A four day Borlaug Fellowship workshop, which lasted from August 11 to 14, was held at the US-Embassy’s Foreign Agriculture Service for the purpose of linking female agribusiness entrepreneurs from the sectors of Ethiopian coffee, diary and feed sectors with local agricultural research community and scientists from Penn State University.

The workshop presented participants a network which they can access the latest research and best practices in Ethiopia, neighboring countries, and the United States.

Participants of the workshop were also taken to a site visit to a local research center, several dairy operations and a feed manufacturer where they witnessed to their eyes how to apply what they were being trained.

During the workshop, Borlaug alumnae along with their Penn State mentors presented their research and technical expertise with women- owned agribusinesses. This presentation included different topics including dairy production, livestock management, food safety, and the industrialization of injera.

According to The Ethiopian Herlad, USDA’s Borlaug Fellowship program promotes food security and economic growth by providing training and collaborative agriculture-related research opportunities to fellows from developing and middle-income countries. Borlaug fellows are generally scientists, researchers or policymakers who are in the early or middle stages of their careers. Each fellow works one-on-one with a mentor at a U.S. university, research center or government agency, usually for 6-12 weeks. The U.S. mentor will later visit the fellow’s home institution to continue collaboration.

The workshop was funded under the Feed the Future initiative.

Source: The Ethiopian Herald