UF/IFAS International Programs Office Activities in 2008

New Projects in 2008

Ongoing Projects Continued in 2008

Distinguished Guests and Visitors in 2008

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The UF/IFAS International Programs (IP) office had a busy year in 2008.  Here are highlights of the new projects initiated by or in collaboration with the IP office in calendar year 2008.

New Projects in 2008

• Improving incomes of smallholder rice farmers in coastal Ecuador:
  A collaborative research project with ESPOL (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral) in Guayaquil, Ecuador was launched in 2008. ESPOL, in collaboration with UF and a local NGO known as FUNDAR, has obtained $297,000 for a three-year project to improve the incomes of smallholder rice farmers in Ecuador through an applied research and technology transfer program in soil fertility management. The project will also pay for four students who will be candidates for MS degrees at UF.
• Florida-Spain partnership to strengthen organic agriculture research and education:
  A $100,000 grant from USDA through the International Science and Education (ISE) program has been awarded through the Horticultural Sciences Department to internationalize organic agriculture education, research, and extension programs at the University of Florida (UF) by building on an existing relationship with the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) in Spain.
• Uganda organic coffee certification training program:
  The Ugandan Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) is funding UF (~$75,000) to develop and deliver an organic coffee certification training program to improve the capacity of Uganda to export USDA certified organic coffee into the US market. Initial training was completed in late October 2008 following a preliminary faculty mission in June 2008. Continuing discussions with UCDA focus on research and educational collaborations to support the initiative.
• Collaboration with Brazilian universities through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) program, U.S. Department of Education:
  Two new FIPSE grants have been awarded to UF/IFAS in addition to two continuing grants to support the U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program run cooperatively by the governments of the United States and Brazil (total funding ~ $500,000.)Several UF faculty and the IFAS/IP Associate Director attended the U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program meeting 8-10 October 2008 in Rio de Janeiro as part of this effort.
• Vietnam Codex Office Internship to the U.S. Codex Office on seafood safety standards training:
  The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service has contracted with UF/IFAS to manage and direct a three-month internship for a Vietnamese national to assist that country in more fully participating in international food safety standard-setting bodies and to adopt the Codex Alimentarius and other internationally recognized standards related to agricultural trade for use in Vietnam. Our effort is envisioned as the launch of a long term UF/IFAS relationship with Codex offices throughout South and East Asia.  Funding in the amount of $60,000 has been committed for the initial effort with Vietnam, an effort that will focus principally on seafood product safety.
• Grant to strengthen agribusiness training in the Faculté d’Agronomie et de Médecine Vétérinaire (FAMV) of Haiti’s National University:
  The overall goal of the partnership is to build and strengthen relationships between the FAMV faculty and the Haitian business community by developing curricula that are timely, relevant, responsive to market demands, and representative of actual business conditions in Haiti to develop Haiti’s agri-business sector. Funding is $300,000.
• 44th Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Food Crops Society (CFCS), Miami Beach, July 13-17, 2008:
  IFAS International Programs provided leadership to organize the highly successful conference that brought together 300+ participants from 22 nations in the Caribbean Basin, North America, and Europe.  Over $200,000 in funding support was provided by an array of donors to organize the meeting, which met in Miami Beach.
• Training program on Crop Growth Simulation Models, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, August 25-28, 2008;
  IFAS International Programs and the Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department jointly conducted a four-day training program for 16 participants working in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala on a World Bank funded project to develop crop insurance programs for smallholder farmers in Central America. UF was awarded $10,000 to conduct the training program.
• Study tour of biofuels industry in São Paulo state, Brazil, June 2008, with eight UF/IFAS faculty and five Florida county commissioners:
  IFAS International Programs organized a study tour of the biofuels industry in Brazil for a group of 13 participants including five County Extension Faculty members matched with five County Commissioners and three additional UF faculty members. Funding support (~$30,000) was provided by IFAS Extension.
• International Conference on Research & Educational Opportunities in Bio-Fuel Crop Production, EARTH University, Costa Rica, November 17-19, 2008:
  EARTH University and UF jointly organized this International Conference at the EARTH campus in Costa Rica.. More than 150 participants heard presentations, including those by several UF participants.
• Scientific Cooperation Exchange Program linking the People’s Republic of China to the International Distance Diagnostic and Identification System Network:
  The USDA/FAS and IFAS International Programs jointly sponsoring a two-week visit to China by five UF faculty who have been involved in the development and implementation of the Distance Diagnostic and Identification System (DDIS) to explore the possibility of implementing a similar program in China.

Ongoing Projects Continued in 2008

USAID Initiative for Long-term Training and Capacity Building – Malawi: Six professionals from Bunda College and the Ministry of Agriculture in Malawi arrived in Gainesville on 16 August 2008 to begin graduate studies for the M.S. degree. Their two-year graduate programs are being funded by USAID-Malawi; the amount provided to UF is $252,928. These funds include travel to Malawi for each major professor to guide graduate student research.

Borlaug Fellows from Iraq: Two Fellows scheduled to work on water management issues at the Everglades REC; additional two to work on Extension training with the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication in Gainesville for 6-week period in Spring 2009. Total funds received = $72,631.

Borlaug Fellow from El Salvador: One Fellow worked at the Tropical REC on cell and tissue culture techniques for the improvement of tropical and subtropical fruit species. Total funds received = $15,161.

Cochran Fellows: Four food scientists from Venezuela hosted for two weeks during summer by the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Funding support = $19,000.

Study Tour of Florida Agriculture: IFAS/IP arranged and managed a one week program for 18 students and 2 administrative leaders from the National Agricultural University of Honduras.

Distinguished Guests and Visitors in 2008

Embrapa US Labex/Beltsville and Europe Labex/Montpellier: Embrapa Labex directors spent two days in Gainesville discussing research collaboration and placement of young scientists at UF for advanced degrees.

Director General of The World Vegetable Center: Dr. Dyno Keatinge, the DG of The World Vegetable Center (Taiwan), spent two days in Gainesville meeting with faculty in the plant science units, principally Horticultural Sciences, to discuss collaboration on research and educational issues as well as partnership in the pending Horticulture CRSP (Collaborative Research Support Program).

Leonardo Taylhardat and Jose Clavijo: The Dean of Agricultural Sciences at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) in Maracay visited UF 27-30 May 2008. A follow-up visit was made on 5 September by Jose Clavijo, professor and international collaboration leader at UCV.

Chonghua Zhang: Dr. Zhang, UF/IFAS representative in China, visited UF in July and September as part of our efforts to establish a strong presence in China.

Eng. Ismael Haiderzadah: Mr. Haiderzadah, the Director of Agriculture for Herat Province, Afghanistan, visited UF for two days as part of an effort to strengthen the Department of Agriculture in that province.

Luis Matos: Mr. Matos, senior scientist from IDIAF, the agroforestry research institute in the Dominican Republic, was hosted for a week in Florida to discuss research collaboration, especially management of citrus diseases.

Contact: David Sammons, sammons@ufl.edu

• Back to February 2009 International Focus Newsletter