HYDERABAD: The Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tandojam and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote modern agricultural practices and assist small farmers to deal with climate change, besides improving water use, increasing production and enhancing marketing through Farmer Field Schools (FFS).
The MoU in this regard, was signed by the Vice Chancellor SAU Dr. Fateh Mari and FAO Senior Scientific Officer and Head of Sindh Office James Robert OKOTH. According to the SAU spokesperson, this initiative is part of the broader project “Climate-Resilient Agriculture and Water Management for Transforming the Indus Basin.”
Under this agreement, SAU and FAO will work to holistically improve climate-resilient agriculture and water management practices and integrate these improvements into agricultural extension courses at higher education institutions in Sindh and Punjab.
The signing ceremony took place in the senate hall of SAU, where Vi
ce Chancellor Dr. Mari emphasized the importance of supporting small farmers, addressing climate change threats, intercropping, and providing farmers with the necessary capacity building, seeds, water and marketing assistance to enhance production and prosperity. He noted that training programs for farmers through farmer field schools would be further strengthened with the help of university experts and FAO.
FAO’s James Okoth said that they were working together with educational and research institutions in Sindh and Punjab to transfer modern technology to small farmers and improve agricultural practices through short courses and farmer field schools. He expressed hope for success in jointly addressing food security, nutritional deficiencies and the impacts of climate change.
The spokesperson informed that under the previously signed agreement, SAU and FAO established 22 demonstration sites during the Rabi and Kharif cropping seasons to enhance farmer capacity by directly training 660 beneficiaries and an a
dditional 1,100 farmers through field days. Furthermore, 44 field days were conducted to train 2,200 farmers on climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) and water management practices.
The ceremony was attended by Dr. Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, Dr. Ashfaq Ahmed Nahiyoon, Dr. Aijaz Soomro, Dr. Mujahid Hussain Laghari, Dr. Ghulam Murtaza Jamro, Registrar Ghulam Mohiuddin Qureshi, Director Finance Anil Kumar, Dr. Tanveer Fatima Miano, Dr. Aasia Akbar Panhwar, Mumtaz Ahmed Jakhro, Dr. Noor Nisa Memon, Gul Sher Lochi and others.