Summary Pak-Brazil seminar on food security will kick off from Monday.
ISLAMABAD: The Pak-Brazil seminar on Food Security and Zero Hunger will provide an opportunity for both countries to exchange knowledge on such a vital topic.
Top experts on public policies for food security and poverty alleviation will share the Brazilian experiences and identify potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.
An official said that Pakistan and Brazil have been closely working on prospective areas of cooperation in Agriculture for the last one year.
The Brazilian delegation of agricultural experts visited Pakistan last year and visited various agricultural research and academic institutions. This was followed by a reciprocal visit of Pakistan agricultural experts from March 26-30, 2012 who visited various Brazilian facilities for agricultural research and held very fruitful meetings with the counterparts.
Finally the governments of Pakistan and Pernambuco, through the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and the Agronomical Research Institute, IPA agreed on signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Technical Cooperation covering (i) germplasm exchange and (ii) rural extension model. The MoU was signed on 3rd March, 2012.
Official said Pakistan gives high priority to fighting hunger in the country. Brazil has achieved great success in fighting hunger in rural Brazil through ‘Bolsa Familia’ or Family Income programme.The effort resulted in lifting 28 million people out of extreme poverty.
The programme has received world wide attention and it is now being replicated by many other countries around the world. ‘Bolsa Familia’ is a social welfare program of the Brazilian government, part of the ‘Fome Zero’ network of federal assistance programs. Bolsa Família provides financial aid to poor Brazilian families; if they have children, families must ensure that the infants attend school and are vaccinated.
The program attempts to both reduce short-term poverty by direct cash transfers and fight long-term poverty by increasing human capital among the poor through conditional cash transfers. It also works to give free education to children who cannot afford to go to school to show the importance of education.
Official further added that Pakistan is eager to learn from the Brazilian experience and as first step has requested Brazil for holding a one day joint seminar for learning from the Brazilian experts and sharing Pakistan’s experiences.
