DOHA: The Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will open the International Conference on Food Security in Dry Lands (FSDL) at the Qatar University tomorrow.
The two-day conference is organised by the National Food Security Programme (QNFSP) in collaboration with a consortium of national, regional and international partner institutions.
More than 400 participants from 50 countries and some 40 high-level officials including ministers and undersecretaries, heads of regional and international organisations and public institutions are expected to attend the event. The conference president and executive chairman of QNFSP, Fahad bin Mohamed Al Attiya described the conference as “a groundbreaking event that seeks to address some of the most daunting challenges dry land countries face in their search for food security.”
The conference will focus on three main issues: food security; demand and management of water resources and responsible agricultural investments. It will have 12 parallel technical sessions and a “ministerial dialogue on dry land agriculture in a changing climate.”
Some 30 papers, analytical studies and presentations will be presented at the various sessions.
In addition to setting the stage for discussions on climate, the conference deliberations are expected to contribute to boosting support for the establishment of the Global Dry Land Alliance (GDLA). This Qatar-led initiative aims to establish a platform for collaboration among dry land countries working to overcome the challenges of food and water insecurity by collectively harnessing their science, technology and finance capabilities.
The conference is supported by 10 international organisations, including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank (WB) and the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Research Programme (CCAFS) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
The opening ceremony, the plenary panel discussion, the ministerial dialogue sessions and the closing session will be held at the Ibn Khaldoun Conference Hall of Qatar University.
The thematic sessions are organised by conveners from 10 partnering organisations, including IFAD, WB, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) of Georgetown University, the Kings College London (KCL) and Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) of Qatar Foundation.
The Peninsula
