Under Secretary McKinney to Lead Southern Africa Trade Mission
Contact: press@fas.usda.gov or (202) 720-711
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2018 – U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney will lead a trade mission to Southern Africa Oct. 29-Nov. 2, joined by U.S. business and state government leaders seeking to expand agricultural export opportunities in the region.
The mission will be based in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, but participants will also have the opportunity to engage with potential customers from Angola, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“This trade mission is part of USDA’s continuing effort to tap into new markets for U.S. agricultural products,” McKinney said. “The Southern Africa region is typically a net importer of agricultural goods, but the majority of those imports currently come from Europe, Asia and elsewhere in Africa. We are excited about the potential to grow the United States’ market share and cultivate new customers for high-quality, cost-competitive U.S. food and farm products.”
Mission participants include leaders from the Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, North Dakota and Utah departments of agriculture, as well as representatives from the following companies and organizations:
- Alpine Distilling, Park City, Utah
- American Embryo Transfer Association, Champaign, Ill.
- American Miniature Horse Association, Alvarado, Texas
- American Simmental Association, Bozeman, Mont.
- American Specialty Foods Company, Houston, Texas
- Blue Diamond Growers, Modesto, Calif.
- Commercial Lynks Inc., Alexandria, Va.
- Dragon-Line, LLC, Ulysses, Kan.
- EuroFins Bio Diagnostics, Longmont, Colo.
- Global Export Marketing Co., Ltd., New York, N.Y.
- Global Processing, Inc., Kanawha, Iowa
- Inkrumah Agriculture, Export, & Food Services, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
- International Peanut Group LLC, Brownfield, Texas
- JM Grain, Garrison, N.D.
- Kizable Candy LLC, Clearwater, Fla.
- Livestock Exporters Association, Schaumburg, Ill.
- Mariani Packing Company, Vacaville, Calif.
- National Pork Board, Des Moines, Iowa
- National Swine Registry, West Lafayette, Ind.
- Pacific Valley Foods, Bellevue, Wash.
- Perdue Foods LLC, Salisbury, Md.
- Phytelligence, Seattle, Wash.
- Reed Red Angus, Carlin, Nev.
- Simply-Source Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
- Southern United States Trade Association, New Orleans, La.
- Strickland Ranch & Exports, Inc., Myakka City, Fla.
- That Crazy Bee Guy!, Springfield, Ohio
- Trans World Commodities, Inc., Columbia, Md.
- USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, Moscow, Idaho
- USA Rice Federation, Arlington, Va.
- U.S. Livestock Genetics Export, Inc., Mount Horeb, Wis.
- U.S. Soybean Export Council, Chesterfield, Mo.
- Virginia Natural Beef Inc., Lexington, Va.
- Zafi Beverages Technologies, Inc., Bensenville, Ill.