Brussels, 07/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - Farm ministers of the 13 countries of the Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (CIHEAM), meeting in Algiers on 6 February, noted the need to ensure food security for the Mediterranean region. They called on the EU and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to support the definition of a strategy to implement food security. In a joint common statement issued after their tenth annual meeting, they state that, ensuring food security in the Mediterranean had to be based on many factors are required, including farming itself and the environment, along with social, territorial, economic and political issues. Food security must be linked to development, stability and peace in the region.
Against this perspective, the ministers noted the importance of cooperation among Mediterranean countries to meet the challenges of food security through the exchange of experience on farm and food practices and better management of markets and food products. They recommend, however, that the strategies to be implemented should be adapted to local situations and be financed over an extended period of time. Countries in the Mediterranean area are asked to carry out national and regional agriculture, agri-food and rural development policies, and decide on ecologically and socially responsible food strategies, targeting action on a sustainable rural development model based on jobs and growth.
The EU is asked to confirm its support for farming, food and rural areas in the Mediterranean by pursuing support for cooperation and research activities through the ENPARD initiative, the Horizon 2020 programme or Article 185 on research and innovation.
The EU and FAO are urged to define a strategic common development agenda for food, farming and rural areas around the Mediterranean. The conference recommends that a coherent approach be ensured between operational links and cooperation activities and the research/innovation dimensions in the regional projects currently being pursued.
The role of CIHEAM has been confirmed and the countries it represents feel that it provides an appropriate framework for identifying areas of mutual interest in the domain of agricultural and rural development, food security, the sustainable management of natural resources and the sustainability of food systems.
CIHEAM has the job of boosting instruments and networks, supporting the mobility of researchers and facilitating the exchange of best practice among players in rural areas, considering the role of women and young people in agriculture, promoting measures to tackle food waste and implementing natural resource management activities that take account of the effects of climate change. (FB/transl.fl)