On Friday, May 26 Hillsborough County Field Specialists Kendall Kunelius, Mike Gagnon and Scott Slattery met with a group of international visitors from the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire at Shieling Forest Center in Peterborough.
This group, which included participants from Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, India, Uzbekistan, Mumbai, the Philippines and Thailand, have a vested interest in agriculture, and met with Extension to discuss how agriculture affects the economy of New Hampshire.
Kendall, Mike and Scott discussed a variety of roles that agriculture plays in New Hampshire’s economy, as well as the unique aspects of the landscape that define this region. Participants asked many questions about Extension’s role with pesticide safety education, integrated pest management, forest management and community engagement.
Kendall provided an example of the meeting’s impact. “One of the members actively works with farmers in India,” she noted. “He was so excited to see we had resources available in this area, and is planning to translate the Marketing and Program Planner resource he took with him into their local language and distribute the book to the farmers there. A wonderful example of Extension having a world-wide impact!”
The World Affairs Council of New Hampshire is a non-profit, non-partisan organization fostering learning, discussion and citizen involvement of world affairs since 1954. As part of the International Visitors Leadership Program, they host up-and-coming leaders from around the world to learn from local professionals about specific subject matter and take that knowledge back to their home countries. Learn more at wacnh.org.
