The Republic of Azerbaijan is a member of FAO since October 20, 1995. During this period, several projects on national and regional levels by FAO were implemented within the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) and the delegations of the Azerbaijani Government participated in several FAO meetings.

During 1999-2000 the Strengthening Capacity in Inventory of Land Cover and Land Use by Remote Sensing Projectwas implemented with a budget of $211.5 thousand.The goal of this project was to supply the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant authorities with exact information and different sized maps of land cover and land use, as well as the training of national experts. In order to meet the goals of the project, the experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Aero cosmic Agency took part in the training courses organized in the framework of the project in Baku and Almaty.

The other project, Strengthening the Phytosanitary Capabilities started due to the instruction from the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on June, 13 2003. The main goal of the project is to prepare the amendments for the phytosanitary legislation in accordance with the International Plant Protection Convention, and the improvement of experience in the plant protection and quarantine fields. At the same time, the project is planned to supply the Central Republic Laboratory with modern laboratory and computer equipment thanks to the budget of the project which is roughly more than $250,000. For the time being, some of the equipment has been already bought, and a one week training course for the quarantine inspectors has been held. The project is still going on.

For the purpose of strengthening the activities in the veterinary field, a vaccine valued at approximately $120,000 has been supplied within the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP). There are two more ongoing projects on a national level in addition to the regional level projects. Meanwhile, in accordance with the aims defined and the commitments set force in the plan of the World Food Summit and in the Millennium Declaration adopted in the “World Food Summit after 5 years” meeting, FAO applied the Preparation of Regional Programme on Food Security Project in the member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The purposes of this project is to help prepare the National Food Security Programme, to increase soil fertility, irrigation efficiency, the planting, livestock production, and to simplify the market accessing, the policy of cost determination in agriculture, as well as to strengthen scientific-research issues.

The appointed national expert prepares the information in accordance with the technical goals. The application of such a project considers the preparation of the projects and programmes aimed at solving different problems in the agriculture field. These projects will be presented to the donors (for example, the Islamic Development Bank and the World Bank) by FAO/ECO.

In June 2005 within the TCP, two projects have been approved. For the implementation of the first project, Strengthening the Transboundary Animal Disease Diagnosis, Surveillance and Control Capacities, up to $314,000 has been allocated. The main purpose of this project is to protect livestock production and productivity and to foster domestic, regional and international trade in animals and products. The second project is Assistance to the Establishment of Farm Data and Monitoring System with a budget of $276,000 aimed at the elimination of the foot-and-mouth disease and other dangerous livestock diseases. The similar projects will cover Central Asia and the Near East (Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Iran and Syria).

Taking into account the increasing danger of the avian influenza situation, FAO launched Emergency Assistance for Early Detection and Prevention of Avian Influenza in the Eastern Europe and Caucasus Regions with a total budget of $400,000. Upon Azerbaijan’s request, in February 2006 FAO provided an emergency fund amounting to $45,000 which was used for hiring consultants, traveling, training and purchasing the necessary equipment.

In January 2006 FAO approved another project called Capacity Building for the Recovery and Management of the Sturgeon Fisheries of the Caspian Sea covering Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and allocated $380,000 to finance it.

Because of the continuing occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia as a result of its military aggression against Azerbaijan, it was proposed to FAO to make a separate budget for each country or to apply a national project. The project considers to supply the National Republic Laboratory with modern equipment and to train its staff.

The work on national projects, such as Analyzing of Agricultural Policy Training Course, Establishment of Artificial Insemination Service in Buffaloes, Strengthening the Competitiveness of Agricultural Products and Marketing Organization and on the regional projects, such as Development of Beekeeping and Development of Silk Manufactureare going on at FAO.

The book “Traditional Agriculture in Transcaucasus Countries” which is under preparation with FAO’s financial support, will be printed in 10,000 copies and delivered to all member states, as well as to the donors for the purpose of accelerating the investments involved in the mentioned fields. Over the last year, about 10 FAO missions visited Azerbaijan to evaluate the existing problems in the different fields of agriculture.

In order to intensify the mutual cooperation between FAO and the Republic of Azerbaijan, FAO established a National Representative in Azerbaijan on December 2002.

For the purpose of further strengthening the good relations and positive collaboration which exist between the Republic of Azerbaijan and FAO, Mr. Emil Karimov was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on December 28, 2004. On January 26, 2005 Mr. Emil Karimov (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary) presented his credentials as the Permanent Representative to Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director General of FAO.

On February 25, 2005 President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev visited the United Nations (UN) Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Rome where he was met warmly by the Director-General of the Organization Dr. Jacques Diouf. President Ilham Aliyev signed the book of guests of honour of the organization.

During the conversation, they discussed their perspectives on the further strengthening of the relations between Azerbaijan and FAO, particularly about the involvement of FAO in the process of agricultural development of Azerbaijan, institutional restructuring of the agricultural sector, attraction of new technologies and investments in the country, as well as about the cooperation in the maintenance of food safety and reduction of poverty in Azerbaijan.

On April 29, 2005 Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director General of the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization paid a visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan. During his visit he was received by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev.

During the meeting the President expressed his satisfaction with FAO’s expanding activities in Azerbaijan, and his confidence that the visit by the organization’s delegation to Baku would help with the enhancing of bilateral cooperation. Touching on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, the Azerbaijani leader highly appreciated the aid provided by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to over a million refugees and IDPs because of the conflict with Armenia. UN FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf confirmed that the organization expanded its activities in Azerbaijan taking concrete steps towards rendering aid to the refugees and IDPs. He let the President know that his organization is preparing a plan of actions to assist Azerbaijan in the development of other spheres including agriculture and farming. Mr. Diouf finally expressed his confidence in the further deepening of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Dr. Jacques Diouf also had meetings with the Minister of Agriculture Mr. Ismat Abbasov and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mahmud Mammad-Quliyev. During the meetings, Dr. Jacques Diouf underlined the necessity of strengthening the cooperation between Azerbaijan-FAO, FAO’s assistance in increasing the phytosanitary capabilities and veterinary fields, and had discussions on farm data, the monitoring system and food safety.

FAO Director-General Dr. Jacques Diouf was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa by the Scientific Council of Agricultural Academy of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On October 17, 2005 Mr. Ismat Abasov, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, attended the ceremony on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and delivered a speech. The next day on the 18th of October Mr. Ismat Abasov met with Dr. Jacques Diouf, the Director-General of FAO, at the FAO Headquarters. At the meeting the Director-General was informed about the reforms going on in the agrarian field of Azerbaijan carried out by the Government. There was also an exchange of views regarding the FAO projects for Azerbaijan during the meeting.

On January 30, 2006 the FAO Director-General appointed Mr. Abdellatif Tabet as a FAO Representative in Azerbaijan.