File:Muhammad Naeem Akhtar Khan Bhabha (cropped).jpg

Lahore, April 4, 2017 – The Embassy of the United States of America is showcasing its long-standing support for Pakistan’s agriculture sector with a pavilion at the Dawn Food and Agri Expo. The U.S. Pavilion highlights projects assisting Pakistani farmers to modernize the agriculture sector, strengthen value chains and improve market access while ensuring long term sustainability of agricultural production. The two-day exhibition in Lahore, inaugurated today at the Expo Center in Johar Town, is open to the public.

“The United States, in partnership with the Pakistan government and the private sector, has provided approximately $777 million since 2009 to fund projects that support economic growth and agriculture, including the Government of Pakistan’s efforts to reform and modernize the agricultural sector,” stated Mission Director John Groarke at the Agri Expo inaugural session. Also at the session, the Punjab Agriculture Minister, Muhammad Naeem Akhtar thanked the U.S. government for its continued support of Pakistan’s agriculture sector.

The Expo’s U.S. Pavilion features a number of agricultural assistance programs supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that help build Pakistan’s export capacity, especially in the areas of small and medium sized agribusinesses and agricultural producers.

Supporting economic growth and agricultural development is a top U.S. priority in Pakistan. USAID agriculture projects help increase employment and incomes for producers, processors, and vendors of agricultural products. To boost Pakistan’s agricultural productivity, USAID has introduced advanced farming technologies, built additional irrigation infrastructure, and introduced improved water management practices. USAID also assists agribusinesses in Pakistan to increase their access to financing and more lucrative export markets. These programs focus on the private sector’s agriculture investments in Pakistan. Over the past six years, USAID projects have increased exports by $76 million, increased sales by $170 million, and leveraged over $72 million in private sector investments.

USDA has partnered with the Government of Pakistan, U.S. land grant universities, and international partners to increase agricultural productivity in Pakistan, build institutional capacity to regulate animal and plant health, and food safety issues more effectively, and strengthen institutional research capabilities and U.S.-Pakistani scientific collaboration. USDA programs also promote the adoption of new agricultural practices and technologies, and foster collaboration in dairy production, animal disease control, aquaculture, cotton diseases, crop estimation forecasting, watershed management and high efficiency irrigation technologies, improvement of soil fertility, and wheat diseases.