Representatives of NENA Agriculture Ministers endorse "Bari Declaration" for plant protection in Italy

23 June 2023, Italy – Representative of Agriculture Ministers and officials in the Near East and North Africa region (NENA) endorsed the "Bari Declaration" for plant protection during a high-level meeting on Transboundary Plant Pests and Diseases (TPPDs) in the Near East and North Africa region (NENA), co-organized in Bari, Italy, by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Center for Advanced Agricultural Studies for the Mediterranean in Bari (CIHEAM Bari). 

The "Bari Declaration" called for necessary measures to activate the strategy by defining and adopting a five-year action plan by the members, with the need to designate focal points to coordinate and facilitate cooperation between member states and the council, and to communicate with donors to allocate the necessary resources to implement the regional strategy. 

The participants addressed, over the course of three days, the limitations and weaknesses of plant protection systems in NENA countries, in addition to the main pillars of the regional strategy for the sustainable management of transboundary plant pests and diseases in NENA. 

The “Bari Declaration” comes in recognition of the strategic importance of managing transboundary pests considering the threat to food security in the region if they were to enter and spread, as these pests have caused extensive damage to the region over decades. 

The Declaration signatories expressed their concerns about the escalating rate of hunger and severe food insecurity in the region, as well as the major challenges resulting from the spread of transboundary pests, and the financial and economic crises, which represent challenges for some countries in the region due to the large outbreak of these pests, in addition to various factors, including climate change, water scarcity, land degradation, and biodiversity loss. 

"The Near East and North Africa region faces many threats from transboundary plant pests and diseases, which causes severe losses to agricultural production that may reach 25 to 40 per cent of the total global production, thus increasing the economic risks in the Near East and North Africa region," said Abdulhakim Elwaer, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for the Near East and North Africa. 

“The proposed TPPDs strategy would allocate 52 per cent of the budget to capacity building, 28 per cent to environmental, economic, and social impacts, and 20 per cent to cooperation and knowledge; estimated at USD 24.8 Million, USD 13.5 Million, and USD 9.4 Million respectively,” explained Thaer Yaseen, the Regional Plant Protection Officer at FAO Office in NENA. 

The Ministerial Declaration commended FAO and CIHEAM Bari efforts and thanked the participation of international organizations, such as the Near East Plant Protection Organization (NEPPO), the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), and ICARDA. 

This declaration emphasizes the urgent need to fundamentally alter the agriculture and food systems in the region to become more efficient, inclusive, and resilient by developing strategies for the sustainable management of transboundary pests, taking action to address climate change, and leveraging science and innovation to boost agricultural productivity and ensure sustainability. 

The signatory countries agreed to initiate and facilitate deposit procedures and approve the allocated resources from member states to the designated depository in FAO following the official launch of the strategy.