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What’s Doing In The Delta?
by Jill Lee
The Mississippi Delta is one
of the most fertile agricultural areas in the United
States–indeed quite possibly, in the world. yet it is also
home to several impoverished rural and minority communities with
inadequate roads, health care and education.
To help alleviate the region’s pockets of rural poverty, many Federal and state agencies are already at work, assisting in everything from enhancing nutrition for children to improving roads. What could an internationally focused agency such as the FAS have to offer the Delta?
Actually, a great deal.
Opportunity by Location
In the 1990s, a host of international trade negotiations changed the way the world sells agricultural goods. While these talks involved world trade, they had real implications for the Delta’s future.
The Southeast is strategically located to benefit from two of these agreements: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. Both agreements opened opportunities in key markets.
"The Delta is in a great geostrategic location to serve Latin American countries, from Mexico south," says FAS outreach expert Karl Hampton. "The Delta produces crops that Latin Americans are completely familiar with. Their growing seasons are opposite to South America’s. This creates a ready-made demand for the Delta’s agricultural products."
Many industries already know the area’s value as an access point to Latin America. Louisiana is a main hub for flights there. Moreover, there is no transportation link that’s more vital to U.S. agriculture than the Mississippi River. With these key assets in mind, FAS has been actively involved in building international opportunity in the Delta.
An Investment in Exporting
The Delta Initiative, a Federal-state partnership, has been working to improve the quality of life and economic opportunity for Delta residents. The program covers Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and Kentucky.
As part of FAS’ contribution to
this initiative, Hampton attends agricultural field days
throughout the Southeast. These events are usually held by
universities or farmers’ cooperatives. Here, he tells Delta
residents about the opportunities of exporting.
He also travels south to counsel beginning exporters on business skills they will need to prosper in the international marketplace.
Sometimes he helps minority-owned cooperatives develop plans for breaking into world trade. A case in point would be the Delta Catfish Farming Initiative of Yazoo City, Mississippi, whom Hampton is helping to research markets and develop an international business plan.
"We’re setting up an initiative to establish black-owned catfish processing plants supplied by catfish ponds managed by African-Americans," said the Reverend Ronald Myers, of the Myers Foundation, which is spearheading this effort. "We are very interested in exporting and have contacts in Africa and Latin America."
Hampton is also helping one of the newest members of the Southern Federation, the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives in Mt. Bayou, Miss., organize its efforts.
He also works with individual business owners. Susan S. Cox, president of Susie’s of Mississippi, makes gourmet cakes and breads. Through a meeting with Hampton, Cox learned how to participate in FAS’ Market Access Program, and attended a trade show in Argentina.
Training for Exporters
But outreach efforts are only a part of what USDA is doing to help small and minority businesses learn about exporting. FAS’ Emerging Markets Office is funding a three-state pilot program to train small and minority producers in export marketing.
The Export Readiness Training program,
or ERT, will be a partnership with state departments of
agriculture in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The objective is
to help participants identify, research and take advantage of
opportunities in exports, particularly in the emerging markets of
the Americas, including Central and South America, the Caribbean
and Mexico.
"For many small and minority producers, limited local marketing opportunities present a big threat to economic survival, especially in depressed or isolated rural communities," said FAS program coordinator Chris Durbin. "Exports may provide additional sales opportunities to help them grow and prosper."
While FAS is providing most of the funding, support is also coming from the Southern United States Trade Association and Small Business Development Centers throughout the region. The goal is to train 30 participants over a two-year period. Representatives from Delta state universities have been invited to attend.
Networking Makes a Difference
Another way FAS is working to ensure these Delta farmers are prepared to export is through shared knowledge and resources.
FAS signed a memorandum of understanding with the North Carolina Agriculture and Technical School and USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service and the Farm Service Agency to establish a Center for International Trade. The USDA agencies gave $160,000 to support this project to help small and disadvantaged businesses and farmers find export opportunities.
FAS also joined forces with USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service last year to organize an "Access to the Market" workshop for with limited-resource producers from eight Southeastern states in Memphis, Tenn. The focus was on opportunities for traditional southern agricultural products such as catfish, vegetables and soybeans.
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Karl Hampton is an International Trade Specialist with the
Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington, D.C. Tel.: (202)
690-0188; Fax: (202) 690-0193; E-mail: hamptonk@fas.usda.gov
Chris Durbin works in the Emerging Markets Offices of the Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington, D.C. Tel.: (202) 690-4876; Fax: (202) 690-4369; E-mail: durbin@fas.usda.gov
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