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The Cochran Program: Trade Through Opportunity
By Jill Lee
Mark Hitt, administrator of
International Marketing Programs with the Missouri State
Department of Agriculture, is waiting for a visitor from Ghana,
arriving from Manhattan, Kansas.
"He has a very strong idea of what he wants: drying equipment, milling equipment, bagging equipment and elevator legs. When he comes to Jefferson City, we will be happy to show him what Missouri manufacturers have to offer, " says Hitt. The man from Ghana, Martin Amankwah, is not, however, an ordinary buyer–he is also a student. And not just any student-Amankwah is a participant in the Cochran Fellowship Program, an innovative international training effort of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
So, in addition to shopping for agricultural equipment, Amankwah took a course in feed processing at the International Grains Program in Kansas.
Amankwah, an agricultural engineer, is manager of MGV Enterprise in Sunyani, Ghana. It is a grain handling and marketing company which he also runs as an agricultural consultancy business.
Ultimately, he would like to expand his business into a feed processing plant and poultry farm.
"Before I started my own business I was working in a government organization involved in drying and storage of corn. During my training program, I discovered with shock that the average-sized elevator in the United States handles more grain in a year than this organization’s annual nationwide level. What’s more, the workforce at the U.S. elevators was just a handful, by Ghanaian standards."
Amankwah paused, then continued in a reflective tone. "The observation has left me ever thinking: if they are handling grain this much and this well in the States, then there must be the possibility of mightily improving grain handling efficiency in my country, Ghana."
Yaw Asante Kwabiah, an FAS’ agricultural marketing expert in Ghana, was Amankwah’s roommate in college. Amankwah found out about the Cochran Program when Asante Kwabiah brought FAS agricultural attache Fred Kessel to visit Amankwah’s facility. Kessel was doing a study on food security in the region. While Cochran is a real benefit to its international participants, it is also a big help to their U.S. sponsors.
"A lot of people don’t realize that, when companies or small business owners overseas buy equipment to crush soybeans for animal meal, they end up buying more soybeans. This means our farmers sell more product," said Mark Hitt, with the Missouri government.
What Is the Cochran Program?
In the 1980s, members of Congress wanted a new way to kick-start trade relationships with emerging nations. From that, an innovative program was born combining international training with the promotion of U.S. agriculture.
The Cochran Fellowship Program was named for Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) who spearheaded the creation of this outreach effort.
Cochran provides short-term (three to six weeks) U.S.-based training in agricultural business practices, economic policies, food retailing, and other areas.
It is designed to help middle- income and emerging market nations develop food systems and trade linkages. Geared to mid- and senior-level professionals, Cochran works in some 60 countries worldwide.
"The year 1999 has been a banner year for Cochran," said program leader Gary Laidig of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "The growth has been in both number of participants and investment from the agencies that support this program."
Through this year, AgExporter magazine will be looking at a variety of Cochran projects throughout the world--and how other FAS programs have been tailored to complement what they do. Here are a few examples of Cochran in action.
A Growing Program in the Caribbean
Recent outreach efforts have expanded the number of Cochran fellows coming from the Caribbean.
One of them is Connie Brooks, owner of Ashley & Sons, a family-owned store in Anguilla.
Recently, Brooks attended a Cochran program in supermarket management which took her to Genuardi’s Family Markets in Philadelphia, Pa., where she learned about frequent buyer cards. Many U.S. stores use these cards to keep track of consumer preferences. To give customers incentives to participate, they offer card discounts to help ensure customer loyalty.
Although Brooks must rely on low-tech inventory counts to track sales, she decided to adapt the concept, offering card incentives to keep people coming back.
"Since I don’t have a computerized store, I just give my customers a card and each time they present their card, I give them a 10 percent discount," she says.
Baking Up Profits With U.S. Wheat
South African Cochran fellow Rozita Andrew recently attended classes at the National Baking Center in Dunwoody, Minnesota. Her goal: how to spot problems with flour prior to processing baked goods, and how to correct and adjust for them.
As a processing technologist for Specialty Seafoods, in Cape Town, Andrews is the first line of defense for quality. Her company, which employs 300 people, makes puff pastry, breads and pizza dough. If the products don’t come out right she has to suggest what needs to be changed, whether it’s factory equipment or employee training, new methods or formulations.
"We’ve had tremendous problems with flour. African-grown wheat is very inconsistent and the quality and quantity of protein varies dramatically. Moreover, we don’t have a lab to check the flour before baking," she said.
Andrews recently began buying from a supplier in Johannesburg who blends U.S. wheat with African varieties. She said this has helped the quality, but that the product still isn’t always consistent. What really was called for was learning to spot flour trouble, and ways to circumvent the problems by adapting the equipment, processing methods or formulas.
"In the past we would end up with product we couldn’t sell and we would not know why," Andrews said. "We would have to work through trial and error. This training will help us produce consistently in spite of the enormous differences in flour."
Andrews found out about the Cochran Program from the U.S. Wheat Associates, a U.S. commodity organization which has an outreach office in Africa.
Cochran’s Agricultural Diversity
Cochran provids training in more than food products and supermarket management. Some of the programs are about agricultural science and farm management.
Ask Dennis Bergquist, of Ridgewater College, in Hutchinson, Minn., who’s been teaching dairy management skills for 24 years. Not only has he trained Cochran fellows and students from other international program from 45 countries, he often follows up with teaching visits to the dairies of his former students.
"During Cochran training, we take them first to a regulatory agency, then to laboratories that test milk for quality. We also tour a dairy plant to show them how ice cream and other products are made," said Bergquist. "We then take them to an Amish community, so they can see how farmers who don’t use electricity can still meet U.S. quality standards. That has been especially popular with participants from Moldova and other developing countries."
Last year, Bergquist had his first fellows from Vietnam. This year, Bergquist hosted two new fellows from that country. One is Huan Thuong Nguyen, owner of Vi Huan Co., Ltd. of Ho Chi Minh City.
He took some powdered milk samples from one of the processing plants, and will explore the possibility of exporting it to Vietnam when he returns home.
"I would like to apply to build and manage a dairy processing factory in Vietnam, and I would like to learn more about how the industry operates in the United States," said Thuong Nguyen.
Nguyen’s company supplies dairy equipment to Vietnamese dairy farmers, so he has a ready-made list of contacts to form this new venture.
Nguyen’s partner in this Cochran fellowship was Trinh Tien Mia, production manager at Hanoi Milk Processing, who was interested in learning first-hand about on-farm milk storage and handling.
In 1999, Congress appropriated $3.5 million to fund the Cochran program, and the U.S. Agency for International Development provided $1.8 million for programs in the Newly Independent States. USDA, through its Emerging Markets Program, invested $1.2 million.
The number of participants by region in fiscal year 1999: Asia, 131; Africa, 100; Eastern Europe, 215; Latin America, 149; and Newly Independent States, 189.
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The author is a public affairs specialist with the FAS Information Division, USDA, Washington, D.C. Tel.: (202) 720-7939; Fax: (202) 720-1727; e-mail: leejill@fas.usda.gov
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