The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation will open a partnership and liaison office in Kuwait to strengthen joint efforts to end hunger and poverty and promote sustainable agriculture in the Middle East, FAO said in a statement on Wednesday.
The announcement follows the signing of a five-year partnership agreement on Tuesday by FAO director-general Qu Dongyu and Kuwait's information and youth minister, Mohammad Nasir Abdullah al-Jabri, the statement said.
The agreement marks a new phase in FAO-Kuwait collaboration, the statement underlined.
The accord entails close collaboration with multiple partners, al-Jabri said at the signing ceremony held on the sidelines of the FAO Council, the Organization's executive body. In his remarks at the signing ceremony Al-Jabri also reaffirmed his commitment to support all FAO initiatives under the joint programme.
At the signing ceremony, Qu stressed the importance of transforming the food systems in the region to improve agricultural production, nutrition and to safeguard the environment, the statement said.
Under the agreement, Kuwait will support the implementation of projects aimed at eliminating hunger by boosting nutrition, agricultural and rural development in the region as part of a drive to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in the Gulf state and across the region.
The accord covers natural resources conservation; water resources management; land restoration; livestock production and animal health; food security; food waste and losses, according to the statement.
Other priority areas in the accord are sustainable fisheries management and development of responsible aquaculture; integrated pest management; responsible agriculture; as well as capacity building and research and development, the statement said.
Young experts from Kuwait will get the opportunity to receive training under the FAO's Associate Professionals Programme and other activities as part of the agreement, the statement added.
The training programme offers graduates exposure to international development cooperation activities, while enabling them to apply their technical specialization under the supervision of an FAO expert.
