Qatret al-Rihan in Rural Hama is the first model village within the Villages Development Initiative

The village of Qatret al-Rihan in the al-Ghab area of the western countryside of Hama was declared today as the first development model village as part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform initiative to create villages capable of development and change    achieving an advanced agricultural economy based on the optimal and sustainable use of natural and human resources.

 

The “Model Development Rural Villages” initiative of the Ministry’s Agricultural Rural Development Directorate, entitled “Together we build a dream… We achieve hope… we get work done”, including the simultaneous completion of all service and development projects in the selected village by all concerned authorities with different specialties  to become a model village with its projects and services appropriate to the surrounding environment.

 

In a statement to SANA, the Minister of Agriculture, Engineer Mohammed Hassan Qatna, described the development work applied in the Qatret al-Rihan as important, vital and advanced at the level of the Al-Ghab region, stating that it is part of the support and marketing of the rural product based on an integrated rural development strategy based on the local community.

 

Minister Qatana noted that the work in Qatret Al-Rihan focused on studying and evaluating the needs of the village’s inhabitants, identifying their vision and proposals for projects that need support to raise the economic, social, developmental, environmental, health and cultural level of the villagers. As a result, a range of projects has been initiated in the village to serve as a source of income for families and to enhance their economic capacity, taking into account that these projects can optimally invest available local resources.

 

The Director-General of the Arab Center for Studies of Dry Areas and Arid Lands “ACSAD” Dr. Nasr El-Din El-Obeid confirmed that this initiative is a model for achieving the 17th goal of sustainable development and reflects the Centre’s role in supporting the establishment of micro-projects such as beekeeping, fisheries farming,  poultry, and  livestock. 

 

  He pointed out that Qatret al-Rihan is a model village that deserves attention and follow-up and provides it with experts and technicians and attention to agricultural extension, capacity building, training, and rehabilitation for various development projects.

 

The Chairman of the Rural Development Committee in Qatret al-Rihan Fadi Saeed explained that the village has been selected as a model for several factors, the most important of which is the reliance on local community-based partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture in supporting small enterprises. The Fermi Compost project, the organic fertilizer industry or so-called worm fertilizer, was launched and is a very important and promising industry in the region. In addition to establishing three units for the production of cultivar barley, this provides cow breeders with fodder. The first experiment was also launched to produce household biogas with simple organic materials. Saeed added.

 

The Director of the General Authority for the  Management and Development of Al-Ghab , Eng. Awfa Wassouf  pointed out that Qatret Al-Rihan had been selected to carry out development projects due to its distinguished agricultural resources, both plant and animal, and the stable social situation in the village in addition to the sought of its residents towards implementing various projects .

 

Wassouf noted that the Authority had undertaken the follow-up and study of these projects since the Initiative was launched. The General Authority for Fisheries had prepared 22 fishponds, supervised the installation of manufacturing units and organic fertilizer ponds, and selected rural women’s representatives in the   Al-Ghab Development Authority to train rural women on the implementation of projects in the village.

 

Amal Farhat