Saudi Arabia calls for cooperation to strengthen food system at G20 agriculture meeting
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia participated in the G20 Agriculture Ministers̵7; meeting held in Hyderabad, India on Saturday.
The Saudi Press Agency reported that the Saudi delegation was led by Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture.
Al-Fadley said that in the aftermath of COVID-19, food and agricultural production systems around the world are facing a number of challenges, at a time when the demand for food for a growing population was growing rapidly.
“An important element in ensuring food security is strengthening rural communities by educating and empowering women and youth,” she said.
“Saudi Arabia launched its flagship Sustainable Rural Development Program in 2018 covering eight different sectors, this program has proven to significantly increase the income of our beekeepers by up to 50%, while rain- There has been a 10% increase in irrigated small farmers,” he said.
During the meeting, Al-Fadle also mentioned the importance of responsible investment in agriculture and food systems.
“We feel that digitization is emerging as a key catalyst to transform the agriculture sector by improving resource efficiency, increasing performance and increasing productivity. In this regard, Saudi launched a digital extension platform, which has helped more than 230,000 Served more farmers and provided 2.9 million agriculture. Extension Services,” he said.
Al-Fadle stressed that all humanitarian programs need to be reoriented to effectively address the most pressing food insecurity challenges, and added that the Kingdom through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center It has demonstrated its commitment by completing more than 772 food security projects in 71 countries. ,
At the end of his speech, SPA said, Al-Fadle called on G20 agriculture ministers to work together within the framework of the SDGs to realize global opportunities.