Municipalities Ministry, UN discuss FAO support

Manama, Aug. 2 (BNA): Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Minister Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak held a virtual meeting with the UN and GCC the sub-regional coordinator of the Food and Agriculture Organization Dr. Dino Francescotti Mutis. The minister affirmed the ministry’s keenness to strengthen partnership with United Nations (UN) organizations in supporting national programs in the areas of agricultural and fisheries development that support food security in Bahrain. Al Mubarak stressed raising the Kingdom’s classification in relevant global indicators represented in the abundance of Food, food supply stability, and food safety and quality and pointed out that the ministry attaches the file of food security to the utmost importance and is working on implementing strategic initiatives that will achieve its desired goals. He explained that the implementation of the first project concerned with the development of Bahrain's food security strategy has been completed that focused on three objectives in promoting innovative systems that increase the quality and quantity of production, ensure the sustainability of locally produced food, and take the necessary measures for the continuation of food imports. The meeting reviewed a report on the four joint projects between the ministry and the FAO implemented within the framework of the strategic partnership between Bahrain and the UN agencies for the years 2018-2022. "The strategy also includes raising the efficiency of use by reducing food loss and waste and ensuring food security," he added, noting that the strategy included about 76 recommendations that were analyzed in the strategy with the aim of ensuring effective planning and implementation of sustainable food security strategy for of Bahrain. "The preparation of the agricultural statistics strategy, the agricultural statistics guideline, and digital statistical tools have been completed, and the implementation of the field pilot survey process for agricultural statistics has been completed, in addition to developing capacities in the field of agricultural statistics. Preparing, analyzing, and evaluating agricultural data,” Al Mubarak said. "The achievements obtained from the third project related to supporting the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector in Bahrain include the completion of the designs of the new hatchery to be established during the coming period and the completion of the final draft of the biosecurity strategy for aquaculture and the fish sector, which is an important pillar towards the development of this promising sector." He explained that a package of new projects and initiatives would be launched, foremost of which is the assessment of fish stocks in t Bahrain, and the preparation of the initial industry plan for the fish sector will be concerned with the production, processing, and packaging of food on a large scale using modern equipment and methods. Al Mubarak said that the ministry conducted large-scale monitoring operations on animal production farms in the Kingdom that included import risk analysis, early warning activities, strengthening the capacities of veterinary services and laboratories, and strengthening the national action plan for emergencies related to animal diseases, to detect disease outbreaks early, and rapid response This comes within the fourth project on combating and eradicating animal diseases common to humans and animals and improving animal breeds in Bahrain. The minister praised the cooperation between the ministry and FAO, looking forward to enhancing the level of cooperation to achieve common goals.