Student Stories: Agroforestry class goes to South Africa

Amy Stauffer is dwarfed by a giant termite mound in South Africa

Amy Stauffer jumped at the chance to travel to South Africa last spring with her agroforestry class. Turns out it was the best thing she has ever done.

"A chance to experience a new continent and culture doesn't present itself very often," said the senior in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. "I was especially excited to travel to South Africa because I could experience firsthand the local traditions and practices of South African agriculture as well as meet the rural farmers making a living from the land."

Having grown up on a farm herself, Stauffer, an agricultural science major from York, Pa., relished the chance to talk with local farmers and learn about their unique agricultural perspective.

The group toured an agroforestry operation that helps local people who are struggling to make a living by assisting them financially in growing acacia trees. They also visited an enormous plantation where they saw different aspects of agriculture and agroforestry and lots of wildlife.

Looking back on the trip, the most memorable experience, according to Stauffer, was her group's visit to a market where local agricultural products were being sold. The local commodities included honey straight from the honeycomb, a wide assortment of medicinal barks and plants, hand-made brooms, huge amounts of produce, and even the skeletons of small animals for black-magic purposes.

"To say the least, I had never seen anything quite like that market," Stauffer said.

She encourages all college students to go abroad. "Traveling overseas is an experience that will change your life," she said. "Your whole perspective on the world around you is altered. You become a different and better person."

Because agriculture affects people all over the world, Stauffer feels it is necessary to understand the cultures of other countries, to know what kind of value they place on the quality of their food.

"A trip like the one I took to South Africa opens your eyes to life outside of your own familiar and comfortable world," she said."It helps you understand how much emphasis is being placed on agriculture."