SANA'A, Jan. 15 (Saba) - Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Dr. Hussein Maqboli called on Sunday for supporting and encouraging strategic and economic crops to enhance the areas of food security in Yemen.

During a meeting with Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Ghazi Ahmed Ali Mohsen, Dr. Maqboli affirmed that the agriculture in Yemen is one of the most promising and important sectors and needs policies and programs to achieve self-sufficiency.

He directed the Agriculture Ministry to prepare a plan and a vision to determine priorities for developing the agricultural resources that help achieve self-sufficiency and reduce the cost of import bill for agricultural products.

The deputy prime minister stressed the need to pay attention to the economic crops, especially coffee and honey, as well as the development of agricultural exports to improve the income sources for farmers and supply the national economy with foreign exchange from export earnings.

Yemen needs to promote the agricultural sector to meet the needs of food security and alleviate the suffering of the citizens as a result of the crisis imposed by the Saudi aggression and siege, Dr. Maqboli said.

He asserted his readiness to coordinate with the private sector to move towards encouraging local agricultural products and replacing them a substitute for the imported products.

For his part, the agricultural minister confirmed that his ministry is currently implementing a total of programs and activities to contribute in achieving the food security, especially in light of the crisis and the blockade experienced by the country due to the aggression.

He reviewed a number of obstacles facing the ministry's activities, including the scarcity of resources and a lot of damage suffered by the agricultural sector because of the aggression, which has impacted negatively on the agricultural sector's productivity.

BA
Saba