FAS International Staff Get a Taste of U.S. Southwest Agriculture

Locally Employed (LE) staff from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) offices around the world were in the United States recently, exchanging information with American farmers, producers, and researchers and learning about USDA programs, agricultural innovation, and supply chain issues.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has nearly 100 overseas offices covering 180 countries. In addition to FAS officers, approximately 320 locals staff these offices, whose insight into their countries' culture, politics, and business makes them an invaluable asset to FAS and American farmers, ranchers, and producers.

LE staff are the backbone of American agriculture's international presence. FAS strives to provide them with opportunities to engage with the industries they support and promote. From July 8-12, LE staff from around the world had such an opportunity when they traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual FAS Global Conference, which brought together the heads of FAS's international offices. The LE staff then went to the American Southwest for a series of site visits that exposed them to the breadth and depth of U.S. agriculture along the entire supply chain.

While in Arizona and New Mexico, the staff members experienced a cross section of U.S. agriculture, including farms, intertribal producers, and research institutions. Noteworthy visits included meetings with local pecan farmers and a network of indigenous farmers. They also met with researchers from the University of Arizona and Mexico State University to learn about desert agriculture and research and made stops to learn about salsa production, distilling, and cattle crossing.

The training benefits FAS staff, who develop a deeper understanding of U.S. agriculture and gain insights from their counterparts serving in other countries. However, the ultimate beneficiary is the U.S. agricultural industry, which has an enthusiastic corps of dedicated LE staff around the world to promote its products and advocate on its behalf.

Here are a few testimonies from the participants:

"During the LE staff tour, I was able to talk to U.S. farmers, researchers, and representatives from agricultural and indigenous associations. By talking to them and seeing their work firsthand, I understood how significant FAS's role is in promoting their products and telling their stories abroad. Moreover, meeting FAS colleagues from 20 countries around the world was a great way to share experiences and practices that could improve my own work. I can say that I already incorporated some of those practices into my reporting in Santiago, Chile, and that I have a lot of new ideas to improve our promotion activities in the near future.'"
-Sergio González, Agricultural Specialist, FAS Santiago, Chile

"Attending the LE staff training tour on agriculture, with a focus on indigenous culture, in Arizona and New Mexico was an eye-opening experience. It deepened my appreciation for the rich traditions and sustainable practices that have been cultivated over generations. Traveling with colleagues from around the world added immense value, as we collaborated on how to work together to promote U.S. agriculture and food globally, reinforcing our shared mission to bring the best of U.S. agricultural practices to the world stage.'"
-Cleo Fu, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, FAS Taipei, Taiwan