Texas a&M University and Iresa Tunisie: International Partnership for Sustainable Soil Management.

As part of the U.S. Department of State’s (U.S.D.O.S.) mission to ‘create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community’, a pilot partnership between Texas A&M University AgriLife Research and Extension and IRESA Tunisie (l’Institution de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supèrieur Agricoles) was fostered by the U.S. Embassy in Tunis and the U.S.D.O.S. The purpose of the partnership was to initiate and facilitate the exchange of research, teaching, and extension resources in the area of sustainable soil management. Four workshops wherein faculty from each institution traveled between Tunisia and Texas were held to 1) enhance knowledge of each institution’s capacity and resources 2) build a strong cooperation for innovation 3) enhance technology and knowledge transfer between institutions, and 4) design collaborative funded research for development projects. This presentation provides a summary of the program workshops, highlights the accomplishments of the partnership, and emphasizes the need for similar collaborative international partnerships to foster innovation exchange and to fulfill the mission of the Land Grant University system and the U.S.D.O.S.