HYDERABAD:The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on Tuesday established its Sindh provincial office on the premises of Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tando Jam.
According to a university spokesman, the UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan Julien Harneis and the Vice Chancellor of Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam Dr. Fateh Marri jointly inaugurated the FAO provincial office.
The objective of establishing a provincial FAO office is to develop effective coordination with academia, agriculture organizations, progressive farmers and the private sector for agriculture development and meeting the challenges of increasing poverty, food shortage and climate change in Sindh.
The Vice-Chancellor while speaking on the occasion assured that the university management would extend its full support and cooperation to FAO and other organizations for making the economy of the country strong with poverty alleviation, food security and overcoming malnutrition in backward and far-flung areas of the province.
About the establishment of the FAO Sindh office in the university, the VC hoped that the office would ensure effective coordination between researchers, students, farmers and other public and private sector organizations for bringing agriculture development in the province.
The UN Resident Coordinator Julien Harneis while addressing the participants of the ceremony informed that around six million people of Sindh were facing food security while one out of four children of the province is suffering from malnutrition.
The challenges of food security could be possible only with effective coordination between all stakeholders, he said and added that close coordination with Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam will help in resolving agriculture-related issues.
The FAO Representative in Pakistan Florence Rolle said that the focus of the organization was to develop long-term collaboration with the country’s universities. In Pakistan, the FAO is working with the community to promote sustainable agricultural practices and food security and to increase production, he informed.
She said that FAO will promote joint collaboration in the rehabilitation and health of economically vulnerable people through sustainable agricultural development in Sindh province as well.
The UNICEF Chief Field Officer Prem Bahadur Chand said that the people of this region were the founders of agriculture and human civilization, which is mainly due to the Indus River. Currently, natural disasters and malnutrition are serious problems in the province that need to be addressed through joint efforts, he said.
Among others, head of the FAO provincial office in Sindh James Okoth, Director of
General Agriculture Research Sindh Noor Muhammad Baloch, Deans of faculties of Sindh Agriculture University Dr. Inayatullah Rajpar, Dr. Aijaz Ali Khooharo, Dr. Syed Ghiyasuddin Shah Rashidi and Dr. Manzoor Ali Abro, Registrar Ghulam Mohiyuddin Qureshi, Dr. Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, Dr. Aijaz Soomro, Dr. Ziaul Hassan Shah, Dr. Mubeen Lodhi, Dr. Bachal Bhutto, Shah Nasir, Imran Leghari, Zahida Detho, Naz Sahito and Humera Jahanzeb were present on the occasion.