Press Release

Roundtable discussions in the KRI on the revision of the National Food Security Strategy and Action Plan

08 December 2022

Erbil, 8 December 2022 - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Iraq in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (MoAWR) of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) conducted a roundtable discussion on the review and revision of National Food Security Strategy of Iraq (NFSS) and an Action Plan to it.

This initiative is part of ongoing discussions at the national and regional levels facilitated by FAO Iraq and its international experts from headquarters and Regional Office for Near East and North Africa to review and amend existing NFSS considering current challenges as well as developing Action Plan to enforce NFSS.

The KRI MoAWR Minister’s Advisor Dr. Rizkar Muhammad Khader and FAO Iraq Representative Dr. Salah ElHajjHassan opened the meeting with welcoming speeches and highlighted a fruitful collaboration between two institutions in supporting farmers and agriculture sector of the country.

Over two days, FAO national and international experts, KRI MoAWR, Council of Ministries, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Planning, Board of Investment, Board of Environment, Chamber of Commerce, Farmers Unions, Agriculture Syndicate and academia had discussed issues affecting agriculture production and food security in the country and KRI, proposed solutions and actions to be included in the updated NFSS and its Action Plan. In addition, participants discussed the potential support of FAO in developing an Investment Map for KRI agriculture sector.

On the sidelines of the workshop, FAO Iraq Representative Dr. Salah ElHajjHassan met the KRI Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources HE Begard Talabani. In the course of this meeting, FAO Iraq ongoing initiatives in KRI, NFSS and its Action Plan, as well as future potential collaboration between FAO Iraq and the KRI MoAWR in the agriculture sector have been discussed.

Salah Elhajjhassan

Salah Elhajjhassan

FAO
Representative
salah.elhajjhassan@fao.org
Mr Hajj Hassan, a national of Lebanon, holds a Ph.D. in Plant Production from the University of Agriculture, Damascus, Syria; a Master of Science degree in Plant Production and a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering, both from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
He started his career in 1984, as Senior Research Assistant in the Agricultural Research and Education Centre (AREC), American University of Beirut. From 1987 to 1991, he was Coordinator of the Student Training Programme, and also Agriculture and Horticultural Teacher for the Faculty of Agriculture, at the Lebanese University.
From 1991 to 1995, he worked as Agricultural Engineer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Bekaa Regional Office, Zahlah and was then assigned to the Agricultural Research Institute in the Tal Amara station, first as Head of the Crop Production Department and subsequently in charge of the Plant Protection Laboratory. From 2002 to 2006, he was Director of the Kfardane Research Station (Agricultural Research Institute). In 2008, he became Visiting Scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and Coordinator of a project with the International Centre for Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.
In 2010, he served as Advisor to the Minister for Agriculture of Lebanon. In 2011, he became President of the Pesticide Scientific Committee, Head of the Phytoplasma Committee and Director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (ARDP) (EU-funded project). From 2010 to 2013, he represented Lebanon in negotiations with EU, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. During his career, Mr Hajj Hassan also carried out a number of other functions. He represented the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) in several research programmes with the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the American University of Beirut. He was Coordinator of the Mashreq/Maghreb project with ICARDA, representing Lebanon in the Steering Committee, as well as being the Head of the Sugar-beet Delivery and of the Wheat Delivery Committees. For a number of years, Mr Hajj Hassan worked for the preparation of FAO TCP projects and served as the National Director of a TCP project. He joined FAO in January 2014 as FAO Representative in Yemen. Mr Hajj Hassan succeeds Mr El Zubi as FAO Representative in Iraq.

UN entities involved in this initiative

FAO
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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