IFAD and developing  Agriculture

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, September 18, 2021: A virtual validation workshop was organized jointly by the National Rural Support Program (NRSP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Pakistan in collaboration with the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center (FECC), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, P.R. China. The webinar was part of a series of policy talks inviting discussion and debate under the project titled “Effective South-South Cooperation in Agriculture to Unleash Transformative Power of Agriculture Sector for Inclusive Development in Pakistan".

During the talks, Hubert Boirard, IFAD Country Director for Pakistan, welcomed the participants and panelists. He gave a brief overview of the project and informed participants that the project was funded by the IFAD-China South-South and Triangular Cooperation Facility, a grant dedicated to mobilizing knowledge, technologies, and resources from the Global South to accelerate rural poverty alleviation, enhance rural productivity and advance rural transformation.  “Over the last three decades, IFAD has supported farming communities in Pakistan, especially smallholders, to improve their socio-economic conditions through a variety of interventions. IFAD will extend its technical support through this recent initiative as it continues to support improved livelihoods in rural areas in Pakistan and China.”

 Mr. Sher Ali Arbab, Chairman Parliamentary Committee on CPEC appreciated this initiative which was the need of the hour in the context of unleashing the potential of CPEC and its tributary initiatives. He further emphasized that the project should establish and operate an effective knowledge generation and sharing platform to provide customized assistance in helping Pakistan to unleash the transformative power of the agriculture sector for the country's inclusive development. He said, “Government of Pakistan is committed to making all efforts so that the benefits of CPEC actually trickle down to poor Pakistani communities. The initiative of the China-Pakistan Agricultural Cooperation will go a long way in improving the livelihood opportunities of small farmers in Pakistan. He assured unwavering support of the Government of Pakistan for this initiative”

 Dr. Wang Geng, Director, FECC, Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, P.R.C and Prof. Yangzhijiang, Dean of International Education, Xinjiang Agricultural University gave a presentation on Effective South-South Cooperation in Agriculture to Unleash Transformative Power of Agriculture Sector for Inclusive Development in Pakistan. He said, “Knowledge sharing through South-South and Triangular Cooperation is a very powerful tool to facilitate the exchange of lessons learned and best practices among countries of the global south and help them end poverty and hunger. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs China and Xinjiang Agriculture University will continue supporting this noble cause through knowledge exchange to benefit poor farming communities in Pakistan and China”