CABI International's Consultative Workshop on SPS

CABI International(www.cabi.org) which works for to improve people's lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment, organised 2-day consultation in cooperation with United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) here in Islamabad on 6th & 7th February 2012, to identify SPS subjects for e-learning programs, being launched by CABi in suppor of USDA.
Dr. Wajid Pirzada, A World Trade Organization(WTO) trained SPS (Sanitary & Phytosanitary) Specialist speaking the inaugural sessions said that trade and consumer activism have become drivers of change in the area of food safety.The concept of food safety needs to translated in to action from Farm to Fork, employing Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Best Animal Husbandry Practices,Good Practices in Vterinary Drugs(GPVDs) and rational therpeutics in vetrinary medicine.He said adoption of international standards related to agriciltural (plant &animal) health , food safety and retailor clubs standards such as Global GAP and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point(HACCP) can help mainstream food safety and SPS management.

2nd Annual Mango Conference

USAID organised 1- day Annual Mango Conference on 31st January 2012 at Marriot Hotel,Islamabad. Theme of the Conference was "Reaching new export destinations"
Speaking as resource person, in the Technical Session-II, Dr. Wajid Pirzada underlined the need for developing national SPS (Sanitary & Phytosanitary)compliance capacity, which he said would help develop national competence in competitiveness.
With progressive reduction of traditional barriers to trade-tariff and non-teriff barriers coupled with improved communication means & infrastructure, share of pershable commodities like horticultural product was on increase globally.Pakistan can avail these opportunities provided it can manage the change, especially from SPS management perspective. The SPS change management implies controing all potential food safety & agricultural risks, from high end to total supply chain,he added.
Dr.Pirzada said that international standards and retailor group standards such as Global GAP/Euro Gap and HACCP, if adopted proactively can help manage this change at a faster track.

Food Security paradigm in Pakistan has changed since 3-F crises

Dr. Pirzada,while speaking at 14th Sustainable Development Conference(SDC) in Islamabad on 13th December 2011, in a joint session organised by Oxfam GB and SDPI on 'Factors Affecting Food Security in Resource Constrained Pakistan' emphatically underlined that economic access to food has emerged a key food security concern in Pakistan since 2007.

Food inflation that touched its peak of 34% in 2008, pushed millions in to hunger in Pakistan and around 77 million people in Pakistan are threatened with hunger and 37 % of population suffers from food insecurity.

He said there is no alternative to sustained domestic food supply for a resource constrained country like Pakistan and to this end support price system for key food security and livelihood related agricultural commodities is an imperative, as it will help advance public good, arrest the reversal of MDGs in Pakistan and will help in securing socio-economic and political stability in the country.

Role of Civil Societies towards Development

In an other TV interview telecast by Sohne Dharti Dr.Pirzada spoke about role of civil society towards development.He opined that government alone can't meet the clossal development challenges .It is only through private public partnetship(PPP) that we can address the needs of people in a genuine way, and civil society has a big role to play.
Civil society actions not only inform public sector policies and interventions but also speerhead inforned development actions,especially in emergencies.Earthquake and flood response mounted by the CSOs in Pakistan, is an evidence in this regard,he added.

Role of Agricultural Research towards development

In an interview, telecast by Sohne Dharti TVchannel,Dr. Pirzada underlined the need to reorient National Agricultural Research System (NARS) to generate, one one hand innovation content for underpinning trade & economic development, and emperical evidence to inform national agrultural R&D policy on the other.
Without innovation and value addition, trade in primary commodities alone can not meet the challenges national economy is facing today.Likewise, challange of food security and climate change too can be addressed through innovative research output,he emphasized.

Mango Exports from Pakistan: SPS Management

Dr.Pirzada has recently documented SPS Management- capacity building manual for Mango Exporters in a study commissioned by USAID/FIRMS-IRA.The study is likely to be made public by USAID/FIRMS.He also conducted three capacity building workshops for mango exporters one each in Lahore,Multan and Karachi , this summer 2011.

Role of rural development towards national economy in Pakistan

On Friday, the 24 September 2010 Sohne Dharte TV channel carried an hour long interview of Dr. Wajid Pirzada, in its program Agro Online.Dr.Pirzada spoke at length about rural development paradigms and their role towards national economy.He concluded by saying that recent floods in Pakistan have brought home message that we have had disregarded the need for all- encompassing rural development in the country, making rural populace vulnerable to socio-economic and natural disasters.