ISLAMABAD - Secretary Ministry of Food and Agriculture Zia-ur-Rehman has said that nations have observed considerable hike in food prices during the last decade, which has raised the issue of food insecurity worldwide. He was addressing a workshop on Strengthening the Policy Dialogue at the Country Level within the Emerging Global Approaches on Food Security. To raise farmers production capacities, grow and consume homegrown produce, theres an imperative need for collaborated efforts among the farming communities, he said. The Head of Delegation of the European Union to Pakistan, Jan de Kok in his presentation said that EU had allocated Euro 50 million to Pakistan, one of the highest among all fund-receiving countries, to address food insecurity in Pakistan. He said this initiative in Pakistan had started with 17 selected districts in all four provinces. The FAO and WFP are jointly assigned with Euro 40 million to spend on food security programmes, he added. Under this programme, 1.7 million food vulnerable households throughout the country will be able to efficiently produce and process and preserve adequate food to combat the souring food prices, he further said. He said the remaining Euro 10 millions have been allocated to six NGOs through a call for proposal procedure which along with their local partners were assisting the small farmers to improve their food security. The Government should analyse the situation keeping in view particularly the availability and capability of farm related professional services in the wake of current performance of extension and research agencies as well as food marketing practices, he said. He further said that the introduction of Global GAP (Global Good Agricultural Practices) and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) might be considered on priority to maintain and improve domestically produced food competitiveness. The programme also trains on safe production and processing and personal safety on the farm.