Back to news
5 May 2017 | Himalica

Chinese and Pakistani Bodies Sign MOU to Develop and Leverage Sea Buckthorn Industry in Pakistan

The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), Pakistan, and the Gansu Light Industries’ Science Research Institute, China, have partnered together to explore potential for the commercial development of the sea buckthorn industry in Pakistan. The two bodies signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 14 April 2017 in Lanzhou city, Gansu, China. The Gansu Provincial Department of Science and Technology will provide about half a million Chinese yuan (USD 73,000) to support this collaboration for two years.

1 min Read

70% Complete
The visiting team at the Gansu Research Institute of Light Industry.

The AKRSP is the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) implementation partner for the Support to Rural Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation in the Himalaya (Himalica) initiative’s pilot project in Pakistan. It is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The Gansu Light Industries’ Science Research Institute, on the other hand, is based in Lanzhou city with multiple functions such as business incubation, laboratory testing, online selling and marketing, market research, packing and packaging, online training, and industry collaboration.


Representatives of the AKRSP and the Gansu Light Industries’ Science Research Institute signing the MOU.

Both the AKRSP and the Gansu Light Industries’ Science Research Institute will work together to conduct technical analyses and incubate innovations to develop a series of sea buckthorn-based products. Technology and knowledge transfer on standardization, quality, processing, and marketing along with packing and packaging are priority areas of exchange and improvements. This partnership will also help build the capacities of relevant stakeholders through trainings, exchanges, apprenticeships, and private sector partnerships to promote the industry.

The MOU was one of the outcomes of a recent exposure visit jointly organized by ICIMOD and the AKRSP for a team of yak value chain actors from Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, Pakistan, to Gansu province, China, under the leadership of Ruijin Long, Senior Ecologist at ICIMOD.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related content

Continue exploring this topic

19 Jan 2016 News
Hands on Training Organized on Bio-briquette Making Technology in ICIMOD Knowledge Park at Godavari

A two-day training was organised at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) Knowledge Park at Godavari for community ...

1 Oct 2020 covid-19
COVID-19 and gender inequality in Pakistan

The uneven impact of COVID-19 has exposed entrenched gender and other inequalities in Pakistan. Initial research indicates ...

12 Jun 2017 News
ICIMOD Celebrates the World Environment Day 2017

Articles written by ICIMOD staff members on the occasion of World Environment Day 2017 River basin management approach could increase agricultural ...

24 Jan 2018 Cryosphere
Cryosphere Initiative field activities for the autumn 2017

Thana glacier, Bhutan In Bhutan, Sharad Joshi, Associate Glaciologist and two glaciologists from the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany, ...

24 Jul 2019 CBFEWS
Partnering with private enterprise and communities to manage flood risk

Zarnash Bibi, a teacher from Pakistan says that flood early warning systems have put vulnerable communities at ease: “Earlier, we ...

11 Jul 2016 News
Angora Rabbits Improving Livelihoods in Pakistan

An Angora rabbit farming pilot initiative was launched as a high value livelihood source for marginalised communities, particularly women in ...

5 Dec 2015 Uncategorized
ICIMOD Becomes an Observer in the IOM Council

ICIMOD became an Observer in the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Council during its 106th Session, which was held ...

Kidney Beans Improve Income and Nutrition in Kailash Sacred Landscape

  ICIMOD’s Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI), in partnership with the Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA), has identified ...