Aswan, Egypt - RPW Project Steering Committee (SC) of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concluded a two-day regional meeting in Aswan, Egypt. The regional meeting was attended by members of the project SC from Oman and Saudi Arabia, leaders of Technical Working Groups (TWGs), members of the technical and advisory committees from ACSAD, AOAD, CIHEAM, ICBA, ICARDA, NEPPO, PRS, KFU, KACST and University of GENOA, and of the LOA under the RPW Eradication Project.

During the regional meeting, the SC reviewed and evaluated the progress and development achieved so far in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region and agreed upon next steps.

The SC meeting coincided with the Regional Farmers Field Schools (FFS) Workshop on RPW management which took place over four days, with the participation of representatives and experts from 6 North African countries.

The members of the SC organized a field visit to a date palm field in a village in Aswan, where they observed a simulation of FFS carried out by participants of the regional FFS Training of Master Trainers workshop on RPW management.

During the visit, the trainees presented outputs of the training, field simulation, and the key practices that will be transferred to their countries. The SC and trainees have also examined a trial experiment of the possibility of training sniffer dogs to detect infestations of RPW.

Suleiman Al-Khatib, Assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture Affairs at the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) and the KSA SC representative said: “Based on the presented progress of activities and events concluded, such as the FFS for the RPW management and the results-based management (RBM) outcomes show tangible progress so far. These efforts are expected to have a major role in assisting countries in building effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM), providing the necessary support to farmers, and raising their expertise in the prevention and control of RPW.”

“In line with the keen commitment of the participating countries, significant efforts are being implemented to overcome the challenges facing the project. The RPW Eradication Project supports the Sultanate of Oman National Plan and Program on the RPW eradication,” elaborated Salem Al Khatri, Assistant Director General for Agricultural Development at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Recourses in the Sultanate of Oman, and the Sultanate’s representative in the SC.

"All RPW Eradication Project stakeholders demonstrate eager commitment to achieve the project set goals, as indicated by the performance and progress in the Project countries,” Thaer Yaseen, Plant Protection officer at FAO Regional Office for the Near East, and North Africa (RNE), emphasized.

Certificates awarded to Regional FFS Workshop participants

Concluding the FFS workshop, SC members assisted in handing out the participation awards to the workshop trainees. Evaluation of knowledge transfer has been conducted suing polling method pre and post workshop. According to the evaluation, the knowledge of the trainees on the mentioned array of subject has significantly increased.

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