Int'l experts: 25 challenges face food security in Yemen

SANA'A, Jan.17 (Saba) - The
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)'s experts affirmed on Sunday
that
they have identified 25 challenges facing food security in Yemen ,making use of the
household budget survey, which was conducted in 2004 and food survey carried out by
the
World Food Program in Yemen in 2009.
This came during a workshop on the mid-term review of the national strategy for
food security, organized here by Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation
in coordination
with the IFPRI and the European Union (EU).
The workshop, opened by Minister of planning and International Cooperation
Abdul-Karim al-Arhabi, witnessed the launch of a digital atlas on food security in
Yemen.
In the workshop, al-Arhabi confirmed that there are efforts exerted by the
government in partnership with the Work Bank (WB), World Food Organization and FAO
International
to develop a national strategy for food security in Yemen according to the best
global practices.
He pointed out that the global rise in food prices has represented an alarm bell to
push the government to take practical actions for developing a national strategy
for
food security in Yemen.
The mid-term review of the national strategy for food security aims to reviewing
and upgrading the priorities at the level of sectors to be adopted in the food
security
strategy document, al-Arhabi indicated.
The experts considered that the main reasons for the low food security indicators
in Yemen during the years 2007-2008 are the depletion of oil resources and the
global rise
in food prices, in addition to the steady population growth rates.
The liquefied gas exports in Yemen would witness increasing in the coming years,
the experts expected stressing the importance of exploiting potential opportunities
in the
non-oil economic sectors such as tourism and fisheries.
They affirmed the importance of developing effective strategies for grain storage
and activating the trade food frameworks with the countries of the region and
reducing
the cultivation of Qat, which drains about 40 percent of the water resources of the
country.
BA