Uruguayan participants of the 2004 Cochran Fellowship Program along with Agricultural Counselor Robert K. Hoff form the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, met today with local media reporters to share their learning experiences in the United States.

The Cochran Fellowship Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). It provides U.S.-based agricultural training opportunities for senior and mid-level specialists and administrators from public and private sectors who are concerned with agricultural trade, agribusiness development, management, policy, and marketing. The program offers short-term training opportunities, most ranging from two weeks to three months, depending on the objectives of the program. Participants meet with professionals in their fields, participate in field observations and industry visits, experience on-the-job training, and attend university courses and seminars.

Almost 20 years ago, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi envisioned providing training and support to help developing nations improve their agricultural systems and strengthen and enhance trade links with the United States.

Since its inception in 1984, the program has provided U.S.- based training for over 10,300 international participants from 90 countries worldwide.

The Cochran Program began working in Uruguay in 2000. It has provided training to 31 Uruguayan participants. The content of individual programs varies widely, but typical examples are Supermarket Management, Produce Handling, USDA Export Credit Programs, Meat & Poultry Inspection, Agricultural Statistics, and Grain Purchasing.

The 2004 Uruguayan participants were: Jorge Cruz Cironi in Restaurant Management, Marcelo Ilundain Petra in Agricultural Statistics, Daniel Bayce Muñoz en Biotechnology, Martha Claudio Zeballos in Organic Production and Marketing, and María del Rosario Guerrero and Eduardo Paradiso in Veterinary Epidemiology.

 

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