US to finance agricultural projects

Move aimed at eradicating poverty and hunger.

FAISALABAD: US Embassy’s Deputy Agri­culture Counsellor Devid Wolf has said the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will continue to develop the agricultural sector of Pakistan by providing funds for development projects and research work.

America assisted developing countries in the agricultural sector to make it more efficient, productive and sustainable, which would lead to an increase in supply and reduce the cost of food, Wolf said during a visit to the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF).

He also reviewed USDA’s ongoing projects aimed at developing the agricultural sector and said the goal of the projects was to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and required significant investment from the donors and private sector.

Talking about various initiatives, Wolf said US was working on developing agricultural markets, trade and finance, promoting food and nutritional security, funding collaborative science and technological research and developing and supporting sound programmes for livestock and sustainable agriculture.

Speaking on the occasion, UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad said the university was running around 150 agricultural projects with financial assistance from the US. These funds were used in faculty development, technology transfer, product commercialisation and research.

The university is also working on outreach programmes for educating farmers about increasing productivity.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2012.