A high-level delegation from Libya composed of Mr. Baset Elmayar, the head of the commission for agriculture, livestock and marine resources, Mr. Abdulmunem Mohammed Sudqah, the undersecretary for international cooperation at the Libyan ministry of Agriculture, and Mr. Mahmud ElTellisi, Permanent Representative of Libya to FAO visited the regional office for the Near East and North Africa and took part in the Workhsop on building capacities of the agriculture sector in Libya.

The workshop is organized by the FAO Regional Office in collaboration with the Office for Partnerships and Cooperation (OPC) in the framework of the FAO-Libya Cooperation Programme.

In his opening address, Mr. Abdessalam Ould Ahmed MS, ADG/RR welcomed the Libya delegation and stressed the importance of this workshop, which aims to enhance the technical, planning and managerial capacities of the departments in charge of agriculture in key areas for the sustainable development of the agriculture sector.

Mr. Ould Ahmed MS further stressed that “Capacity development is a core function of FAO and is at the heart of the FAO-Libya cooperation programme. This workshop will prepare the grounds for an ambitious training and institutional capacity development programme that will be benefit Libya in the short, medium and long term”.

Mr. Baset ElMayar, the head of the commission for agriculture, livestock and marine resources, thanked the FAO Director General and the Assistant-Director General and regional Representative for the FAO continuous support to Libya during the current difficult period. He recalled the importance of the agriculture sector and expressed his confidence that it will contribute to the recovery and sustainable development of the agriculture sector.

Mr. Abdulmunem Mohammed Sudqah, the undersecretary for international cooperation at the Libyan ministry of Agriculture, highlighted the important role FAO is providing to support the agriculture sector in libya and highly priced the emergency assistance provided by the organization.

The Libyan officials stressed the importance of implementing a capacity development project for Libya under the UTF Umbrella Programme.

Nine (9) high level civil servants attended the workshop from the Libya side alongside officers and experts from FAO. Ms. Sally Berman the lead FAO capacity development officer introduced the participants to the capacity assessment principle before they were split in groups to undertake a more in-depth need assessment in the areas of agriculture, livestock, fisheries, natural resources management and the enabling environment.

In addition to the FAO-Libya multi-year cooperation programme, FAO is supporting Libya through emergency interventions to control Avian Influenza and to boost wheat production.