Dear Dr. Ifthikhar and Mr.Evan Patriick Thank you for including me for PARC and FAO survey to identify priority areas for agriculture and food security in Pakistan. I was on a mission to Rome and could not responds early will do it shortly. At present I am based as consultant in FAO Regional Office in Cairo, after completing training for core multidisciplinary in Rome, will backstop the programme from Cairo and possibly from Lahore Pakistan. I would in Pakistan during EID break and would pay a visit if in Islamabad. Would also like to take this opportunity to brief you on my present work with FAO at countries and region levels that might be of interest to your policy work in Pakistan. Since long working relationship with FAOR in Pakistan, also copying the e-mail and a welcome to Mr. Evan Patrick as FAOR in Pakistan Since July of this year I am involved with three FAO regional and global initiatives that relate to food security and water 1. Near East & North Africa Land & Water Days, originally scheduled for , 16-19 September 2013 now moved to 15 to 18 December in Amman, Jordan. I have prepared a paper on “ Water Policy Review, Issues and Options for the Region” , would be also responsible first plenary sessions on regional water scarcity initiative and also expected to present on the first day of thematic café on capacity building on “ Policy Analysis Matrix, with case studies form the region”. Hope we can have some one from Pakistan 2. Working as Lead consultant for FAO Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity in the Near East. The initiative will inject fresh thinking into the process of finding sustainable solutions to water scarcity and food security problems through facilitating the implementation of cost-effective water investments and management practices, and, beyond water, through addressing issues of national food security and trade, and reduction of food losses. A series of National Assessments are under way in 5 to 6 “pilot‟ countries, based on three main pillars: • A water accounting/water auditing that will review the country’s water resources, their use and the potential for improvement in its efficient use for agriculture; combined with a review of the policy and institutional environment that sustain water resources management; • The development of a water and food supply cost curve that will review and compare agricultural water management and food supply options in terms of costs and expected benefits; • A knowledge gap analysis, focusing on evidence-based findings, of the causes of successes or failures of past policies, strategies and programmes dealing with water management for agriculture. Benchmarking will be used extensively to assess performance gaps and the potential for improvement. 3. Supporting global initiative on reduction of food losses and waste to address issue of enhancing food supply and food security. Wrote a paper to assess the present situation of the food losses problems and food waste in countries of the region, highlighting the seriousness of the problem, their causes and resultant consequents and impacts Best regards Mahmood AhmadSenior Consultant FAO Regional Water Scarcity Initiative On Wednesday, October 2, 2013 8:42 AM, "Evans, Patrick (FAOPK)" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Dear All, The Government has resolved to put Pakistan on a new development pathway and provide all citizens with an adequate level of economic wellbeing in the shortest possible time. The agriculture sector has a key role to play in this by generating equitable growth and exports, providing employment, efficiently substituting for imports where possible, and ensuring that food and nutrition security becomes a reality for all Pakistanis. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) is working with national stakeholders, led by the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC), and international partners, led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to formulate a new Agriculture and Food Security Policy to achieve this. The new Policy would set out a high level vision and goal for agriculture and food security, along with a set of policy directions that would: 1) help the provinces to develop their own polices and strategies, as well as formulate investment plans for both the public and private sectors; 2) set out the key actions that need to be undertaken at Federal level by the MNFSR related to topics such as inter-provincial coordination, international relations in relevant areas, guidance for upstream and strategic research, pest and animal health surveillance, and minimum standards for food safety, seed certification; and 3) propose a series of national flagship programmes/projects to address critical issues that need a country-wide approach and political backing to be successful. A strong consultation process is an essential part of the policy formulation and a series of meetings and workshops at provincial and Federal level are planned. In order to complement these meetings and workshops, this electronic survey is being launched to solicit input from concerned federal and provincial level officials, the private sector, civil society, NGOs, academe, researchers, and the international donor community. The questionnaire should take 5-10 minutes to complete. Please also circulate this request to staff in your institutions as well as other stakeholders you think should be consulted. YOU ARE KINDLY REQUESTED TO ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS AND ADHERE TO THE NUMBER OF CHOICES INDICATED. THIS WILL ENSURE PROPER PROCESSING OF THE SURVEY AND AVOID ERRORS. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PAKISTAN_Agriculture_and_Food_Security_Policy_Survey If the URL given above does not work, please cut and paste the link to your browser. Patrick T. Evans FAO Representative to Pakistan Ifthikhar Ahmed Chairperson, PARC ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the Pakistan-Agri-Links-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.fao.org/cgi-bin/wa?TICKET=NzM1MTczIG1haG1vb2Q0NDA0QFlBSE9PLkNPTSBQQUtJU1RBTi1BR1JJLUxJTktTLUwgIMzAyHTWKez9&c=SIGNOFF ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the Pakistan-Agri-Links-L list, click the following link: &*TICKET_URL(Pakistan-Agri-Links-L,SIGNOFF);