Kuwaiti activists urge to solve food security issues in Arab world

 A group of Kuwaiti environmental activists have called for finding suitable solutions to a number of issues that face the Arab world, including sustainable development, climate change, food security, and water scarcity.
The activists discussed these issues while taking part in the seventh annual conference of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), which kicked off in the Jordanian capital Wednesday.
"Increases in population density, food prices, and drought force us to study these issues carefully, find solutions for them, in addition to boost awareness among Arab citizens on ways to face these issues," Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Awadhi, Executive Director of the Regional Organization for Protection of Marine Environment (ROPME), stated to KUNA.
The Forum monitors environment deterioration from various aspects, addressing important issues the concern the Arab nation freely and away from political influences, Al-Awadhi noted.
For her part, Dr. Shafiqa Al-Awadhi, Director in the research department at Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science (KFAS), stressed food security importance to Arab governments as they seek to attain the highest level of food self-sufficiency in their countries.
Attaining self-sufficiency remains a difficult goal to attain in light of shortage of arable lands and rarity of water resources, in addition to increasing depend on food importation, she said.
She suggested giving investment in science and technology a priority, particularly in national agricultural research systems, and using effective measures to transfer technology and develop human capacity in cooperation with public and private sectors.
Meanwhile, Abdulkarim Sadeq, senior specialist in agricultural economy at Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), mentioned that the Fund supports agriculture in Arab and developing countries due to its significance in attaining food security, fighting poverty and hunger, adding that KFAEDs contributions have estimated round 12 percent of the total aid it provides around the world.
The Kuwaiti participation in the Forum aims to get acquainted with the latest on food security issues as part of Kuwait's development plan, Mona Al-Rashidi, superintendent at the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (SCPD) said, adding that exchanging expertise in the food security field with participating countries at the Forum is also another aim.