By Godson Umejiego, Bureau Chief, The Americas

The International Agricultural Fellowship Programme (IAFP) is one of the ways that the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is investing in the future. This premier fellowship is in partnership with Howard University, a historically Black research institution in Washington, D.C., founded in 1867.

The IAFP creates a path for outstanding students, particularly those from under-served communities, to pursue careers in the US Foreign Service. The program helps ensure that FAS Foreign Service Officers – who serve American agriculture at US embassies and diplomatic missions around the globe – reflect the diversity that is the strength of the United States.

Currently, the IAFP has four fellows. They started their fellowships last summer and are currently in their first year of graduate school at universities around the United States.