FAO in Sudan

South Sudan Minister of Agriculture and Food Security visited FAO Sudan

Sudan Government signed a MoU with South Sudan
13/10/2020

Khartoum- The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security of South Sudan Ms Josephine Joseph visited the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) premises in Khartoum, accompanied by Sudan Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR) Eng. Abdel gader Turkawi. The minister was accompanied by high level delegation that included the Undersecretary of Agriculture Cooperatives and Rural Development Prof Mathew Gordon, the Director General of Agricultural Extension Services Dr George Leju, and the Executive Secretary Ms Karen Kenyi.

FAO Representative Dr Babagana Ahmadu started the meeting by welcoming warmly the two ministers and the accompanying delegations from the two ministries. He briefed the meeting on the recent developments in the agricultural sector in Sudan especially the impacts of the floods, availability of certified seeds for exports, migrant pests including Desert Locusts, Transboundary Animal Diseases such as the foot and mouth disease and provision of Veterinary Services. Dr Ahmadu added that the Plant Protection Directorate (PPD) at the MoANR are  very well capacitated and South Sudan can benefit highly from  their experiences and expertise. He stressed that cooperation between the two ministries is very important.

In his remarks Eng. Turkawi said “We are looking forward to cooperate with South Sudan Ministry of Agriculture, and at the end we are one nation in two countries”.

On the other hand, Ms Josephine expressed her keenness to cooperate with MoANR and to learn more from Gezeira Scheme and to develop the infrastructure in South Sudan. She added, that there are challenges facing her ministry, but the focus should not be on the challenges but on the people’s capacity building and training.

Ms Josephine said, “We need FAO to support us, we want changes in the welfare and wellbeing of our people.”

She also stressed on the seeds issue, and that the seeds they imported from some countries did not germinate, and requested FAO support.

She concluded her talk by requesting that a team from her ministry visits the PPD in Sudan to benefit from its great experience in plant protection and pets control.