DUSHANBE, May 12, 2015, Asia-Plus — Ambassador David Lane, the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome, is traveling to Tajikistan from May 11-16, 2015, according to the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe.
Together with U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Susan Elliott, he is visiting rural communities and observing how the United States and the UN Food and Agriculture Agencies collaborate to support rural households, farmers, businesses, and government officials to improve food security and nutrition and promote agricultural development in Tajikistan.
The Ambassador is reportedly accompanied by a group of five journalists from Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. They are visiting a variety of projects run by the U.S. Government, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Program (WFP).
These programs include the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future food security initiative led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with projects focused on land reform, improved water management, and child nutrition and maternal health; an association of livestock breeders, seed farm, and improved orchard production supported by FAO; WFP programs supporting the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition for children under five, school feeding, and communities building clean water supplies.
The group is also seeing IFAD funded projects that help communities to mobilize their resources to solve their social and economic problems. Such projects assist Village Organizations to purchase machinery, manage community based pastures, and enhance the efficiency of animal production.
