Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research Hon’ble Rana Tanveer Hussain held an hour-long substantive bilateral discussion with DG FAO Dr. Qu Dongyu at FAO Headquarters earlier today.
Expressing satisfaction over his participation at 179th FAO Council & trajectory of excellent bilateral cooperation with FAO, Hon’ble Minister, highlighted challenges & opportunities emerging from climate change and underlined mitigating the threats through climate-resilient practices in agricultural productivity, water management, seeds, cutting-edge infrastructure and strengthened research & innovation.
Hon’ble Minister welcomed deeper FAO technical support and expressed interest in learning from successful models, particularly China, in precision agriculture, intercropping, cooperative farming, geographical indication (GI) products, digital farm management, and food safety standardization.
Expressing support for Pakistan’s needs, DG FAO conveyed commitment for close cooperation in ‘Development Research’ as means to a long-term strategy to mitigate the challenges and suggested high-impact investments over short-term spending.
Hon’ble Minister thanked DG FAO for his support for ongoing projects in Pakistan and suggested prioritizing transformative projects that deliver lasting benefits to farmers and rural communities.
The two dignitaries also discussed best practices in smallholder farming, local food systems and green rural development. Both concurred on targeted investment in research which may significantly boost farmer incomes and food security.
