French Ambassador inaugurates Technology Transfer Centre at UAF Campus

French Ambassador to Pakistan His Excellency Philippe Thiebaud on Monday said that food security and safety are vital to alleviate the hunger and poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. He addressed the inaugural session of an International Conference on Emerged Issues in Nutrition and Food Safety arranged by the National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad. He said that the food security and safety are areas that must be addressed by the collaborated efforts. He said that the on October 18, World Food Day is celebrated with the theme Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition. He also inaugurated Technology Transfer Centre setup at UAF in collaboration with France. He said it will be equipped with the modern technology. He added that the valuable work on the processing of wheat, milk, seed and other areas would be conducted here with value addition. Talking about the culture, he said that Pakistan has the rich culture. Countries need to protect their traditions, he added. The ambassador also inaugurated the French language established at the Main Library, UAF. Philippe Thiebaud congratulated the UAF for entering the 100 best universities of the globe in the National Taiwan University’s ranking and getting the 98 position in the ranking worldwide and 20 position in the Asia Pacific in Agriculture Sciences. He also said that with the help of the value-addition, the country can boost up its exports, he added. UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad while addressing the conference said that country population was in the grip of the deficiency of vitamins and nutrition. He added that it is real challenge to cope with the situation by giving the awareness to the masses about healthy eating habits. Talking about the food security, he said that the in 1947, the population of the country was only 35 million which has now risen to more than 180 million. On the other hand, the agricultural land is depleting. He stressed the need to enhance the efforts in this regard to ensure the food security and alleviate the hunger. He said that the UAF has become the first university of the country by entering into the list of 100 best universities of the globe. Secretary M/O Planning and Development Hassan Nawaz Tarrar said that the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2011 revealed that 58.1 per cent of households are food insecure. Pakistan accounts for half of malnourished in women and children. He said, the rate among children under five years age has become 43.7 per cent in 2011. He said that the government is taking tangible steps to address the issue. He also called for collaborated efforts in this regard. UNIDO Chief Technical Adviser Bruno Valanzuolo said that they were working with the UAF on the mango and Kinnow programmes for its value addition . He also said that international accreditation of certificate for the Postgraduate Diploma in Food Safety and Control by the Royal Environment Health Institute of Scotland had been given to UAF that will help in imparting quality education. He also stressed the need to expedite efforts for the tackling the post harvest losses. TRTA II Programme Officer Ali Abbas briefed the audience about the accreditation and the importance of the PGD. NIFSAT Director General Prof Dr Faqeer Anjum said that said there has been no change in the percentage of underweight children since 2001, which is 31.5 per cent. He said the NIFSAT is offering different degrees in the food sciences to train the manpower in order to cater the need of the industry. Endowment Fund Executive Director Prof Dr Tahir Zahoor and and Dr Javed Also Spoke.