Rabat hosts ministerial conference on investment in arid areas
Regional, Environment, 6/26/2001

A ministerial conference on investment possibilities in areas with arid ecosystems in western Asia and Northern Africa started proceedings in Rabat on Monday.

The two-day conference is debating recommendations adopted by the preparatory meeting held in Cairo last May, orientations and options to promote arid areas and the broad lines of a regional program on arid areas development.

The conference will also discuss a draft statement of intent whereby western Asian and Northern African countries and donor institutions pledge to institute a partnership.

In an opening address, Moroccan Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, surveyed Morocco's economic and social development policy that grants top priority to the rural world promotion, struggle against desert encroachment and environment protection.

He said 50 percent of the Moroccan population lives in the countryside wherefrom the important impact of the rural world at the economic and social scales. He also underlined the role of agriculture in the development process and the moves initiated by Morocco to protect its natural resources, increase the irrigated surface area, harness water resources, secure food self-sufficiency and raise the farmers' living standards.

Youssoufi equally called for a rational exploitation of lands and for struggle against poverty in Western Asia and North Africa.

Echoing him, World bank executive, Ms Doris Koehn, deplored the persistence of poverty, natural resources depletion and agricultural production decline in the region.

She said agricultural production, which is to increase in the world up to 2020, will not progress in the region in view of desert encroachment and depletion of water resources. She explained that 87 percent of rain waters in the region will go to irrigated farming, which hardly contributes 10 percent of the Gross Domestic product. Land deterioration in the region costs some $ 10 billion per year.

Ministers of agriculture, finance and environment from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen and delegates of some 25 donor institutions are taking part in the conference that will wind up with the adoption of a Rabat Declaration.

The conference is sponsored by the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the Arab fund for economic and social development and other organizations and funds dealing with agriculture, development and struggle against desert encroachment.

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