NASULGC's Farm Bill Provisions

463. Borlaug International
Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program

Summary

Authorizes the “Borlaug International Agricultural
Science and Technology Fellowship Program,” to provide fellowships for
study in the United States for scientific training to individuals from
certain foreign countries who specialize in agricultural education, research
and extension. Authorizes $5 million per year to carry out three programs to
assist fellowship recipients, including: (1) A Graduate Studies Program in
Agriculture; (2) An Individual Career Improvement Program; and (3) The
Borlaug Agricultural Policy Executive Leadership Course.

Legislative
Language

SEC. 463. BORLAUG INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.

(a) Establishment.—

(1) In General.—The
Secretary of Agriculture shall establish a fellowship program to be known as
the “Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology
Fellowship Program,” to provide fellowships for scientific training to
individuals from eligible countries (as described under subsection (b)) who
specialize in agricultural education, research and extension for study in the
United States.

(2) Programs.—The Secretary
shall carry out the program established under paragraph (1) through three
programs designed to assist individual fellowship recipients as follows:

(A) A Graduate Studies Program in
Agriculture to assist individuals who participate in graduate agricultural
degree training at a U.S.
institution;

(B) An Individual Career
Improvement Program to assist agricultural scientists from developing
countries to upgrade skills and understanding in agricultural science and
technology; and

(C) The Borlaug Agricultural
Policy Executive Leadership Course to assist senior agricultural policy
makers from eligible countries with an initial focus on sub-Saharan Africa
and from the newly independent states of the former Soviet
Union.

(b) Eligible
countries.—Countries described in this subsection shall be eligible to
participate in the program established under this section:

(1) Low-income country.—A
country with low per capita income that receives foreign aid assistance from
the United States to promote employment opportunities, increase income levels
and levels of living, particularly in the rural areas, and to reduce rural
poverty through increased agricultural productivity.

(2) Middle-income
country.—A country that has developed economically to the point where
it no longer qualifies for bilateral foreign aid assistance from the United
States because its per capita income level exceeds the eligibility
requirements of such assistance programs (hereafter referred to in this
section as a “middle-income” country).

(3) Ongoing relationship.—A
middle-income country that has never qualified for bilateral foreign aid
assistance from the United States, but with respect to which an ongoing
relationship with the United States, including technical assistance and
training, would provide mutual benefits to such country and the United
States.

(4) Type of government.—A
country that is transforming its system of government from a
non-representative type to a representative democracy and that is encouraging
democratic institution building, and the cultural values, institutions, and
organizations of democratic pluralism.

(5) Independent States of the
Former Soviet Union.—A country that is an independent state of the
former Soviet Union as defined in section 102(8) of the Agricultural Trade
Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602 (8)), to the extent that the Secretary of
Agriculture determines that the United States and the country could benefit
from the eligibility and participation of the country in the program
established under this section.

(c) Purpose of
fellowships.—Fellowships under this section shall promote food security
and economic growth in eligible countries by educating a new generation of
agricultural scientists, increasing scientific knowledge and collaborative
research to improve agricultural productivity, and extending this knowledge
to users and their intermediaries in the market place. Fellowships shall
support:

(1) Training and collaborative
research opportunities through exchanges for entry-level international
agricultural research scientists, faculty and policymakers from eligible
countries.

(2) Collaborative research to
improve agricultural productivity;

(3) The transfer of new science
and agricultural technologies to strengthen agricultural practice; and

(4) The reduction of barriers to
technology adoption.

(d) Fellowship Recipients.—

(1) Eligible
Candidates.—The Secretary may provide fellowships under the program
authorized by this section to individuals from eligible countries who
specialize in or have experience in agricultural education, research,
extension, or related fields, including individuals from the public and
private sectors, and private agricultural producers.

(2) Candidate Identification.—The
Secretary shall utilize the expertise of U.S. land-grant and similar
universities, international organizations working in agricultural research
and outreach, and national agricultural research organizations to help
identify program candidates for fellowships under this section from both the
public and private sectors of eligible countries.

(e) Use of
Fellowships.—Fellowships shall promote collaborative programs between
agricultural professionals of eligible countries with those of the United
States and the international agricultural research system and, as
appropriate, with U.S. entities conducting research. They will be used to
support fellowship recipients through the Graduate Studies Program in
Agriculture established under subsection (a)(2)(A).

(f) Program
implementation.—The Secretary shall provide for the management,
coordination, evaluation and monitoring of the overall Borlaug International
Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program and for the individual
programs described in subsection (a)(2), except that the Secretary may
contract out to one or more collaborating universities the management of one
or more of the fellowship programs.

(g) Oversight Board.—The
Secretary shall establish an oversight board to oversee activities of the
Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program.
The board shall consist of—

(1) two representatives from the
Latin American region;

(2) two representatives from the
African region;

(3) two representatives from the
South Asian region;

(4) two representatives from the
East Asian region;

(5) two representatives from United States
land-grant universities;

(6) two representatives from
development or donor organizations;

(7) two
representatives from agricultural industries.

The board will advise the office in the Foreign
Agricultural Service of the Department of Agriculture responsible for
managing the program on program priorities and related matters, including
annual priority regions and countries, annual priority topics for exchanges,
and sources of complementary funding and other alternative funding.

(h)
Authorization of Appropriations.—There are authorized to be
appropriated without fiscal year limitation such sums as may be necessary to
carry out the program established under this section, except that the amount
of such funds in any fiscal year shall not exceed—

(1) for the Graduate Studies
Program in Agriculture established under subsection (a)(2)(A), $1,250,000;

(2) for the Individual Career
Improvement Program established under subsection (a)(2)(B), $2,500,000; and

(3) for
the Borlaug Agricultural Policy Executive Leadership Course established under
subsection (a)(2)(C), $1,250,000.

(i)
Complementary funds.—If the Secretary of Agriculture determines that it
is advisable in furtherance of the purposes of the program established under
this section, the Secretary may accept money, funds, property, and services
of every kind by gift, devise, bequest, grant, or otherwise, and may, in any
manner, dispose of all such holdings and use the receipts generated from such
disposition as general program funds under this section. All funds so
designated for the program established under this section shall remain
available until expended.