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6-12-2024
Big Picture Report: June 2024
Bernadette Wiltz-Lang, SUSTA
I’m happy to share that SUSTA has received funding under USDA’s new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP). Under the leadership of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, USDA unveiled RAPP in October 2023, authorizing $1.2 billion in Commodity Credit Corporation funding to help U.S. exporters expand their customer base beyond traditional and established markets. This funding will be allocated over the next several years among 66 different organizations, including SUSTA.
RAPP’s focus in on supporting U.S. exports to new markets in parts of the world – South and Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa – where the middle class is growing and the demand for high-quality food and agriculture products is increasing.
Specifically, SUSTA’s RAPP strategies are focused on helping diversify exports in a number growing markets, including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Morocco in Africa, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam in Asia, and Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic and Guatemala, the Caribbean, as well as Colombia, Peru, Chile and Brazil. These are key countries where consumer demand and purchasing power are growing.
Indeed, these markets have already proven successful for many SUSTA companies, particularly those participating in the 50% CostShare program, but also under the Global Events program as well. Over the past two years, companies have reported notable sales growth in these markets, particularly South Africa, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and India. In 2023, several companies reported expanding their export business with new, first time sales to Ghana, Morocco, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Costa Rica.
Despite this success, many Southern food and agribusiness companies may not be aware of the potential and opportunities in these developing markets and thus may overlook them as a source of growth in their export strategies. Thus, SUSTA’s RAPP strategy will provide companies with targeted opportunities and market education to make meaningful business connections in these dynamic and long-term growth oriented markets.
Needless, to say, SUSTA is grateful to USDA for RAPP, which is placing a value on market diversification, maximizing growth, and mitigating export market risk by supplementing export market development in traditional markets. We are looking forward to growing Southern U.S. products’ global reach through these new allocations
I encourage you to check your MySUSTA account to learn and take advantage of these new opportunities which will start to roll out in the second half of this 2024 program year.
