Almotamar Net - Yemen has been chosen as the host for crucial talks of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The threat of Bird Flu and issue of water resources are expected to be high up on the list of issues to be discussed.

The conference aims to tackle challenges facing food and agriculture across the region, boosting technical assistance and improving the use of natural resources.

The talks next March are the 28th Regional Conference for the Near East region and will bring representatives from all the Arab nations to Sana’a.

Ministers from Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cyprus and six countries of the former Soviet Union will also attend.

Hisham Al-Shamai, the FAO’s representative in Sana’a, said Yemen met all the requirements to hold such an important international conference.
“The conference is very important to discuss the policies of the organization and to help make them more effective,” Al-Shamai said.
The choice of Yemen as the host for the conference was approved by the members at the previous FAO regional meeting in Doha, Qatar.
Abu Baker Al-Qirbi, the Foreign Minister, said there was a high level of the cooperation between Yemen and FAO members and that everything possible would be done to ensure the conference was a success.
Abdul-Malik Al-Arashi, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, said that government ministries were coordinating closely with each other to prepare for the talks.

He said Yemen greatly appreciated the help the FAO had given in setting up development projects across the country.

Nine other countries who hold observer seats in the organization including the United States, Ethiopia, France, Germany, the Vatican, Japan, the Netherlands, Palestine and the United Kingdom, will also take part.

Around 32 ministers and representatives from the FAO and the UN are also expected to attend.

Food safety has become a growing concern for countries in the Near East region, with recent outbreaks of Bird Flu and ‘Mad Cow’s Disease’, or Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis (BSE), in some poultry and meat exporting countries around the world.

Some countries in the region import nearly 70% of all their food, so disease and contamination are a vital issue.

Import bans on food from countries affected by Bird Flu and BSE help to prevent the spread of the epidemic, but also force countries to import food from alternative - and often more expensive - sources.

The last conference in 2004 tackled problems of scarce water resources and agricultural irrigation, one of the most important issues concerning the region.

Plans for technical assistance to help with the ever increasing demands on limited water supplies and policy on the management of watersheds were discussed.

Countries were able to share their different experiences and research on water management in agriculture at the conference, and regional workshops were organized to develop appropriate strategies for water-harvesting and flood management.

source:Yemen Observer