Agriculture Minister Takes Part in FAO Conference in Rome

(ROME)- The General Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has held its 41st session in Rome to discuss a number of important issues that characterize the state of food and agriculture in the world, most notably migration, agriculture and rural development with the participation of representatives from 194 countries including Syria.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Eng. Ahmed Al-Qadri delivered a speech today before the conference stressing that Syria entered the recovery and reconstruction phase through government support and to invest every inch of liberated territories of terrorism, despite the extensive damage and procedures of forced illegal unilateral coercive measures adopted by some countries against Syrian people that led to higher input production costs..

Eng. Al-Qadri pointed to the negative effects of the terrorist war against Syria, which hindered the achievement of agricultural renaissance because of the destruction of the work system in productive institutions and research centers, indicating that the Syrian government is conducting its constitutional duty towards the peasants in order to support their stability and provide their livelihoods.

The Minister of Agriculture presented several issues, the most important of which are the problem of climate change, the succession of drought seasons, the negative impacts of the drought and the importance of finding suitable solutions, noting the work with FAO through the implementation of a number of development projects and the necessity of developing cooperation to serve the development of the agricultural sector and support the stability of farmers in their villages and improve their standard of living.

On the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Al-Qadri discussed with the Director of the Emergency, Rehabilitation and Operations Department of the FAO, Dr. Dominic Burgin, the enhancement of cooperation between the Ministry and the Organization to serve the agricultural work in Syria.

During the meeting, Mr. Al-Qadri called for the Organization’s contribution to ensure the support of farmers who return to their areas, taking into account the reality of the agricultural sector and the extent of the damage caused by terrorism.

For his part, Mr. Burgin stressed the organization’s readiness to participate in preparing the data and studies showing the extent of need for project development and intervention programs to improve the livelihoods of farmers, pointing out that coordination will be conduct with the organization’s office in Damascus to prepare these studies.

Participants in seven-day conference, which kicked off in the 22nd of June, discuss topics such as the case of agriculture, food, migration, rural development, and the International Code of Conduct on the use of fertilizers and sustainable management and the promotion of health patterns and prevention of all forms of malnutrition.

Sh. Kh.