Acknowledging the vital role the highly nutritious grain called quinoa can play in eradicating malnutrition and hunger, the governments of Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen have requested FAO’s support to introduce this “golden grain” in to their farming systems and to institutionalize its production.

In response, FAO has developed a regional technical project to help countries identify the most suitable varieties of the food crop and ensure its production, and marketing.

The project has already evaluated different Quinoa genotypes in all participating countries and varieties suitable to the different climatic conditions have been selected.

Selected varieties of seeds have been grown by participating countries in sufficient enough quantities to plant around 37 hectares with a total quinoa production of around 72 tons of seed which will become available to other participating countries.

To facilitate knowledge exchange, participating countries came together to discuss challenges encountered so far, and exchange experiences about Quinoa production, harvest, processing and utilization.

The meeting, jointly organized with FAO, was held under the patronage of the Iranian Ministry of E-Jihad and Agriculture.