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DG Travels

Mauritania, 26 to 28 December 2007:
The Director-General arrived in Rosso on 26 December 2007 at 09:30 hours, from where he continued to Nouakchott.
During his official visit, the Director-General was received by His Excellency Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallah, President of the Republic. This was followed by a press statement. Discussions with the President and Prime Minister focussed on increasing bilateral cooperation, strengthening cooperation in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, activities to develop the agriculture and rural infrastructure sector, and FAO's Initiative for facilitating supply response against Soaring Food Prices (ISFP).
In addition, the Director-General had working sessions with His Excellency Corréra Issagha, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, His Excellency Assane Soumaré, Minister for Fisheries, and Her Excellency Aicha Mint Sidi Bouna, Minister Delegated to the Prime Minister in Charge of the Environment.
Discussions focussed on the overall food security situation in the world, in particular in Low Income Food Deficit Countries affected by unprecedented price hikes for basic food and inputs (seeds, fertilizers) and driven by strong demand for cereals, historically low food stocks, high oil prices and growing demand for biofuels. The Director-General informed about FAO's ISFP, aimed at improving small farmers' access to agricultural inputs and thus increasing the local food production. In this regard, the Director-General indicated that Mauritania could be one of the pilot countries benefiting from the initiative.
The visit concluded with a press conference on FAO's Initiative for facilitating supply response against Soaring Food Prices, highlighting the reasons for, and consequences of these rising prices, and urging governments and the international community to implement immediate measures in support of poor countries that are hit hard by dramatic food price increases.
The Director-General left Rosso on 28 December 2007 at 10:50 hours.

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