ISLAMABAD: COMSTECH, the OIC Ministerial Standing Committee on Science and Technology has finalized a multi-country project proposal titled “Promotion of Plant Genetic Resources Use, Varietal Development and Integration in the Seed System” for strengthening collaborative efforts towards food security. The participating OIC member states of the project are Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Oman and Iraq. The project proposal was finalized by COMSTECH in consultation with other OIC member states in a workshop held at Baku, Azerbaijan recently to share its pros and cons with the prospective donors invited to the Workshop, an official of COMSTECH told APP. In addition to representatives of participating member states, several related organizations such as FAO, UNDP, JICA and PARC also gave their inputs in the workshop for making this project a success. The consultative workshop was held in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. The project aimed at strengthening the technical resources and institutional mechanisms within the participating countries for addressing food security challenges. These challenges have exacerbated in the face of climatic changes, booming populations, and inability, in many cases, of existing crop varieties to provide adequate nutritional requirements, the official said. Support for development of new crop varieties in the agricultural systems of OIC member states is an initiative of COMSTECH towards enabling better food security, the official added.