Training and Capacity
Building
FAS offers a wide range of technical
assistance, education and outreach programs for emerging markets and developing
countries that are designed to support the development of science-based
regulatory policies and promote food security. Some of the activities include:
Overseas Biotech Training/Education Program
Through seminars and educational
materials, FAS is coordinating overseas outreach activities to build regulatory
and institutional capacities and educate a variety of foreign audiences on
issues surrounding agricultural biotechnology production, consumption, and trade.
Cochran Fellowship Program Biotechnology
Training
USDA's Cochran Fellowship Program
(CFP) provides short-term U.S. training to demonstrate the benefits of
biotechnology in agriculture, and to give participants information about the
U.S. regulatory system and how that system safeguards agriculture, food, and the
environment.
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Success Stories
Biotechnology Short Courses
FAS, in cooperation
with Michigan State University, initiated a short course series on biotechnology
in October 2002 to help foreign leaders play an informed and guiding role
regarding biotechnology in their home countries. It is offered four times
per year, for 25–30 participants each time. Participants
are from local and
national government bodies, private industry, the media, non-governmental
organizations, and universities. There are sessions on the science of
biotechnology, but the course primarily focuses on biotechnology's
relationship to market access and trade in agricultural products, and the
factors influencing that relationship. The two-week program is split
between a core training curriculum and specialized training tailored to the
specific interests of the participants. The core training covers such topics
as research and development, biotech regulations, international organizations,
global economy, marketing and consumers, and food security and technical
assistance. The course includes activities in Washington, DC, and at
Michigan State University, as well as field visits in California.
Capacity Building for the Seed
Industry
FAS cooperates
with the American Seed Trade Association to implement a project designed to
expand U.S. seed trade with Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. By promoting
privatization of the seed sector and addressing trade issues such as seed
quality assurance, variety registration, and intellectual property systems, this
program is cultivating international markets for U.S. seed technologies,
including seeds enhanced through the use of biotechnology.
Biotechnology Research Capacity Building
FAS's overseas biotechnology
research capacity building activities support the development of science-based
regulatory programs, assist in the commercialization of biotechnology products,
and promote global food security. Some of the programs include:
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The FAS Scientific Cooperation
Research Program (SCRP), which supports collaboration between U.S. and
foreign scientists, frequently used agricultural biotechnology to help solve
mutual problems through basic, applied, and policy research. For example, in
FY 2002, USDA and Chinese peanut breeders began a project to use
biotechnology to increase aflatoxin resistance in peanuts. Another new
project links U.S., Indonesian, and Dutch scientists, who are utilizing
biotechnology to improve detection and identification of seed-borne
bacterial pathogens.
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FAS provides financing and
technical advice to the
International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG),
an initiative led by the National Institutes of Health. This program
supports multi-disciplinary teams to research the conservation of genetic
resources, prospect for natural products, and promote economic development
at regions with high biological diversity. ICBG's public-private
partnerships for the development of agricultural and medical biotechnology
are building important technical capacities in participating countries to
manage and commercialize biological resources and biotechnology.
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FAS manages additional
collaborative research projects through the Joint Fund for Scientific and
Technical Cooperation, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, for
activities in Eastern Europe, and through Local Currency
Programs, which are funded with foreign currencies generated from P.L.
480-authorized sales of U.S. farm products abroad. An example project that
involves biotechnology and molecular genetics is Molecular tagging and
precise transfer of rust and Karnal bunt resistance from non-progenitor
Aegilops species into cultivated wheats (1998-2003). This project
involves cooperation between the United States and India to transfer genetic leaf
rust, stripe rust, and Karnal bunt-resistance to cultivated wheats through
induced homoeologous pairing.
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In Egypt, with funding from the
U.S. Agency for International Development, FAS is managing a suite of
collaborative research projects that link scientists from Egyptian, U.S.,
and Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
institutions. Several of the projects apply molecular genetics and
microsattelite markers to identify desirable characteristics in rice, wheat,
maize, and faba bean varieties. Another activity, funded by the U.S.–Egypt
Science and Technology Joint Board, supports work by U.S. and Egyptian
scientists on agricultural biotechnology. Since 1995, about 40 collaborative biotechnology
projects (approximately $50,000 each) have been funded.
Biotechnology Activities With International
Organizations
FAS conducts an array of programs
aimed at building support for science-based biotechnology policies and standards
among international and regional bodies.
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