ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: A two-day meeting of agriculture ministers of Saarc member states, which concluded here on Thursday, decided to set up a “Saarc Regional Food Bank” to meet food emergencies in the region.
The purpose of the food bank is to support a member state in need of assistance. It will also help in dealing with food shortages collectively.
The meeting finalised the bank’s ‘Concept Paper’ based on which an agreement would be formulated before the next Saarc summit to be held in April next year.
Agriculture ministers from the member countries expressed disappointment over the stalled Doha round of the World Trade Organisation that deals with farm subsidies. They demanded that developed countries should show flexibility to enable early resumption of the negotiations and successful conclusion of the Doha round because any outcome of the round would have great impact on agricultural countries, including the Saarc member states.
It was agreed that the region would have to effectively respond to the emergence of the private sector, the WTO and intellectual property rights. It was decided that technical cooperation in agricultural research would be promoted.
Areas were also identified where research could be focused and where linkages of farmers could be extended to the national and regional level. The ministerial meeting also suggested the setting up of an inter-governmental core group and an e-based discussion group that would initiate dialogue with stakeholders, including the private sector, media, NGOs and farmers’ organisations to achieve the desired goals.
The meeting decided to expand the mandate of the Saarc Agriculture Information Centre, Dhaka. It was also decided that areas would be identified for possible regional and sub-regional projects and joint ventures.It was agreed that the next meeting would be held in India next year.
The participants deliberated on challenges confronted by member countries in ensuring food and nutritional security as well as in maintaining vibrant rural economy for agricultural development. They underscored the need for enhanced productivity and real wages and creating subsequent non-farm employment to reduce poverty.
Speaking at the concluding ceremony, federal Agriculture Minister Sikandar Hayat Bosan said agriculture was a way of life in the Saarc countries and played a key role in food security, serving basic human needs and as a source of employment for a large segment of the population.
He said some of the member states were able to export food, but other still strived to overcome food insecurity. “This calls for effective and efficient utilisation of the available potential through launching well-conceived innovative initiatives in the area of agriculture,” he said.
Saarc secretary-general Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji said one of the primary objectives of the organisation was to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and improve the quality of their life.“It is indeed an enormous challenge for us, as our region has a huge population of about 430 million. Most of the people are from rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood,” he observed.
He said South Asian countries suffered from food shortages and providing quality food to people remained a challenge. Low productivity, inefficient usage of water and other inputs, shrinking of arable land and shortage of quality seeds were some of the primary challenges in agriculture.
