Australia to engage in new agri-research projects in Pakistan

Projects will help improve livelihood of rural communities

ISLAMABAD: Australia has announced new agricultural research projects in Pakistan in a bid to improve livelihoods of rural communities.

The announcement was made during a visit by Professor Andrew Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), a government agency that specialises in agricultural research for development and currently supports 13 projects in Pakistan.

According to a statement issued by the Australian High Commission in Islamabad, High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr Geoffrey Shaw said ACIAR’s work in the agriculture sector was a key component of Australia’s engagement with Pakistan.

“As a leading agricultural exporter, with world-class expertise in agricultural research, we see great scope to cooperate in building Pakistan’s agricultural capacity,” Shaw said.

The new initiatives included a 10-year programme for salinity management to build the adaptive capacity of stakeholders and improve livelihoods of farming and coastal communities, a research project to deepen understanding of rural transformation in China, Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan whose results will inform policymaking, and a project aimed at developing competitive and socially inclusive value chains for the development of pulses production in Pakistan.

“ACIAR projects can change the lives of farmers across Pakistan,” Campbell said. “We look forward to developing our long-term partnership with Pakistan for research and development that will improve the productivity and resilience of agriculture in Pakistan.”

Working closely with Pakistan’s federal government, provincial departments, non-government organisations, academia and the private sector, ACIAR funds research and technical capacity building on livestock and dairy, climate change, cereal productivity, crop diversification and land and water management practices.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2020.

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