http://www.english.hadhramaut.info Agriculture Minister returns home [The Source: SANA'A\English.Hadhramaut\Saba - Saturday -01/March/2014 ] Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Fareed Mujawar returned to Sana'a on Saturday after his participation in meetings of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He took part in the meetings of the 37th session of the IFAD Governing Council, which was held on 19 - 20 February and the 32nd session of FAO Regional Conference for the Near East held on 24 - 28 February. Upon his arrival, Mujawar said that he held talks with IFAD officials on the implementation progress of the IFAD-funded projects in Yemen and the ways to accelerate measures to sign the rural development project, which has been discussed and endorsed by the government recently at a cost of $127 million funded by IFAD and other donors. He said that the FAO Conference discussed many important issues, including the state of food and agriculture in the Near East and North Africa Region, FAO regional water scarcity initiative and reducing food losses and waste in the Near East and North Africa Region. On the sidelines of the FAO conference, a meeting was held in which the Minister delivered a speech on the situation of Yemen, and its impacts on agriculture, food security and nutrition. Mujawar has met also with in Rome with FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva, where they discussed the mutual cooperation between Yemen and the organization in the fields of agriculture and food security, as well as the FAO Director-General's initiative to establish a special fund to support agricultural development and food security in Yemen. Moreover, the Minister met with a number of counterparts of the brotherly and friendly countries who have participated in the meetings and discussed with them the areas of future cooperation in the agricultural field.