Bilateral meeting with H.E. Memma Beibatta, Minister of Agriculture of Mauritania

Bari - The FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, met today with His Excellency Memma Beibatta, Minister of Agriculture of Mauritania 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 referred to his visit to Mauritania during which he had fruitful discussions with the government and recalled his positive impression of the people and the country. The Director-General also conveyed his appreciation for the offer by Mauritania to host the next session of the FAO Africa Regional Ministerial Conference in 2026.

The Minister thanked the Director-General for the meeting and informed that together with the President, they were honoured and fully committed to organizing a successful Africa Regional Conference. The Minister informed that Mauritania was working hand in hand to face challenges like food insecurity, climate change and conflicts, and thanked FAO for its support, including through the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) and looked forward to further fostering relations. The Minister highlighted that food sovereignty and nutrition were key for the government and that the President wanted agriculture to be a top priority. The Minister also noted that Mauritania had become self-sufficient in rice and would like to replicate this with vegetables.

The Minister further referred to FAO’s assistance to the wheat and livestock sectors, which were being impacted by erratic rainfall that was affecting animal feed. The Minister also informed that the agriculture development strategy was being updated, together with the World Bank and the African Development Bank, and the country hoped to leverage FAO’s expertise to develop and implement the new strategy.

The FAO Director-General reaffirmed FAO’s support to Mauritania, as well as for the preparation of the Africa Regional Conference, in particular for the three pillars of aquaculture, animal husbandry and plant protection through the provision of technical expertise by the relevant FAO technical offices, as well as the FAO Regional Office for the Near East.