We are pleased to announce our marketing officer Ms. Shanee Wickham has been accepted into the Cochran Fellowship Program (CFP) 2019. The CFP is an international fellowship that provides short-term agricultural based training opportunities to professionals from developing countries for three (3) weeks during the summer/fall 2019 in the United States of America. The program focuses on areas relating to agricultural trade, agribusiness development and marketing. ECTAD is now seeking monetary assistance to fund our officer in attending the program.

The objective of the training program is to improve the post-harvest capacities and marketability of Caribbean fresh produce. Ultimately, its goal is to increase the Caribbean’s capacity for participation in international trade.

The CFP provides training in a number of sectors, including:

1. Information sharing and technology transfer
2. Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)
3. Food safety regulations
4. Food safety, risk analysis, risk management
5. Organization and management of post-harvest
6. Import and export procedures and processes
7. Pre- and post-shipment preparation
8. Quality assurances and controls
9. Understanding of U.S. produce import and export requirements

As part of our mission, ECTAD works with partners all over the world in sharing of good practices, innovation, indigenous and new knowledge; a vision shared by our country team volunteers in Suriname, Guyana and Jamaica. Our aim is to create a sustained, economic and social prosperity for rural farming communities in the Caribbean. Our ultimate goal is for our Caribbean farmers to be in a better position to meet the demands of local retail, food service, and export to the U.S market.