Agriculture Ministry, ICRC discuss mechanisms to support farmers in affected areas

Damascus, SANA – Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Ahmad al-Qadiri discussed on Thursday with head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) mission in Syria Marianne Gasser future mechanisms for cooperation between the two sides.

Setting up a joint work program to support farmers and peasants in areas affected due to the current crisis in Syria was on the table.

The minister affirmed that the Ministry aims at ensuring stability for farmers in their villages and providing services to them especially for the poor ones, through cooperation with the international organizations.

He pointed out that food packages and production-promoting assistance have been provided to farmers in the form of sheep, poultry, animal fodder, beehives, seeds, irrigation systems and crop protection plastics, in addition to veterinary drugs.

Al-Qadiri said about 132,000 families in various provinces benefited from the production grants in 2015.

In turn, Gasser stressed the importance of cooperation and continuing work with the Ministry of Agriculture, adding that the mechanisms followed by the ICRC in Syria aims at helping the largest number of needy families in the affected areas through providing them with assistance in the agricultural sector, which includes seeds, irrigation systems and small income-generating projects.

M.al-Frieh/H. Said

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