The Farmer to Farmer Program (F2F) was authorized by Congress in the 1985 Farm Bill. Land O’Lakes International Development is one of the implementers and is currently managing this USAID program for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which includes the Lebanese Republic (Lebanon), Egypt and Morocco. US citizens and Green Card holders volunteer as short-term technical assistants to work with farmers, processors, agribusinesses, and universities in-country on specific, demand driven, projects. F2F MENA implements country projects focusing in the areas of enhancing food quality and safety, increasing access to agricultural finance. Additionally, in Lebanon there is also a country project focusing on environmental conservation. There are a large number of entrepreneurs who run small and medium-sized dairy plants where they manufacture Lebanese style cheeses and yogurts and desire technical assistance. While there are universities in Lebanon training food scientists, there is no comprehensive extension system to work with the farmers and processors directly. The F2F program allows for the ability to conduct extension activities internationally. This poster will describe 2 2-week projects working with 8 cheese processors to develop new varieties of cheese, and transfer processing and food safety knowledge. All the cheese makers visited pasteurized either their cheese milk, or their cheese. However, several studies have shown the presence of Listeria monocytogenes (26% of the baladi samples examined), pathogenic E. coli, and Brucella abortus inmarket samples of cheese in Lebanon. While the projects described had the expressed goal of developing new varieties of cheese with the cheese makers, the main results were technology transfer in terms of processing safety recommendations, and recommendations for improving curd firmness and cheese yield. The F2F in-country staff provide support to the processors after the volunteers leave so that recommendations can be implemented. The documentation of the results and outcomes are also important metrics collected by the staff and will be presented. Mostly undocumented are the benefits volunteers receive from learning new skills and meeting potential university collaborators.