• Mission
• Vision and Strategic Directions
• Accomplishments

Mission

The overall mission of the LSU AgCenter is to provide off-campus educational programs that disseminate technological, economic and management information to agribusinesses, rural and urban communities, and to conduct health, food safety, youth and leadership programs throughout the state. The specific mission of International Programs is to implement the LSU AgCenter’s international research, education and outreach programs. International Programs complements and strengthens the mission of the AgCenter through its international endeavors by extending its work and purpose beyond state borders.

This mission is accomplished through a variety of mechanisms, including overseas development projects, feasibility studies, university collaboration in joint teaching, research, faculty/student exchanges, and collaboration with U.S. government agencies and private sector entities. These programs are funded through a variety of sources, including the U.S. government, international donor institutions and the U.S. private sector. Feasibility studies in collaboration with U.S. private sector entities often have the goal of developing trade with Louisiana private and public entities.

International Programs also actively contributes to U.S. foreign assistance programs. Over the past 50 years, the LSU AgCenter has led the LSU System’s international outreach and exchange efforts by working in and with more than 30 countries spanning four continents. This work has brought recognition to the LSU AgCenter for technology generation and technical assistance in agriculture, natural resources, human resource development and outreach/extension. Its programs have been highlighted in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Frontlines monthly, and on USAID’s central (Washington D.C.) and Ukraine Mission websites. Currently, its programs span 13 countries in five regions of the world.

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Vision and Strategic Directions

As a participant in international development even before the formation of USAID and foreign assistance programs, International Programs fulfilled many needs in education, research, human capacity and institution building around the world. Two notable early efforts include the LSU AgCenter’s assistance in successfully planning and developing the premier agricultural university in Malaysia and the college of agriculture in Venezuela. Since the 1950s and 1960s, the LSU AgCenter’s vision of International Programs has evolved in the following directions:

• Programmatic excellence.
• Experience in specific regions of the world.
• Strategic partnerships with U.S. private-sector and overseas partners.

Programmatic areas of excellence have emerged from LSU AgCenter’s traditional areas of national and international renown. Commodity-specific areas include rice, sugarcane and aquaculture. New programmatic areas such as outreach education, organic solid waste management, forest products marketing, food industry support, food safety and security, community development and strategic planning have brought new prominence to the AgCenter’s efforts abroad. Current strategic program directions include traditional commodity expertise, outreach systems planning and implementation, market linkages, and food-safety systems

Expertise in specific regions of the globe has been developed based upon both prior and recent programs. For example, previous efforts have led to regional expertise in West Africa and Central America, while more recent projects, combined with a sustained commitment by the LSU AgCenter leadership in newer regions of the world, have brought recognition among donors for our programs in Eastern Europe and Southern Africa. Current and future regional foci include Eastern Europe, Eurasia, West Africa, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America and Central Asia.

Assistance programs are becoming more diverse, and strategic partnerships have become central in modern development efforts worldwide. International Programs demonstrates an understanding of this situation by addressing whole industry sectors and the full rural or industry sector "space," rather than only the specific aspects in which it might have experience. For example, International Programs partnered with leading cold chain experts in 2001 for the successful implementation of the Partnerships for Food Industry Development program. Strategic partnerships are important in competing for, receiving awards for and implementing U.S. foreign assistance programs. International Programs has emphasized strategic partnerships with the U.S. private sector, institutions and universities overseas with potential for two-way exchange and with specific agencies of the U.S. government, such as the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). Further, ties with individual researchers, organizations and governments allow for a more internationalized university community, which contributes to more comprehensive agricultural research and extension programs for the state of Louisiana and provides opportunities to promote Louisiana agricultural products abroad.

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Accomplishments

As mentioned previously, within the LSU System, the LSU AgCenter has led international outreach and exchange efforts in and with more than 30 countries spanning four continents. As a result, the LSU AgCenter is internationally known in the areas of technology generation and technical assistance in agriculture, natural resources, human resource development and outreach/extension. Regional expertise includes West Africa, Southern Africa, Central America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. Client satisfaction is demonstrated by a number of follow-on contracts awarded to the AgCenter based on successful completed work and the showcasing of project successes in USAID’s Frontlines monthly and on the websites of USAID in Washington and the USAID Ukraine Mission.

Many of the AgCenter’s international efforts have been funded by USAID and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Since 1998, International Programs has had active programs in Ukraine, Indonesia, Moldova, Honduras, Indonesia, El Salvador and South Africa and currently manages projects distributed over 13 countries. The portfolio is recognized by sister land-grant universities in the United States and by agencies and the U.S. private sector as evidenced by many requests to provide assistance to agencies and the private sector and for partnering arrangements.