Developing a strategic plan for national food security is a primary goal for his ministry in 2023, Ministry of Economy and Trade Mohamed Hwej said Tuesday. He was speaking at a meeting of the Supreme Committee to Develop a Food Security Strategy held at the headquarters of the National Council for Economic and Social Development in Tripoli.
The meeting was headed by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Hussein Al-Gatrani in the presence of Khaled Al-Mabrouk, Minister of Finance, Mr. Mohamed Hwej, Minister of Economy and Trade, Mohamed Raied, President of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Mahmoud Al-Futaisi, Director General of the National Council for Economic and Social Development, the rest of the committee members from several sectors, and the head of the Food Security Project team and some experts and specialists.
The meeting reviewed the general policies of the food security strategy prepared by the national program team.
Self-sufficiency in wheat
Speaking during the meeting, Economy and Trade Minister Hwej said that developing a strategic plan for national food security is a primary goal for his ministry during 2023. Through this strategic plan the government’s priorities will be arranged in the coming years with regard to providing basic commodities, especially wheat, in coordination with other ministries, especially the Ministry of Agriculture. He hoped through this Libya would reach self-sufficiency, especially in durum wheat, which Libya had achieved a record production in 2010, as it was then self-sufficient and did not import a single grain, he added.
Food security is an urgent necessity
Hwej pointed out that food security is an urgent necessity at the present time and providing food on a permanent basis is no longer easy, especially in light of geopolitical changes, international variables, successive wars and global instability. Therefore, a national plan for food security, he stressed, must be carefully thought out, with clear features, time-bound and realistic.
For his part, the Minister of Finance indicated that a budget should be allocated in Chapter Four of the budget under the name of the Food Security Support item.
Setting a comprehensive plan to set priorities with a specific timetable
The Director General of the National Council for Economic and Social Development, Mahmoud Al-Futaisi, confirmed to the Libya Herald that this meeting is the second within the meetings of the Supreme Committee to Develop a Food Security Strategy, which included a comprehensive plan to set priorities with a specific timetable, and that the Committee of Experts be renamed as the Food Security Programme instead of being a project and delegating powers to it.
The meeting concluded with several recommendations represented in the need to provide all capabilities and expertise to develop an integrated plan for a national strategy to provide safe, healthy, and sustainable food.
