North Dakota Organizations Unite to Promote Regional Expertise
A delegation from Kosovo is currently visiting North Dakota to learn about the state’s agricultural extension service. The Mid-America Consultants International (MACI) group organized an International Study Group program for 10 visitors from Kosovo, which will run from August 6-18, 2012. The North Dakota Trade Office (NDTO) is one of the many North Dakota organizations which will present to the Kosovo International Study Group to help demonstrate how the state’s organizations work hand-in-hand to assist farmers, citizens and each other.
“The Kosovo group has come to North Dakota in hopes of learning possible approaches to restructuring their country’s extension system,” said Duane Hauck, NDSU Extension Service Director Emeritus and MACI group member. “We want to show them not only how NDSU Extension works but also how we connect with the Farm Bureau, the Farmers Union, the Department of Agriculture, NDTO and other agencies across the state that work together in our system to support farmers in North Dakota.”
The NDSU Extension Service provides a link between North Dakota State University and North Dakota residents. The NDSU Extension Service provides user-friendly-information that reflects research efforts in North Dakota and across the country and offer practical application of research-based knowledge. NDSU Extension focuses its work around the areas of cropping systems, community development and leadership, farm and family economics, nutrition, food safety and health, amongst others. County and area staff across the state report to NDSU Extension Service and help collect information from local farmers and citizens.
Kosovo currently has 35 municipalities with individual extension services that report to municipality mayors. The goal for Kosovo is to restructure and combine information, education and services under one umbrella to serve the whole country, similar to how North Dakota works through its Extension Service and agencies. Leading the Kosovo group is Mr. Shaban Dreshaj, Chief of Advisory Service for the Ministry of Agriculture. Other visitors include municipality leaders, professors, and private sector businesspeople.
MACI, the facilitator of the Kosovo visit, is a cooperative made up of members that provide expertise in a variety of commercial areas; MACI represents business, industry, and academic communities in the domestic and international consulting arena. Members have proven records of success in the businesses and industries of the region and offer assistance to others embarking on their own ventures. MACI can provide qualified human resources in the following areas: agriculture, accounting, business management, banking and finance, cooperatives, education, health care, insurance, and legal services, manufacturing and distribution, marketing and promotion and transportation.
The North Dakota Trade Office will meet with the Kosovo International Study Group on Thursday, August 16. For more information on any of the above programs, contact NDTO at (701) 231-1150.