African countries to model 'Operation Flood' under new WB pgm

Mumbai, Oct 12 (UNI) A team of dairy farmers from Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda may soon visit India to study the revolutionary ''Operation Flood'', launched in 1970, that transformed the country from one with a chronical shortage of milk to the world's largest producer.

The visit is a part of the newly launched - South-South Experience Exchange Facility - initiated by the World Bank. The programme will facilitate knowledge-based platform that provides simple and low cost ways for developing countries to share their knowledge and expertise in alleviating poverty.

''Countries learn best by seeing how others have tackled similar issues. The initiative will help policy makers and others in low-income countries, who face serious problems and cannot afford the luxury of long waits to receive support to benefit first hand from other developing countries,'' Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Group, Managing Director, said in a statement today.

He said the dairy industry is a good place to start because of its considerable nutritional benefits for the poor and with India's success in the past two decades, which has included and benefited the poorest of the poor as producers.

Other areas marked for exchange of information include managing commodity windfalls, developing efficient tax systems, adapting to new technologies, selecting public investment projects with high economic and social rates of return, pension reforms and creating social safety nets benefitting the poor.

A web-based library will facilitate documentation, monitoring and dissemination of results and information.

Seven nations - China, India, Mexico, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK - have pledged support to the trust fund and will contribute 10 million dollars over the next three years.

UNI ZC RN PK KP1417