The 30th General Assembly of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development issued an initiative at the conclusion of the ministerial meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday for an emergency Arab program for food security that aims at increasing and stabilizing of food production in the Arab world, with an emphasis on the production of grains, seeds and sugar. The Riyadh Declaration that carried the initiative called on relevant parties to coordinate towards preparing the program. Earlier, on behalf of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Minister of Agriculture Dr. Fahd Bin Abdulrahman Balghnaim inaugurated here Tuesday the ministerial meeting. On behalf of the King, the minister delivered a speech on this occasion. The Declaration also adopted an Arab food program to support the most affected Arab countries, and the requirements and mechanisms to implement it. It also called for increased efforts to attach special importance to the issue of food security in the upcoming Arab economic, social and developmental summit that is to be held in Kuwait next January. The Declaration also urged Arab public and private sectors and businessmen to invest in joint agricultural projects in the countries under the emergency program, and called for a conference on that issue by the end of 2008. The Riyadh Declaration underlined the necessity of Arab governments' commitment to grant facilities, privileges and guarantees that encourage Arab investment in the field of food security. It also urged Arab governments to accelerate the process of issuing legislations that support Arab agricultural integration and activate the Arab free commerce zone, which will enhance commercial-agricultural exchange among them. The Declaration called for a specific timetable to coordinate Arab agricultural policies so as to achieve a medium-range joint Arab agricultural policy.
