FAO, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES TO SUPPORT FOOD SECURITY IN ARAB WORLD BY STRENGTHENING NATIONAL AGRICULTRAL INFORMATION CENTRE
| Press Release SAG/193 |
FAO, united arab emirates to support food security in arab world
by strengthening national agricultral information centre
(Reissued as received.)
ROME, 3 December (FAO) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to strengthen the operation of the national agricultural information centre housed at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the FAO said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the United Arab Emirates and the FAO will work together to strengthen the Agricultural Information Centre (UAEAGRICENT) which will act as a national and regional resource for agricultural information management.
The online Agricultural Information Centre will provide up-to-date information, in Arabic, on a wide variety of farming, fishing and forestry topics including animal genetics and breeding, plant science and production and natural resource management.
It is hoped that through sharing information, the initiative will create and strengthen networks of trained experts and decision makers to support food security among the Gulf States and neighbouring Middle Eastern countries.
The five-year collaboration, beginning in January 2004, intends to make the most of the country's strategic location along with the knowledge and expertise of the FAO to achieve tangible development outcomes in agricultural information management.
The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed on Wednesday, 3 December, by the United Arab Emirates Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Saaed bin Mohammed Al-Raqabani and FAO Assistant Director-General for Technical Cooperation, Henri Carsalade, on behalf of Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the FAO.
For more information, contact: Stephanie Holmes, Information Officer, FAO, e-mail: stephanie.holmes@fao.org, tel: (+39) 06 570 56350; FAO Newsroom: http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/
* *** *