development
projects
location Pakistan dates September 2011 – September 2014 project team Mahrukh Siraj
ensuring Pakistan’s agricultural trade is healthy
Agriculture is vital to Pakistan; about 25 per cent of its total land is under cultivation, and exports bring in much needed foreign exchange.
so what’s the problem? Pakistan’s agricultural sector is thriving, but it faces existing and emerging challenges in relation to food safety, agricultural health standards and trade. Poor sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures relating to the country’s exports – bacterial contaminants, pesticides, inspection and labelling as well as animal and plant health issues – have a damaging effect on revenue and, consequently, economic development. Agricultural exports have recently been subject to rejections and/or alerts from the EU. Pakistan therefore needs to develop a comprehensive SPS strategy.
what is this project doing? In order to increase the technical capacity of animal and plant health officials and scientists in Pakistan, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), CABI and Texas A & M University (TAMU) are developing and running training courses in SPS measures to meet both Pakistani and international needs. The training modules – which will be developed as distance learning DVDs to ensure that they can be used in places with poor internet access – will be translated into Urdu, the national language of Pakistan. CABI will pilot the newly developed modules with appropriate audiences and solicit feedback.
KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE
The modules will be complemented by workshops held at CABI’s Rawalpindi office and at regional locations within Pakistan, which will consist of audio, video and written content catering to the different learning styles of the target audience.
results so far Four requirement workshops – two each with animal and plant health officials – to discuss issues and needs have been held in different locations in Pakistan. The results have been used to draw up a list of topics for the development of training modules, which has been shared with USDA and TAMU. Over the next two years, Pakistani plant and animal health officials, exporters and port inspectors will receive this comprehensive, contextualized training. The USDA and TAMU team has visited Pakistan to meet plant and animal health officials in order to get a better understanding of the target audience and the regulatory environment and systems currently in place in Pakistan. The project partners and CABI are developing the first e-learning modules which will be rolled out in the first quarter of 2013.
www.cabi.org/sps partner Texas A & M University, USA sponsor USDA APHIS (United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service)
contact CABI, Opposite 1-A, Data Gunj Baksh Road, Satellite Town P.O. Box 8, Rawalpindi, Pakistan T: +92 (0)51 9290132 F: +92 (0)51 9290131 E: cabi.cwa@cabi.org www.cabi.org/sasia
ID-AsiaSPS-10-12
Mahrukh Siraj, Project Manager