Brussels, 07/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The countries of the western Mediterranean (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta, on one side, and Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania, on the other) met for a 5+5 seminar on food security in Algiers on Monday. They came to the decision that they must “work together to improve the food security of nearly 300 million people” living in that region.
According to the press agency APS, the representative from the relevant ministry of Algeria (which hosted the meeting) highlighted the fact that the sub-region is now facing a complex problem that does not fall within the remit of any one country but which calls for a collective approach and cooperation based on solidarity. The 5+5 framework is felt to be the most suitable framework for forming direct economic and technical cooperation between countries with similar agricultural characteristics. The Algerian minister for agriculture and rural development, Rachid Benaïssa, is reported by the agency as having underlined the comparative advantages and assets of the Euro-Mediterranean region, and of pointing out that “all forms of partnership between operators, institutions and organisations in our different countries will be welcome”.
The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), to which five of the southern rim countries belong, presented a plan for improving food security and for modernising agriculture in the Maghreb by 2030, in addition to a programme for action to combat desertification. The European Commission, which played a part in the meeting, spoke of its willingness to contribute to this kind of cooperation, all the more as the southern Mediterranean countries are faced with food production that, in recent decades, has not been sufficient to meet the growing demand for food due to the growth in population. The Maghreb zone remains a net importer of farm produce. (FB/transl.jl)