Egypt’s Supply and Internal Trade Minister Ali el-Moselhi on Sunday called for rallying all international efforts to reduce food and energy prices, especially for developing nations.
The minister added in his address to the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin on Sunday that the Egyptian government has over the last eight years taken action to achieve food security by reclaiming more land and cultivating more staple crops.
However, the war in Ukraine has affected grain prices globally due to higher transport and energy costs, the minister said.
El-Moselhi underlined the importance of engaging major countries in achieving food security and carrying out sustainable solutions to secure food for the world by 2030 and limit climate change.
On the sidelines of the forum, el-Moselhi met with the German agriculture minister to express Egypt’s wish to increase German wheat and flour imports as part of its policy to diversify sources of goods.
El-Moselhi also called for more co-operation with Germany in agriculture and food security.
Hosted by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the forum welcomes 3,000 international visitors from politics, industry, science and civil society to discuss action to be taken to transform food systems.
The 2023 GFFA is held under the theme Food Systems Transformation: A Worldwide Response to Multiple Crises.
With the 2030 Agenda, the international community has set ambitious Sustainable Development Goals, such as ending global hunger. Despite this, the number of people affected by hunger is still rising. In addition to the climate crisis, the extinction of species and the Covid-19 pandemic, the ongoing war in Ukraine have become new driving forces in this global food security crisis.
More than 70 agriculture ministers are taking part in the event, which opened on January 18.
