Agricultural attaché

An agricultural attaché is a diplomat who collects, analyzes, and acts on information on agriculture, agribusiness, food, and other related spheres in a foreign country or countries. Agricultural attachés may be directly employed by the sending country's agriculture ministry, or they may be employed by the foreign ministry. Typical activities of an agricultural attaché include reporting on crop conditions, food availability, domestic agricultural policy and the foreign trade outlook in agricultural commodities; negotiating food aid agreements and agricultural credit lines; implementing agricultural technical assistance programs; facilitating professional contacts, exchanges, and technology transfer; assisting in negotiating bilateral and multilateral trade agreements; and promoting the exports of agricultural and food products. In many cases, agricultural attachés may also bear responsibility for issues related to the environment, food security, food safety, fisheries, forestry, and indeed anything related to rural areas and the rural economy.

The emergence of agricultural attachés with diplomatic status grew out of the posting of agricultural commissioners in the 19th century. In modern times, although the term "agricultural attaché" is commonly applied to diplomats responsible for agricultural affairs, these diplomats often possess other, higher diplomatic titles and ranks, up to and including the rank of minister-counselor.

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