Event Information

A new era of pandemic related travel restrictions challenged us all to rethink the way we share and learn. Adapting to this adversity web-based distance learning can provide a powerful tool for training and capacity building from afar. Since 2012 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Agency for International Development (USAID) have partnered to complement in-person training's on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regulatory issues with web-based distance learning modules.

To date more than fourteen different learning pathways have been developed and are publicly available  including topics such as United States’ market access, phytosanitary certification, pest-risk analysis and other plant health issues vital to safeguarding a country’s agricultural production systems and supporting efforts to become better trading partners and players in the international agricultural trading system. The distance learning modules are available in English, Spanish, and French and have now been utilized in 93 countries by more than 1077 unique users. 

On Wednesday, August 26th at 9am EST USDA’s Food Safety Network and Texas A&M University’s Center for Educational Technologies hosted a webinar on “Improving Food Safety Capacity from Afar." The webinar provided an overview of the SPS distance learning modules with practical experiences from Pakistan and Cambodia and discussion on how Feed the Future programs can take advantage of this tool. 

Improving Ag Trade Capacity from Afar Webinar - FSN 08.26.2020 from The CET on Vimeo.