Events

MINSK, 23 September (BelTA) – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Belarus have signed a country program for 2014-2016 with the total budget for technical aid projects at $3.1 million, BelTA has learned.

The document was signed by Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director General, Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia, and Belarusian Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Vasily Sedin.

“The document is the base for FAO operation in Belarus. The main directions of cooperation have been determined thanks to joint efforts of our organization and Belarusian specialists,” explained Vladimir Rakhmanin.

Not all the projects the program outlines have donors for now, but all the projects hold a lot of promise. “We expect that the country program for 2014-2016 will be implemented. It will begin our future regular cooperation,” stressed Vladimir Rakhmanin.

The country program for cooperation between FAO and Belarus in 2014-2016 includes the implementation of technical assistance projects for managing outdated pesticides, projects for growing colza in areas polluted by the Chernobyl catastrophe, projects for the rational management and protection of forests from fires, projects for food security, projects for the development and enhancement of the national evaluation potential, for prevention and fight against African swine fever and other projects.

A Belarus-FAO project is being implemented to increase the potential for eliminating and preventing the repeated use of outdated pesticides as a model for resolving the problem of unused dangerous chemical substances in the former Soviet Union. The budget for Belarus is close to €560,000 and may be increased. The project is designed to step up the development of a systemic approach to the elimination of outdated pesticides, persistent organic pollutants and dangerous waste in the region.

Apart from that, the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry has contacted FAO with a request for technical assistance for the sake of studying, preventing, and controlling African swine fever and possible sources of the disease’s penetration into Belarus. As a result, a technical aid project is being implemented to control outbursts of African swine fever in Belarus. The project’s budget is $420,000.