nigeria

The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) is working with the Nigerian government to help the country ensure its exported and imported food stays safe from farm to fork.

The training is part of FAS capacity-building efforts that support the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) of 2000, which aims to boost sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth, spur development and reduce poverty.

At the invitation of the Nigerian government, FAS sent a team of experts to conduct an assessment of Nigeria’s food safety system. They discovered Nigeria needed help developing a program to enforce food safety standards.

Today the United Nations is celebrating the first World Statistics Day, to raise awareness of official statistics, which are premised on the core value of service, professionalism and integrity. As one of the principal statistical agencies in the U.S., the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has been heavily involved in establishing and improving agricultural statistics systems in countries around the world since the end of World War II.

This week marks World Trade Week within the U.S. government. Even though every week is world trade week at the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), this formal recognition gives the agency the opportunity to emphasize the importance of international trade and how FAS programs directly impact the ability for American farmers and producers to find markets for their products overseas.