With the collective contributions, a total of 243,000 tons of produce has been brought in cooperation with each member nation of the eight-country block, contributing the food (rice or wheat) as per their capacity.
"The existing volume of food storage in the SAARC food bank is insufficient given the huge population and possibilities of different kinds of natural calamities in the region. So a joint secretary-level meeting of member countries in Colombo last week has decided to recommend to governments to double the food stock," Ganesh Dhakal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies told myrepublica.com.
The SAARC region, making up almost one third of the world, has been affected by natural disasters such as floods, storms, landslides, earthquakes and drought.
India, the food bank's largest contributor, has set aside 153,200 tons. Likewise, Pakistan and Bangladesh have each contributed 40,000 tons to the stock. Nepal and Sri Lanka have set aside 4,000tons each, and Afghanistan, the Maldives and Bhutan have contributed 1,420, 200, and 180 tons, respectively.
Dhakal, who also attended the joint secretary level meeting in Colombo, said any member nation can contact nodal officers of supplier countries for food supplies at times of emergency.
Source: xinhuanet.com
No comments:
Post a Comment