FAISALABAD
French Ambassador in Pakistan Philippe Thiebaud on Monday said that food security and safety are vital to alleviate the hunger and poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
He was addressing the inaugural session of the International Conference on “Emerged Issues in Nutrition and Food Safety” organised by the National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. He said that the food security and safety were areas that must be addressed through collaborated efforts. He said that the on October 18, World Food Day was celebrated with the theme Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition
He also inaugurated Technology Transfer Centre setup at UAF in collaboration with France. He said that it would be equipped with the modern technology. He added that the valuable work on the processing of wheat, milk, seed and other areas would be conducted here with value addition. 
Talking about the culture, he said that Pakistan had rich culture, adding that countries needed to protect their traditions. The French ambassador also inaugurated the French language centre established at the Main Library, UAF.    
Philippe Thiebaud congratulated the UAF for entering the 100 best universities of the globe in the National Taiwan University’s ranking and getting the 98 position in the ranking worldwide and 20 position in the Asia Pacific in Agriculture Sciences. He also said that with the help of the value-addition, the country can boost up its exports, he added.
UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad while addressing the conference said that country population was in the grip of the deficiency of vitamins and nutrition. He added that it was real challenge to cope with the situation by giving awareness to the masses about healthy eating habits. Talking about the food security, he said that in 1947, the population of the country was only 35 million which had now risen to more than 180 million. On the other hand, the agricultural land was depleting. He stressed the need for enhancing efforts in this regard to ensure the food security and alleviate the hunger.  He said that the UAF had become the first university of the country by entering into the list of 100 best universities of the globe. 
Secretary M/O Planning and Development Hassan Nawaz Tarrar said that the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2011 revealed that 58.1 per cent of households were food insecure. Pakistan accounts for half of malnourished in women and children. He said the rate among children under five years age has become 43.7 per cent in 2011. He said that the government is taking tangible steps to address the issue. He also called for collaborated efforts in this regard.
UNIDO Chief Technical Adviser Bruno Valanzuolo said that they were working with the UAF on the mango and Kinnow programmes for its value addition. He also said that international accreditation of certificate for the Postgraduate Diploma in Food Safety and Control by the Royal Environment Health Institute of Scotland had been given to UAF that will help in imparting quality education.  He also stressed the need to expedite efforts for the tackling the post harvest losses.  TRTA II Programme Officer Ali Abbas briefed the audience about the accreditation and the importance of the PGD. NIFSAT Director General Dr Faqeer Anjum said that said there has been no change in the percentage of underweight children since 2001, which is 31.5 per cent. He said the NIFSAT was offering different degrees in the food sciences to train manpower to cater the need of the industry.
Endowment Fund Executive Director Dr Tahir Zahoor and Dr Javed also spoke on the occasion.