Project Based Collaboration in Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Security

Project Based Collaboration in Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Security

Project based cooperation in SAARC is guided by the SAARC Charter, policy guidelines of the SAARC higher bodies on cooperation with the development partners, international organizations and the SAARC Observers and the mutual Agreements/MoUs signed with the parties. Guidelines and the list of MoUs/Agreements are placed under the head of International Cooperation.

SAARC has also created SAARC Development Fund (SDF), an umbrella mechanism for implementing SAARC projects.

List of ongoing projects:

SDF Funded

No. / Project title, period, budget and disbursed amount / Updates of implementation
Strengthening the livelihood initiative for home based workers in SAARC Region (SABAH) Phase I and II / Till date 9 Trade Facilitation Centers (TFC) in Afghanistan (1), Bangladesh (1), Bhutan (1), Maldives (1), Nepal (1), Pakistan (3) and Sri Lanka (1) have been established. 19 Community Facilitation Centers have been build in Afghanistan (3), Bangladesh (4), Nepal (4), Pakistan (6) and Sri Lanka (2). 17 Sales outlet have been opened for HBWs in Bangladesh (1), Bhutan (3), Maldives (3), Nepal (5), Pakistan (3) and Sri Lanka (2). SABAH is now registered in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 10,958 Home Based Workers (HBW) are registered in seven countries. 10,143 HBWs are trained and 4233 HBWs found employment in TFCs.
Scaling up of Zero Energy Cold Storage (ZECS) technology for the horticultural commodities in the high hills of SAARC countries. / A total of 13938 farmers were trained in Quality Production, pest management, post harvest management, ZECS technology and utilizing beneficial microbes (Jeevatu). 10 ZECS have been constructed, developed and handed over to the farmers communities in Bhutan (4), Nepal (6). Works is in progress in Afghanistan and India.
Empowering Rural Communities "Reaching the Unreached” / 115 Community Centers/Community e-Centre/ Village Development Centre in Bhutan (60), Maldives (50) and Nepal (5). Works on progress in Bangladesh and Maldives.
Post Harvest Management and Value Addition of Fruits in Production Catchments in SAARC Countries / Project Financing Agreement (PFA) has been signed for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Process of opening Bank accounts is going on for the components in Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan. Tendering process is on for construction of pack house, laboratory, equipments and cold storage in Bangladesh and Bhutan. Maldives will submit revise project proposal. Project proposal from India has been received.
52 farmers were trained on Post Harvest Technology and processing by Bangladesh.
The project on Post harvest Management and Value addition of fruits in Production Catchments of SAARC Countries is aimed to inter alia construct fruit processing plant, packaging plant/ pack house / Field Stations at grower's premises
5. / Promoting Integrated Bamboo Based Enterprise Development among SAARC Countries / Lead implementing agency is the Foundation for MSME Clusters, India
6 / Strengthening Maternal and Child Health Including Immunization / 7 need assessments were conducted in all seven participating countries. Field areas and compatible agencies have been identified, monitoring mechanism has been developed and orientation programmes have been held. Medical equipments have been procured and shipped for 6 out of 7 and 530 doctors and nurses have been trained.
7 / South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC) / 4 out of 7 Baseline Survey / Study / Situation analysis on Violence Against Children have been completed. 10 Technical consultations were arranged. Communication and Advocacy Strategy is developed. 2005 IEC material have been developed and 900 have already been distributed. 420 Media personnel sensitized on Violence Against Children. 2 out of 7 targeted campaigns against the violence were taken place. 251,700 brochures on Child Protection have been printed and distributed. 222,500 postars on 5 SAIEVAC thematic areas have been printed and disseminated. 2318 capacity building events for the Govt agencies, CSOs and filed actors were supported and so on.
8 / Regional Inter-professional Master’s Program in Rehabilitation Science / Primary formalities for starting the Masters programme have been conducted including development of the academic calendar & program brochure. Land procured for construction of International Students' Hostel and construction of the same is now in progress. Computer Laboratory and e-Library have been constructed.
USD 463,560.00 is benchmarked for scholarships for SAARC students. 52 scholarships have been given to SAARC students enrolled for M.Sc. In Rehabilitation Science
9 / Toll Free Help-lines for Women and Children in SAARC Member States / Engineering Survey, Design and Estimation carried out, Materials for Water InfrastructureProcured,Construction of Civil work for Water Infrastructure are in progress. So far 210 households covered for safe drinking water. 2632 CBOs, Schools & Communities have been trained on sanitation. 246 Sanitation facilities constructed and 1677 person oriented on hygiene
10 / Strengthening of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in selected areas of SAARC Countries / Project financing agreement signed with Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Baseline Survey, situation analysis and Mapping of resources have been completed.
11 / Networking and Capacity Building of Women Entrepreneurs (SMEs) from SAARC countries / Objectives of the project to Capacity building of women entrepreneurs on contemporary ICT information handling entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and techniques through-

One three days International Workshop (50 participants) will be organized in Pakistan. The participants would be invited from all the seven SAARC countries.
Two 3-days National Training Workshops (50 participants each) will be organized in Pakistan (Islamabad, Karachi & Peshawar).
One three days National Training Workshops (50 participants each) will be organized in Nepal and India (each country).
(The participants of all these workshops would be the members of Women Chambers of Commerce, NGOs and other organizations).

b. Supported by the development partners

# / Title of the Project / Funded/Technical Support provided by / Remarks
Technical Assistance for the formulation of Strategies for controlling Peste de Petites Ruminants (PPR) / FAO and OIE / SAARC Secretariat has facilitated participations of the representatives of the Member States in the FAO/OIE Global Conference for the control and eradication of peste des petits ruminants held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire from 31 March-2 April 2015. A regional meeting is expected to be held back to back with the next meeting of the SAARC CVOs Forum in April 2015 to finalize the SAARC Roadmap for eradicating PPR from the region by 2025. Also the project is supporting selective Member States to develop national strategy and action plan on PPR.
Food Security through control of Trans-boundary Animal Diseases (TADs) / ADB and FAO / This project is follow up of the EU supported HPED project in sustaining the activities of the Regional Support Unit (RSU), Regional Epidemiology Centre (REC), SAARC Epidemiology Network (SAARC EpiNet) and SAARC Laboratory Directors’ Forum (SLDF).
Strengthening the Capacity of SAARC in the Development, Co-ordination and Monitoring of a Regional Food Security and Nutrition Framework, Strategies and Programmes / FAO / The project aims to (i) capacity development of the Secretariat and SAC on project development, implementation and monitoring (ii) formulate Regional agriculture-based food security and nutrition framework and Regional strategies and action plans for food security and nutrition (iii) review project proposals in hand and (iv) engage development partners for implementing the framework, strategy and action plans beyond the project period.
Strengthening the Role of SAARC in the Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture in South Asia / IFAD / The project is to identify key themes, policies, and methods of sustainable agricultural intensification whose study and implementation would serve as entry points and points of collaboration for future IFAD projects and grants.
Drafting a SAARC-IFAD Partnership Action Plan on Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture (2017-2025) involving IFAD, SAARC Secretariat, SAC, and key development partners and other critical stakeholders that will outline strategic options for a long-term engagement in support of sustainable intensification of agriculture in South Asia.
Addressing Antimicrobial Usage in Asia’s Livestock Production Industry / FAO / Expected outputs of the project are to have:
a)Improved understanding and documentation of AMU and AMR in livestock production industry [practice]
b)Enhanced awareness amongst target groups of AMR impacts and AMU best practices. [awareness]
c)Established regional platform for promotion of AMU stewardship in Asia. [governance]
d)Strengthened capacities in surveillance of AMR and antimicrobial residue in livestock/livestock products [evidence]
UNESCAP study on “SAARC Food Bank: Institutional Architecture and Issues of operationalization / UNESCAP / Work out the loopholes of the Food Bank mechanism and its working modules and making recommendation to enable the mechanism working on broader food security issues of the region.

c. Projects with SAARC Observers

Right now there is no direct ongoing project in the field of agriculture, rural development and food security supported by any observers. However, the Secretariat is engaged to implement the project proposal developed under the SAARC Food Security Strategy and Programmes and also working out innovative project(s) for implementation.

# / Title of the Project / Funded/Technical Support provided by / Remarks
“Support to address the avian influenza and other high impact animal diseases in Asia” / Government of Korea through FAO / Project objectives are to: (i) assist target countries in Asia to maintain a strong risk-based ‘Influenza A’ surveillance programme in the region; and (ii) to build capacity/provide immediate resources needed to help selected countries in Asia assessing the risks of “Influenza A” viruses and undertaking risk-based surveillance in the poultry production sectors and along value chains.

Under the aegis of GF-TAD, HPED project was implemented with financial support from the EU. As stipulated in the project document, Regional Support Unit (RSU) and Regional Epidemiological Center (REC) have been established in Kathmandu. The Project also established networking among the professionals and three Lead Diagnostic Laboratories have been established in three different countries e.g. Pakistan for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI); India for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Bangladesh for Peste-de-Petis (PPR).
A website of the project has been established ( and is regularly updated to share disease alerts in the region and other relevant material.The project activities are also being hosted on social media like Facebook ( and LinkedIn ( for wider dissemination and impact.
To ensure the sustainability of the project achievement, a follow up project on SAARC Food Security through control of Trans-boundary Animal Diseases with financial support from ADB has been launched. As elaborated in the project launching report, the key goals of the project are:

Carry on the HPED project activities;

Support the PPR campaign in the region

Sustain the activities of RSU, REC, EpiNet, Lab Directors’ Forum and so on.

Zoonotic disease control in the SAARC region[1]

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) in 2003, swine flu in 2008 and anthrax in 2010 have shown the gaps and deficiencies in planning and response to health emergencies even in the health care systems of not only SAARC countries but in the global context as well. These frequent outbreaks called for (a) prompt and open reporting of infectious events having potential for world wide spread; (b) risk communication; (c) effective multi-sectoral collaboration and partnerships.

Veterinary Public Health Services and zoonotic disease control system are more or less similar in the SAARC countries. The government agencies play the lead role in disease surveillance, reporting and information, disease risk analysis of foods of animal origin, inspection and certification services. Animals cross borders both in the formal and informal channels.

South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) requires the member countries to develop regulatory framework in conformity with international standards set by the WTO, OIE and Codex alimentarius. National Contingency plan for livestock disease epidemics and harmonization of standards of products of animal origin are among the regional priorities.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Foot & Mouth Disease (FMD) and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) have been recognized three trans-boundary animal diseases to be contained through regional collaboration. Since 2010 SAARC has been implementing projects to control and eradicate zoonotic diseases with technical support from the FAO and financial assistance of EU and ADB.

The “one world one health” concept is yet to be widely practiced in the SAARC countries because of low sensitization at both policy and technical levels. There is a lack of serious coordination between the human and animal health organizations. Nevertheless, the HPAI project with EU funding was a success. The SAARC-ADB-FAO project to enhance regional food security by combating transboundary animal diseases (TADs) has just been launched. SAARC is keen to partner with the international entities working on control and elimination of zoonotic diseases.

[1] MJH Jabed, Director (Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Security), SAARC Secretariat, Nepal