Developing a strategic plan for national food security is Libya's primary goal in 2023

Developing a strategic plan for national food security is Libya's primary goal in 2023
24 January 2023

The Minister of Economy of Trade of the state of Libya, stated that developing a strategic plan for national food security is a primary goal for his ministry in 2023 during 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 reviewed the general policies of the food security strategy prepared by the national program team.

Self-sufficiency in wheat
During the meeting, Minister of Economy and Trade, Mr. 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 Libya would be able reach self-sufficiency in this manner, 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.

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 the meeting was 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.

Please find the original version of the article below: 

https://www.libyaherald.com/2023/01/developing-a-strategic-plan-for-national-food-security-is-governments-primary-goal-in-2023/