Rome, SANA – Agriculture Minister Ahmad al-Qadiri stressed the need for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to provide support via its Damascus office only as it’s the only legal and legitimate office and not to deal with other sides that claim to provide aid in border areas.
In a speech during the meetings of the FAO regional conference for the Middle East and North Africa which is held in Rome, al-Qadiri called for issuing a recommendation to lift the unilateral economic sanctions that have a negative impact on food security, and the conference adopted this recommendation.
The Minister also called on the organization to give priority to supporting strategic crops and the livestock sector by providing feed, vaccines, veterinarian drugs, and protecting livestock from diseases, in addition to stressing the need for the FAO to provide assistance and expertise for developing fish farming and for preserving the genetic resources and origins of plants and animals.
On the sideline of the meeting, al-Qadiri met FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva, Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division Dominique Burgeon, and FAO Assistant Director-General for Technical Cooperation Laurent Thomas, and discussed with them the requirements for developing the agricultural sector in the coming stage.
Hazem Sabbagh