Tunis, Tunisia - 31 January 2025 - The Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) successfully concluded the Training on Best Practices for Conservation of Genetic Resources and Genebank Management in Tunis on January 31, 2025. The training, hosted by the National Genebank of Tunisia (NGBT) under the Ministry of Environment, was designed for Libyan professionals to enhance their knowledge and capacity in plant genetic resource conservation, genebank operations and maintenance, and policy development for genebank management.
In his closing remarks, H.E. Ambassador Berik Aryn, Director General of IOFS, expressed his gratitude to the Government of Tunisia and NGBT for hosting the training, highlighting Tunisia’s leading role in genetic resource conservation. He also acknowledged the Libyan government representatives for their active participation, emphasizing the importance of regional cooperation in biodiversity preservation and food security. Special appreciation was extended to ICARDA experts for their invaluable expertise.
H.E. Mr. Habib Abid, Minister of Environment of Tunisia, welcomed the collaboration and reaffirmed Tunisia’s commitment to exchanging knowledge and best practices with fellow OIC member countries. He expressed confidence that the expertise shared through this initiative would significantly contribute to strengthening genebank management across the region.
Dr. Misbah Ali Ahmed Alsaedi, representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Marine Resources of Libya, thanked IOFS for organizing the training and appreciated the Government of Tunisia for hosting the event. He noted that the training provided an opportunity to familiarize with genebank management operations, documentation systems, essential infrastructure, and international protocols on genetic resource conservation, including ICARDA’s standards for collection, registration, viability testing, regeneration, and long-term conservation.
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Additionally, the training facilitated a study visit for two experts from the Kazakh National Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing to observe Tunisian genebank operations, reinforcing IOFS's commitment to cross-border knowledge exchange.
Concluding the event, H.E. Ambassador Berik Aryn reiterated IOFS's dedication to enhancing member countries’ capacity in genetic resource conservation and reaffirmed the organization's goal to establish an International Genebank. He stressed that continued capacity-building initiatives would be essential in supporting sustainable agriculture and ensuring food security across the region.
The IOFS remains committed to fostering collaboration and technical exchange among its member states, recognizing the critical role of genetic resource conservation in strengthening food systems and agricultural resilience.
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