Program participation is open to the staff of agribusinesses, government departments, universities, and other agricultural organizations. In their own countries, applicants may be managers, technicians, scientists, professors, administrators, or policy makers. All participants must be in good health. Participants who are proficient in the oral and written usage of the English language are preferred.

Selection Procedures

Program Announcement: CFP will announce the program for each eligible country at the start of each fiscal year.

Applications: Applications are required to be completed in English (preferably typed) and should be submitted to the country’s FAS Agricultural Affairs officer. The officer will conduct an initial screening of applications to determine whether the proposed study program is appropriate and fulfills program requirements. The application must include a detailed description of the training request.

Interviews: A final pool of applicants will be selected and interviewed during country visits or by telephone by CFP staff.

Committee Selection: Final approval of CFP candidates will be made by a USDA committee on the basis of a candidate's qualifications, FAS officer recommendations, an interview, and country specific training needs.

Award Announcement: CFP will notify the FAS officer who of the recipients. The FAS officer will notify individual recipients.

Training will take place as soon as the appropriate training program can be arranged. The Cochran Fellowship Program officer selects training sites on the basis of (1) seasonal variances and growing seasons, (2) trainer availability, and (3) schedules at training sites.

International Travel

The program does not fund international travel to and from the US.

Evaluation

Program participants are expected to submit either an oral or written evaluation to their program officer upon completion of their training.

After the training program is completed, trainers and program participants correspond with one another to ensure the objectives of the training were met. This type of relationship is strongly encouraged to extend the training benefits to all involved. 

Eligibility for Re-Application

Normally, an individual is only eligible to participate in the Cochran Fellowship Program once. An individual can participate in a second Cochran training on a case-by-case basis, providing the proposed training is in an entirely different subject area and the candidate's duties and responsibilities have changed significantly. Likewise, sufficient time must have lapsed between the first and second training (normally 4 to 5 years).

For complete application information please contact us at (511) 434-3000 ext. 2491 or at Aglima@usda.gov.

For more information about the Cochran Fellowship Program please visit the website for the global program.

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