Project Description:
The U.S.-Pakistan Partnership for Agricultural Market Development (AMD) is a USAID funded project that aims to improve the ability of Pakistan’s commercial agriculture and livestock sectors to compete in international and national markets in four targeted product lines: meat, high value and off-season vegetables, mangoes and citrus. AMD will act as a catalyst for development and investment in its targeted product lines by actively promoting cooperation and coordination amongst the value chain actors and ancillary service providers. AMD’s implementation strategy is underpinned by a strictly commercial and market driven approach with a clear focus on strengthening market access for its partner organizations, and supporting international marketing and sales efforts.
AMD encourages investments in its four target product lines through offering matching grants and technical assistance, and empowering stakeholders by developing synergies, upgrading and streamlining supply chains, providing technical assistance to optimize profit margins, and increase participation of women entrepreneurs, thereby helping make Pakistani meat, high value and off-season vegetables, mangoes and citrus more profitable and competitive.
Under this approach, the project is supporting the establishment of Pakistan’s first E-beam facility with its private sector partner, Pak Electron Beam Irradiation Pvt Ltd. AMD. The use of E-beam irradiation for food products including fruits, vegetables, spices and meat has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since the technology does not affect the nutritional value of the food and doesn’t leave any radioactive traces.
The facility will benefit a cross-section of industries in Pakistan including the agriculture sector by decreasing post-harvest food losses due to spoilage and deterioration in quality, while increasing market access by extending the shelf life of foods. The technology also holds the potential to open up new export markets and preserve the storage capacity of food products. E-beam will benefit the agriculture sector in Pakistan by increasing shelf life of products through decreasing bio burdens that cause spoilage and deterioration in quality. Furthermore, the extended shelf life directly helps in food security by holding stocks safely for extended periods including cereals, pulses, onion, and potato.
AMD is confident that utilization of the E-Beam facility for agri-food and pharma products will open up new markets leading to economic growth, foreign exchange, and job creation through increased exports. The AMD project will continue to provide technical assistance to AMD grantees and partner exporters on the E-Beam technology through trainings, workshops and international consultants.