Minister of Agriculture, Khalid Hunifat, took part in the 40th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) conference which kicked off yesterday in the Italian capital Rome with the aim of reviewing past achievements and technical, financial and administrative reports.

The six-day event is expected to tackle FAO action plans for the next two years and outline policies which the agency’s will implement in issues pertaining to agriculture and food domain, in addition to supporting small-scale farmers.

Addressing the gathering, the minister said: ” The fact that there are over 850 million undernourished people in the world who live in rural areas, underscores the importance of this conference”, pointing to the natural increase in population in this regard and the global trend towards producing alternative energy from agricultural products.

“Jordan’s government is fully aware that agriculture is one of the most important pillars of comprehensive development in terms of economic, social and environmental dimensions”, said the minister.

Therefore and for fulfilling its international obligations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, Jordan’s national strategies for agricultural development encompassed developing rural areas and improving their capacity to boost food and agricultural production in order to increase food security, added Hunifat.

He also spoke of conditions in Jordan’s neighboring countries, particularly the Syrian crisis which enters its sixth year and is having negative consequences on the sustainable development agenda due to the Syrian refugees influx into the Kingdom whose numbers amounts to 1.5 million.

Hunifat also called for increasing the role of FAO in mitigating the effects of climate change, crises and agricultural risks affecting the sector.

Source: Fana News