trunk. That trunk was delivered to Malian schools January 2006. Spring 2006 Madsen, Johnson, and Malian Externs visited 12 local area classrooms and gave PowerPoint presentations on their trip to Mali and impact of the Northern Cheyenne trunk on K-12 students in Mali. April 2006 CDKC externs/faculty with their Malian mentor Yacouba Kone visited 14 Northern Cheyenne classrooms to present Malian trunks developed in Mali by 3 schools participating in Northern Cheyenne Trunk activities with externs Jan 2006. Three campus-wide and local community events were held at partner schools to feature the research of Mali externs. February 2006, CDKC Malian Externs engaged the interest of the entire Northern Cheyenne community with a mid-day Mali event at the community college. Beginning with a PowerPoint presentation on their work in Mali, the event was attended by the entire school. Following the formal presentation was a typical Malian luncheon, and Malian music. April 8, 2006, both Montana State and UST held simultaneous Mali Night events. It was the first annual event for UST and the sixth annual Mali Night event for Montana State. Both events featured a Malian dinner followed by a program. UST had a popular Malian musical ensemble. Twenty people attended. It was a very special evening to meet with the professional Malian musicans and to enjoy their performance. In Montana, there were PowerPoint presentations by both the undergraduate externs and their Malian mentors as well as the CDKC externs (and the Secondary School teacher team). Parents attended from throughout Montana as well as from Maryland and France. Total number of guests were 117. Dinner was prepared by the Malians. US mentors and externs set up an extensive Mali textile exhibit which created quite a festive ambience. The Dean of the College of Agriculture made welcome presentations to the Malian mentors and Dr. Dunkel made thank you presentations to the host families housed the Malian mentors of the externs. Students and faculty from throughout campus attended as well as parents and children from nearby communities. FUTURE INITIATIVES: Evaluation is final year focus of current project. UST will complete 3 years of Intercultural Development Inventory monitoring cross cultural sensitivity changes during undergrad extern experience. External evaluation will determine effect of program on encouraging ag-related careers. In Mali, externs, US/Malian mentors will determine role of learning tools developed in participatory farmer-to-farmer teaching/learning process: a) shea DVDs on cooperative formation; b) laminated poster series for postharvest cowpea protection. Other products, farmer suggested/extern developed, aided by US/Malian mentors, will be evaluated: sustainable evaporative cooling system to cool small spaces, e.g., computer areas of Community Learning and Information Centers (CLICs); solar water pasturizer designed for Malian farm families; improved shea butter mixer. UST externs, US/Malian faculty mentors will complete manufacturability studies of Kangaba cooling system, hold roundtable discussions for early adopters. Montana State externs, US/Malian faculty mentors will work with women in shea butter associations, Diolla, Dio, hold roundtable discussions with early adopters of colorimetric quality monitoring kit for shea butter. Virginia Tech student/faculty teams will improve extraction efficiency for farmer-produced insect management product, neem leaf extract. Evaluation instruments will be developed for uptake/adoption of dissemination tools to convey information about crops including cowpeas, main West African protein source. CDKC will continue working with externs/Malians at Montana State, former externs, BYU faculty, Peace Corps-Mali to develop effective dissemination tools to distribute IPM technologies throughout Mali. Externs/mentors will emphasize coordinating efforts of Peace Corps, IER, CLICs. CDKC, UST, Virginia Tech teams travel to Mali Jan 2007,Montana State team March 2007. New initiatives will be introduced in participatory process with Malians developing Agribusiness Entrepreneurial Incubator Center. One is improving lysine in low-lysine diet, typical of most Malian farm families. The bacterium used elsewhere in Africa for sourdough, other traditional fermented cereal products, produces lysine, enriching and leavening simultaneously, can replace imported, expensive yeast. Classroom/community involvement touching continues to touch hundreds more than those actually going to Mali this year. Mali Night events will grow in popularity (attendance). Mali Night is a creative product of the Extern program developing on 3 campuses to feature extern research. Students/faculty continue meeting challenges of conducting publishable, sustainable research in a material resource-poor environment with language/literacy barriers. Most important, this year students, US / Malian faculty are pondering factors preventing uptake/adoption of new technologies in Malian villages. We learned uptake is enhanced if teaching/learning experience includes story, song, drama and if farmers are required to pay for technology/training. This is the new agricultural research/development challenge we face this year as we continue to facilitate farmer-to-farmer teaching/learning.

Impacts
During this reporting period, ca. 2,074 students/faculty/community members gained awareness of subsistence farming life in a material-resource poor country. Mali externships and the idea of exploring Africa by going there or just by campus opportunities, discussion groups, readings, presentations is moving across campuses. From coast-to-coast and several points in between, Africa's cultural wealth with its lessons for the rest of the world are the core of raised student / faculty cultural awareness. Africa's perplexing lack of economic / agricultural development in a Western sense now challenges the same student / faculty groups to critically evaluate foreign aid. An outcome of this project has been that students in non-agricultural majors (engineering, biology, French, media and theater arts) all pursued agricultural topics in their USDA externship research and chose to continue in agriculture after graduation. Seventeen Mali externs from VA to CA gained confidence in cross-cultural skills, designing research, giving professional presentations.

Publications

• Anonymous. 2006. Service projects highlight Mali trip. TechKnowledge. School of Engineering, University of St. Thomas. Pg. 8.
• Biglefthand, R., K. Coulibaly, and F. V. Dunkel. 2006. Postharvest resistance to Callosobruchus maculatus in Malian cowpea varieties. Poster presented at the annual American Indian Research Opportunities Symposium July 20, 2006. (Raphael Biglefthand was a mentoree of Coulibaly and Dunkel and a Chief Dull Knife College Mali intern.)
• Bohnen, C. 2006. Efforts in Africa. CAS Spotlight, College of Arts and Sciences, University of St. Thomas. Spring 2006. Pp. 8-9. (Article by journalism major about Dr. Sauter and his students'work in Mali)
• Dunkel, F.V., Kevin Sauter, C. M. George, A.Giusti, A.N. Shams, R. Madsen, D.E. Mullins, R. D. Fell, and K.Toure Gamby. 2007. Discovery-Based Undergraduate Classroom Opportunities: Collaborative Research Support Programs (CRSPs). In review. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education.
• Larson, K. 2006. Engineering projects serve African communities: Professor, students develop low-power cooling system. The Aquin. University of St. Thomas weekly newspaper. Friday, October 10, 2006. Pg. 4.
• Sauter, K., Gurusinghe, N., McKee, M., & Johnson, N., (2005). Farmer-to-farmer: Teaching and Learning: a) Living with Shea Butter; b) How to form a cooperatuve; c) Benefits of shea butter cooperatives. DVDs produced by University of St. Thomas, Department of Communications in Bambara for Malian women villagers. Each 5-7 minutes, 18 minutes total.
• Shams, A., and George, C. (2006). Global competency: An international approach. Academic Exchange Quarterly. 10 (4). In press.
• Shams, A., George, C., and Dunkel, F.V. (2006). The new 3-M: Minnesota, Montana and Mali: The synergy of collaborative international service-learning. Professional Forum Paper presented at Sixth International ,Service-Learning, Research Conference, Portland State University Portland, OR.
• Smith, A. A., K. M. Myles, D. E. Mullins, R. D. Fell, S. F. Traore, Z. N. Adelman. Pilot study concerning the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum and o'nyong-nyong virus in Anopheles funestus in Mali, West Africa. Vector-Borne Disease Research: The Road Ahead. Meeting held in Blacksburg VA Oct. 2006 (Allison Smith was a 2005-06 Extern.)
• Walker, R. D., D. E. Mullins, R. Fell. 2006. The Use of Bio-Based Surfactants to Enhance the Efficacy of Potash as a Contact Herbicide National Meeting of and American Society of Agronomy,l Crop Science Society of American and Soil Science Society of America (ASA-CSSA-SSSA) Indianapolis, IN Nov 2006. (Dylan was a 2005-06 Extern.)
• Mullins, D., L. Moore, S. Gabbert, R. Fell. 2006. Quantification of azadirachtin extracted from neem leaves using HPTLC separation/development and Image J analysis. Entomol.Soc.Amer. Nat. Mtg. Indianapolis, IN Dec. 2006. (Moore was 2005-06 Extern.)
• Abraham, J., and George, C. Full-building radiation shielding for climate control in desert regions. International Journal of Sustainable Energy. Submitted Jan 2006. (Abraham is UST mentor in Mechanical Engineering.)
• Lehman, A.D., Dunkel, F.V., Klein, R.A., Ouattara, S., Diallo, D., Gamby, K.T., and Ndiaye, M. 2006. Insect management products from Malian traditional medicine: Establishing systematic criteria for their identification. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Accepted September 2006. In press. (available as preprint on website of J. Ethnopharm. Lehman was a Mali extern and this paper was a result of her extern research.)

Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05

Outputs
This grant provides mentored, original research opportunities for undergraduates while students / mentors serve as primary facilitators for technology transfer from one farmer group to another in Mali. The challenge undertaken in fulfilling this proposal is to provide meaningful, useful information for subsistence farmers. Students / their faculty mentors are watching themselves succeed in an amazing information transfer. Experiences focus on two methods. One is low-tech, laminated poster series for non-readers and for French, Bambara, / English readers. The other is a system of 13 high-tech Community Learning / Information Centers (CLICs) conceived, initiated, and built in same period when this USDA project was conceived and funded. Although well-organized, well-equipped with local Malians and computer systems, CLICs had no plan to meet informational / learning needs of 70% of Malian population, subsistence farm families. Most CLICs are in farming communities, small commercial centers. Our project mandate is this information must be local-local, i.e. generated by Malian subsistence farmers for Malian subsistence farmers. We students / faculty are mere conduits for transfer of this information and evaluators of effectiveness of the teaching / learning process. Our first year highlights are: Farmer-to-Farmer poster series was used in Montana State University (MSU) courses: Entomology; Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced French; Plant Insect Human Interactions; Holistic Thought / Management; Ethnopharmacology; Natural Products. At 1994 Tribal College, Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC) series was used in: Biology; Principles of Sociology; Sociology Field Methods. Principles learned included: Integrated Pest Management (IPM); participatory assessment; evaluation; contemporary issues of small scale, low-input agriculture; importance of learning local languages even in scientific, particularly agricultural, disciplines; agricultural career opportunities for French majors. Held 3 in-US extern/mentor video conferences and 2 US-Mali video conferences. Created new poster series thanks to externs at University of St. Thomas (UST), MSU and their Malian / US mentors, entitled: Quality Control Management for Shea Butter Production. It is a companion to 3 Bambara videos created by Malian women farmers / UST externs / faculty mentors (and private sector mentors in St. Paul, MN, Bamako, Mali, and Zantiebougou, Mali) FOR other Malian women farmers. Animal Science Malian externship began in collaboration with Malian Institut Economie Rurale (IER), Bovine Program, Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, project on protection from aflatoxins in peanut residues used by farmers for nutritional supplements in cattle production. In Year 1, 14 UST, 2 MSU, and 4 Virginia Tech externs graduated with B.S. and B.A. degrees. At least 6 of these students are considering graduate programs in the agricultural sciences. Others who majored in mechanical engineering, communications, and French language and literature now clearly understand how their skills / interests sustainable agriculture in material resource poor cultures can be combined to lead fulfilling careers. PRODUCTS: In year 1, University of St. Thomas (UST) externs and their mentors conceived, produced, and delivered the first high-tech product for the CLICs. A series of three eight minute videos (DVD format) were produced in Bambara by an all-Malian, mainly women subsistence farmer cast for information transfer to other Malian women farmers. Externs and mentors did the scripting, filming, and editing. After reviews by Bambara-speaking Malian mentors in the project, videos were released (Oct 2005) for distribution by USAID via CLICs. Videos described economic benefits of organizing into cooperatives for shea butter production. Throughout Mali, farm women collect nuts from shea trees and extract oils in an arduous process to produce shea butter used for solar protection and skin moisturizing in harsh arid, sub-Sahara and to sell to up-scale European and American markets. A new poster series has been created thanks to externs at University of St. Thomas (UST) and MSU and their Malian and US mentors. This series, entitled: Quality Control Management for Shea Butter Production, is a companion to the 3 Bambara videos created by Malian women farmers and UST externs and faculty mentors (and private sector mentors from St. Paul, MN, Bamako, Mali, and Zantiebougou, Mali) FOR other Malian women farmers. Chief Dull Knife College (1994 Tribal College) faculty and students evaluated uptake by Peace Corps Volunteers in Mali) of information in the IPM Postharvest Cowpea poster series. CDKC Externs and mentors (including Heather McCartney, former MSU extern, now CDKC consultant) and MSU mentors worked with and learned from sociology faculty at Brigham Young University to design survey instrument and statistically analyze results. CDKC Externs and US mentors in collaboration with Malian educators used survey results to improve poster series. Survey results and resulting modifications were summarized in a peer-refereed manuscript (Ward et al.) to be submitted to Journal of International Agricultural Education and Extension. Manuscript is currently in statistical analysis and author review. This article combined work by R. Madsen and his CDKC externs in the USDA Challenge grant initiated 2002 and 2004. Kone is a Malian mentor who will also assist in on-campus courses at CDKC and MSU Year 2. Gamby is a Malian-based mentor and in-country project coordinator. Ward and Solomon are sociologists at Brigham Young University and collaborators with CDKC. Two additional publications were prepared by externs and mentors Year 1 at Virginia Tech. Manuscripts are: neem kernel extract quality produced on-farm and on-farm produced natural product herbicide. Twenty undergraduate students were funded for the in-Mali portion of their externship in Year 1. Two graduate student assistants (one was former Mali extern) were funded, each parttime, for one semester. Seven visiting faculty from Mali assisted in mentoring and teaching, each 1 month. Dr. Cliff Montagne, soil scientist and specialist in holistic thought and management was funded for 3 days, 24 hours, to prepare and present a series of holistic workshops for interns and externs. OUTCOMES: In Year 1, MSU extern with his MSU faculty and Malian mentors determined that subsistence farmers will not visit the CLICs to receive information. Extern Sam Magro initiated a survey of 11 subsistence farming villages served by the Bougoula CLIC. Sam determined that both men and women farmers did not consider the CLIC as a serious source of information. In addition, the cost for CLIC services was not affordable for these farmers who earned a mean of $1.00 per day. The problem of information transfer, farmer-to-farmer, was then solved by the CLIC director, Mme Fofana, Malian manager of the CLICs, MSU extern, and UST faculty and externs. Extern Sam Magro and his team of mentors determined that men and women farmers served by the Bougoula CLIC considered visiting specialists one of the most important sources of information. CLIC director approved free-of-charge showing of the Bambara DVDs via solar-powered laptop computers. Each of the 13 CLICs has two managers, one man and one woman from the local area. Each manager was equipped with a laptop computer and a bicycle. This process of information dissemination thanks to the externs and their mentors (US and Malian) began in October 2005. MSU extern determines that water-related issues, particularly availability of safe drinking water, are the most important health concern of subsistence farmers in the Bougoula area of Mali. This information obtained by Extern Ashley Williams, senior in physical geography, opened several new areas of collaborative research for undergraduates in our project and their Malian mentors.This information was used by the senior engineering design students at UST to develop a home-based water purifier using solarization. Based on Williams work, Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development (ALO) Visiting Professor from the University of Bamako chose as his thesis research project development of a locally-produced wax valve. Civil engineering extern Stacey Helekson at MSU used the results of the physical geography student to select her undergrad research topic, water cachement system. Research results of MSU externs on community sources of information and informational needs were summarized in a manuscript (Dunkel et al.). This manuscript is currently in statistical analysis and author review and will be submitted to the Journal of International Agricultural Education and Extension. Authors Williams and Magro were externs in the 2004 initiated grant and Kante is a Malian mentor working in on-campus courses at MSU under the 2004 initiated grant. Sissako and Gamby are Malian mentors in Mali. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: In Year 1, faculty from MSU, UST, CDKC, and Virginia Tech each made presentations at the annual meetings of the national Entomological Society of America in Salt Lake City UT, November 2004. Faculty at each of the four schools presented their modifications of the basic model for engaging undergraduates in discovery-based undergraduate education that facilitated farmer-to-farmer teaching and learning. In Year 1 we held 3 in-US video conferences and 2 US-Mali video conferences. These sessions have been invaluable in engaging undergraduates and in connecting US faculty with each other for the exchange of teaching/mentoring ideas. Malian mentors on this project (those that are already here and those that are yet to come to US) participated in two of the video conferences held with MSU and the Mali. Each of the Malian mentors who have come to the US in Year 1 of this project stayed in homes in the communities in Bozeman, Montana and St. Paul, Minnesota. The way in which the neighborhoods and the University community reached out to these Malian agricultural scientists was inspiring. From winter clothes to bicycles for transport from home to campus, many students, faculty, and people of Bozeman MT and St. Paul MN now have had many opportunities to learn from these Malians about the agricultural system, commerce, quarantine regulations (or lack of), and many other issues. These scientists were: Abdoulaye Camara, IER plant pathologist; Assa Kante, IER food scientist; Sidy Ba, University of Bamako, Institute of Agriculture hydraulics engineer; Belco Tamboura, Institute of Agriculture agricultural economist; Keriba Coulibaly, IER seed physiologist/ plant breeder; Adama Berthe, Institute of Agriculture plant pathologist; and Aissata Thera, IER plant pathologist. Because of the parallel grant from the Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development (ALO), we were able to extend the stays of these mentors beyond 1 month to 11 months. Externs at UST, CDKC, and MSU now have incredible resources to enrich their year long experience on-campus and in Mali. Each of these seven Malians is also assisting in our classrooms as appropriate and so the total student numbers with whom these agricultural scientists interact is quite large. FUTURE INITIATIVES: The first Animal Science student has been accepted for a Malian externship. Natalie McGowan will complete her MSU Animal Science Internship in collaboration with the Malian Institut Economie Rurale, Bovine Program, Laboratory of Animal Nutrition. She will collaborate with the Malian animal scientists on improving protection from aflatoxins in peanut residues used by farmers for nutritional supplements in cattle production. For short-term visits to our campuses, we are planning to have our other Malian collaborators: Yacouba Kone, agriculture sector trainer, Peace Corps-Mali to CDKC; Issa Sidibe, Office du Haute Niger, an agricultural extension unit to Virginia Tech; Mme. Fofana, director of the CLICs; and Sidiki Traore, IER Farmer Field School coordinator and entomologist to MSU. University of California-Davis is this year initiating their extern program and will be collaborating with us in a program in plant pathology, particularly in tomato health and insect-transmitted plant viruses. We are planning a community-based, holistic workshop in Bozeman in May for all faculty and externs throughout the US. In Year 2, we will seek funding for a 25 minute national public TV program in the series, Terra. Terra is produced by one of the faculty on this grant. The 25 minute piece will document the value for the US of this and other projects that introduce young people to material resource poor agricultural systems.

Impacts
In Year 1, 14 UST, 2 MSU, and 4 Virginia Tech externs graduated with B.S. and B.A. degrees. Six are considering agricultural science graduate programs. Others which include majors in mechanical engineering, communications, and French language and literature now clearly understand how their skills and interests sustainable agriculture in material resource poor countries can be used to create challenging and rewarding careers. We used undergrad-produced Farmer-to-Farmer Poster series to introduce undergrads to IPM principles, participatory assessment, extension, evaluation, contemporary issues of small scale low input agriculture. CDKC and MSU mentors used poster series in on-campus courses to teach subsistence farming issues, postharvest protection, insect life cycles, and plant insect interactions, particularly plant secondary metabolites. This included courses in Issues of Insects and Human Societies, Biology, and a minicourse in Ethnopharmacology. The Farmer to Farmer poster series has been used in courses at Montana State University (MSU) in: Entomology; Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced French Language; Plant Insect Human Interactions; Holistic Thought and Management; Ethnopharmacology;Natural Products. This series has also been used at the 1994 Tribal College, Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC) in courses in Biology, Principles of Sociology, Sociology Field Methods. Students also learned the importance of learning local languages even in scientific, particularly agricultural, disciplines, and the career opportunities in agriculture for language majors.

Publications

• Dunkel, F.V., A. Kante, A. Williams, S. Magro, H. Sissako, and K. Gamby.possibly 2006. Evaluation of information sources to solve community problems in Malian villages served by a Community Learning and Information Center (CLIC). To be submitted to the Journal of International Agricultural Education and Extension.
• Ward, C., Dunkel, F.V., Y. Solomon, R. Madsen, H. McCartney, Y. Kone, and K. Gamby. possibly 2006. Use of a bilingual laminated poster series as an IPM teaching tool for Peace Corps Volunteers, trainers, and trainees. To be submitted to the Journal of International Agricultural Education and Extension.