Clemson trains S.C. National Guard agriculture team for Afghanistan

There isn’t much orange in U.S. Army fatigues, but Clemson University is leaving its mark in Afghanistan.

For the first time, a unit of the S.C. Army National Guard has deployed to the southwest Asia country with agriculture agents trained by Clemson extension and Public Service Activities.

Twelve of the 64 members in the unit were trained during the summer to help Afghan farmers with agricultural techniques as part of the guard’s Afghanistan Agribusiness Development Team.

The unit has deployed to Afghanistan for about a year. For security reasons, the unit’s location was not disclosed.

The unit received extensive cultural and language training by an Afghan native at the McCrady Training Center, the S.C. National Guard’s training center at Fort Jackson. The agriculture agents, who will conduct similar roles to that of Clemson extension agents, received specialist training on the main campus from Clemson faculty.

They will provide information to Afghan farmers similar to that provided by Clemson extension agents to South Carolina farmers.

For Clemson’s Mac Horton, director of the Sandhill Research and Education Center in Columbia who coordinated the National Guard training with Clemson, the unit’s deployment is “just another extension mission,” except this time the agents are traveling across oceans to another continent.

“When someone says they need Clemson’s help with an agriculture issue, it’s our obligation to help,” Horton said.

The U.S. military recognized the need for such teams in late 2007. Across Afghanistan, Agriculture Development Teams from more than a dozen states, including Indiana, Tennessee and Texas, have helped Afghan farmers with their agricultural endeavors.



Source: www.clemson.edu

Publication date: 11/18/2009

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