Damascus-SANA
The Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform discussed with representatives of international and Arab organizations working in Syria and the relevant authorities that participated in the launch of the development village initiative (Together we build a dream) in the village of Qarat al-Rayhan in the Al-Ghab area of Hama, the results of this initiative so far and its continued support and consultation to launch other initiatives in the rest of the governorates.
The Minister of Agriculture, Eng. Mohamed Hassan Qatana, referred to the role of the parties that participated in the initiative launched in mid-April, stressing the need for cooperation and coordination to propose and support other initiatives based on international experiences in rural development in all fields.
The minister touched on the importance of international and Arab organizations' support for development projects in the Syrian countryside to work together to improve the situation of rural families and raise the efficiency of agricultural work.
Minister Qatana pointed out that these interventions are one of the applied executive programs according to the outcomes of the Agricultural Sector Development Forum within the Rural Development Program, where the ministry relied on the local community in the development villages and started in the village of Qarat al-Rayhan in the al-Ghab region since 2021, and many climatic, topographic and economic studies have been prepared. and development to invest local resources in agricultural, plant and animal production.
The Director General of the Arab Center for Studies of Dry Areas and Arid Lands, ACSAD, Dr. Nasr Al-Din Al-Obeid confirmed that the Basil Drop project is a success story in improving the income and settlement of the population and achieving income for rural women, pointing out that the organization will provide support to a number of different projects and implement them in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and various bodies through Capacity building, manufacture of organic fodder, bee and buffalo breeding, distribution of a group of sheep and goats to local people to improve their income in addition to fodder, biogas, compost production and water harvesting.
President of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Agriculture, Muhammad Kashto, stressed the importance of evaluating the rural development experience launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and started in the village of Qarat al-Rayhan through the projects presented with the aim of reaching a rural community that achieves sustainable development in all fields.
The Director of Rural Development, Dr. Raeda Ayoub, indicated that the outcomes of the meeting consisted of a matrix in which roles were distributed for the next phase, and each of the parties identified projects that could be implemented and presented in the village of Qarat al-Rayhan and a review of what had been implemented during the past four months.
The Director of the Cooperative Agricultural Bank, Ibrahim Zaidan, confirmed that the model presented by the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the village of Qarat al-Bayhan is a successful model and worthy of attention for the development of the village and the region as a whole, pointing out that the Agricultural Bank provides loans to micro and small projects and is ready to provide support for any project aimed at real production with soft guarantees in agreement with Loan Guarantee Corporation.
Ghassoub Abboud and Mahran Maalla
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