Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijan is successfully cooperating with relevant local and international institutions to improve the food security control system in the country as well as increase transparency in this area.

Currently, there are no problems in food safety in Azerbaijan due to successful efforts of the government, Melek Cakmak, head of the Partnership and Liaison Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Azerbaijan, has told Trend.

“However, there is a need for monitoring of utilization of food. The only challenge is to make agriculture in Azerbaijan more competitive and resilient particularly in view of the climate change threats. Therefore we need to concentrate on the increased productivity, sustainable management of land forest and water resources in the coming years,” said Cakmak.

She further added that FAO has an excellent partnerships with the Azerbaijani government, which has been growing steadily over the past two decades.

“The partnership program between FAO and Azerbaijan (2016-2020) is an indicator of the commitment of the Azerbaijani government to the development of sustainable agriculture in all regions of the country. FAO also cooperates with the Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry in ensuring sustainable management of forest and fish resources in Azerbaijan,” Cakmak noted.

She went on to say that together with the Food Safety Agency of Azerbaijan, the work is underway to create a legislative framework and strengthen the structure and activities of the Agency.

“In general, it can be said that FAO assistance to Azerbaijan in the field of sustainable agriculture and food production systems contributes to the achievement of sustainable development goals. Moreover, our partnership with Azerbaijan serves as a model for FAO's sustainable assistance worldwide,” she noted.

On April 29, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree approving the State Program for Ensuring Food Safety in Azerbaijan for 2019-2025. The State Program aims to provide the country’s population with safe and high-quality food products, increase the transparency and efficiency of the food safety system and bring it in line with international requirements.

Azerbaijan has been a member of FAO since 1995. The organization's office in the country has been operating since 2007. The FAO's Partnership and Liaison Office in Azerbaijan was established in 2015.

Azerbaijan and FAO implemented 53 projects in 1995-2018. In addition, currently, implementation of another six projects are underway, and four are planned to commence in the near future.

FAO attaches great importance to partnership with the private sector and cooperation with the international community in project implementation. Priority areas for cooperation with Azerbaijan are support of the development of agriculture, improvement of the living conditions of rural residents, as well as support to the Azerbaijani government to carry out reforms in this area.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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