Agricultural mission of the United States to various Near Eastern countries

[On January 18, 1946, the Department notified Baghdad that in compliance with requests from several Near Eastern governments and private institutions and in line with the American policy of cultural and technical collaboration with foreign countries, it was sending an agricultural mission to interested Near Eastern countries in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. The primary purpose of the mission was to survey the agricultural situation in these countries in order to indicate the possibilities of long-term developmental projects to be undertaken by the Near Eastern governments independently or in collaboration with the United States. The secondary purpose was to share American agricultural experience with governmental and private organizations and to extend advice when requested. (Telegram 27, 890B.61A/1–1846). The official announcement of the mission was made on February 19; for text, see Department of State Bulletin, March 3, 1946, page 348.

The mission left the United States in February of 1946 for detailed study of the agricultural scene in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. It completed its field work in June by investigating agricultural conditions in Greece, together with British and French experts, under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The Department of Agriculture, in 1947 and 1948, released reports of the mission regarding its activities in Syria and Lebanon (International Agricultural Collaboration Series, Nos. 4 and 7). The Food and Agriculture Organization published the preliminary summary of findings and recommendations of its Greek mission on October 31, 1946, and the mission’s full report the following March.]