BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.14
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Turkey have launched a new project on strengthening national food safety control and risk communication systems, Trend reported this week referring to a source in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
According to the source, the Turkish-funded project, implemented under the FAO-Turkey Partnership Program for Food and Agriculture, envisions regional capacity-building activities in this area, as well as countrywide activities.
"Effective food control systems cover all stages of food production and processing from farm to consumer, since food safety must be considered at every stage of the value chain," said the source.
The source also noted that the project will be a step forward towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by helping countries improve their food security control systems to ensure safe food for all.
Besides, this week the pilot project has started in Azerbaijan’s Ganja-Gazakh economic region to improve the provision of agricultural advisory services to farmers.
A regional office has been set up in Ganja within the framework of the ‘Strengthening of Agricultural Advisory Services’ project implemented by the FAO. This EU-funded project envisages development of a 5-year strategy for strengthening agricultural advisory services in Azerbaijan, as well as the implementation of pilot activities following this strategy in Ganja and Guba.
Discussions over the the project's implementation were reported to begin in the coming days.
Also this week, the US Department of Agriculture announced forecasts for 2021 for the barley harvest in Azerbaijan. According to the forecasts, 970,000 tons of barley will be produced in the country in the agricultural season of 2020-2021, that's 4.53 percent less than the forecast for the 2019-2020 season.