Three people sitting at a table in Haiti
In 2019, several agronomist-educators from Haiti traveled to Vermont for our week-long workshop for educators, "Project Seasons: Cultivating Joy & Wonder." They exchanged ideas and inspiration for developing more school- and garden-based education programs for students in Haiti. This was only the most recent of several learning exchanges since our partnership with Ayiti Konse Vet began. (photo: Steven Mease)

Ayiti Konse Vet (AKV), Haitian kreyol for “Haiti Conservation Green, or “Keep Haiti Green,”  is an organisation that was founded in 1999 by June Levinsohn, an American nurse passionate about addressing the intersection of agriculture and human health in rural Haiti. Through a multitude of initiatives and with a number of partners over its 20-year history, AKV has coordinated community conservation and agricultural restoration projects in rural Haiti and the Dominican Republic, including family and school gardens, soil conservation and reforestation initiatives, environmental education and agricultural literacy in schools, and animal husbandry. 

Since 2008, Shelburne Farms has partnered with AKV with the shared goal of strengthening global networks to support agricultural literacy and sustainability education. In large part, this has taken the form of learning exchanges. Shelburne Farms has coordinated several U.S. study tours for Haitian agronomists and educators, during which they have visited farms and schools and attended educational programs. Additional exchanges have been coordinated among more local partners in the Caribbean. The exchanges are a unique platform for enriching conversations and learning, where all participants can discover both their unique and shared experiences in the fields of agriculture, agricultural literacy, and farm to school, and be inspired to apply that new learning in their home communities.  

Partners: