Enhancing the capacity of the National Agricultural policy Center and of its counterpart institutions in Syria

The Syrian minister of Agriculture Nour Eddin Mona and FAO's representative in Damascus Mahmoud Taher yesterday signed a document provides for supporting activities of the second phase on supporting the National Agricultural Policy Center (NAPC). The project is executed by FAO and financed by the Italian government at a contribution of USD 239,000. It will continue for one and a half years.

The overall development objective of the project is to contribute to agricultural and economic development in Syria through enhancing capacity of NAPC and supporting its ability to establish links with and promote awareness in relevant public and private institutions around agricultural development and related policy issues, including the strengthening of its counterparts by means with their staff specialized in supporting the agricultural and rural development policy making process.

Among other things, the project will draw a comprehensive strategy for the collection of relevant information from public and private sources in the country, the preparation and publication of special studies related to agricultural and rural development policy, and their targeted dissemination to concerned parties in Syria and other countries in the region.

The project also aims at creating a trained staff in the central and peripheral units of the Syrian ministry of agriculture and Agrarian reform MAAR and other ministries and institutions concerned, able to contribute to policy formulation, monitoring, and evaluation and to interpreting results of policy research and analyses, thus acting as effective correspondents and focal points of the NAPC in various public institutions.