USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service Grant for Designing and Delivering Cochran Fellowship Training

The Cochran Fellowship Program is requesting the design and delivery of training activities for Cochran Fellowship Fellows.

Since 1984, the U.S. Congress has made funds available to the Cochran Fellowship Program for training agriculturalists from middle-income countries, emerging markets, and emerging democracies. Training opportunities are for senior and mid-level specialists and administrators working in agricultural trade and policy, agribusiness development, management, animal, plant, and food sciences, extension services, agricultural marketing, and many other areas. Individuals selected for Cochran trainings come from both the public and private sectors. All training occurs in the United States. Training programs are designed and organized in conjunction with U.S. universities, USDA and other government agencies, agribusinesses, and consultants. The Cochran Fellowship Program is part of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Since its start in 1984, the Cochran Fellowship Program has provided U.S.-based training for over 18,900 international participants from 126 countries worldwide.

Training objectives must support the agricultural extension goals of the Cochran Fellowship Program to assist eligible countries to develop agricultural systems necessary to meet the food and fiber needs of their domestic populations and/or strengthen and enhance trade linkages between eligible countries and agricultural interests in the United States by providing fellowships to individuals from eligible countries who specialize in agriculture for study in the United States.

In general, USDA will identify Fellows based on country-specific topics of importance to the international agricultural trading system and place them with U.S. institutions for 1-2 week intensive programs. These programs are expected to contribute to the strategic goals and objectives of the institutions through a hands-on experience in a “real-world” international trade scenario, providing an opportunity for application of research, extension, or teaching agendas. Host institutions will be able to share the knowledge gained through the program in their classroom and extension work with their faculty, students, extension officers, and constituents; and they will be able to continue to maintain professional contacts with the Fellows after their departure from the United States.

SCOPES

• Overview of U.S. Beer, Wine, and Spirits for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda

• Introduction to U.S. Artisanal and Gourmet Cheese for Thailand

• Import/Export Documentation and Sanitary/Logistical Practices at U.S. Ports for Dominican Republic

• Regulatory Protocols on Import/Export Documentation and Sanitary/Logistical Practices for Malaysia

• Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) Harmonization, European Union (EU) Alignment, and Pesticide Regulation for Turkey

• U.S. Wheat Promotion for Vietnam