Bilateral meeting with H.E. Amjad Badr, Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform of the Syrian Arab Republic

Bari - The FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, met today with His Excellency Amjad Badr, Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform of the Syrian Arab Republic, on the sidelines of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) High Level Conference in Support of the Plant Health Strategy in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region.

The FAO Director-General appreciated the good relations with Syria and reaffirmed the Organization’s commitment to continue to support Syria in overcoming the many challenges it was facing in the aftermath of the protracted war.

The Minister appreciated the opportunity to meet with the Director-General, stressing the importance of the agriculture sector in Syria. The Minister also stressed the need to bolster relations with international organizations such as FAO, in support of global food security. The Minister affirmed that agricultural research and science were the basis for identifying solutions to challenges, and looked forward to increasing cooperation with FAO in this regard.

The Minister informed that following 14 years of war, the country had seen a total collapse of infrastructure, especially in the agriculture sector, which in turn had led to a sharp decline in agricultural activities. In particular, the Minister highlighted the lack of information on the agriculture sector as the current databases did not provide the correct and precise information needed to develop the sector.

The Minister further referred to the decline in crop lands due to the displacement of farmers and those working in the agriculture sector. He also elaborated that due to the collapse of infrastructure there was no control on animal and plant pests and diseases, and there was therefore a strong need in the country to develop adequate quarantine measures. The Minister also informed that due to the high number of experts who had left the country, coupled with the lack of training for local capacities, and the displacement of the population, there was a critical need for capacity development and training in the country. The Minister concluded by saying that the country was in a rebuilding and reconstruction phase, but lacked the financial and other resources needed, including lack of seeds and wheat, and requested FAO’s support.

The FAO Director-General commended the responsibility taken on by the Minister to rebuild the agriculture sector and reaffirmed FAO’s support to Syria. The Director-General noted that Syria had traditional farming practices, especially in wheat, and it was therefore important to revive the agrifood system in the country despite the many challenges, which could be addressed by working together. In the short term, the Director-General affirmed FAO’s support through the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) for training for an agricultural census to be undertaken to obtain the required basic data and information from the agriculture sector. Secondly, he confirmed FAO’s commitment to provide the technical expertise needed for the preparation of an agriculture development strategy for the next five years, also working through partners like CIHEAM to train young professionals to rebuild capacities.

In the long term, with political stability, and with the full engagement of the international community, the Director-General noted that more longer-term support could be defined and implemented, but stressed that peace was a critical prerequisite.