“The primary goal of the symposium is to identify both the challenges and opportunities within the country’s agricultural sector.” Agriculture Minister
Agriculture minister Hon. Eng. Abdulkadir Iman Warsame delivered his keynote speech at a two-day symposium on Agricultural Challenges and Opportunities in Somaliland and how to empower the farmers.
The symposium held Grand Haadi Hotel brought together participants from several ministries, line state agencies and non-governmental organizations.
It was graced by amongst others, several cabinet ministers.
The agriculture minister said that the primary goal of the symposium was to identify both the challenges and opportunities within the country’s agricultural sector with the intent of empowering subsistence farmers.
“We expect the attending panel of experts to provide appropriate ideas aimed at assisting and uplifting our farming community”, he said.
Minister of Information Hon. Suleiman Ali Kore pointed out, “Our agricultural landscape predominantly consists of small-scale subsistence farmers hence shifting to large scale farming is imperative”.
Hon. Raabi Abdi Mohamed Minister of Rural Development on his part stated, “As a ministry, we emphasize prioritizing support for our rural farmers, recognizing their vital role in the country’s agricultural sector and we urge the World Bank, a sponsor of this program, to collaborate closely with our ministry to ensure this priority becomes a tangible reality”.
Sheikh Abdirzak Hussein Albani, Minister of Religion, “We have been blessed with extensive agricultural land and consistent rainfall which are gifts from Allah but what we lack, is the commitment to cultivate this land and utilize these blessings to yield what’s necessary for our sustenance”.
Kai Yu Huang, an Agricultural specialist from Taiwan Technical Mission, “Somaliland is graced with significant opportunities, mainly fertile soil and abundant sunshine ideal for agriculture. Take, for instance, these Tomatoes, and chili peppers- products of our cultivation”.
He added, “Their quality is a testament to the resources exclusively sourced from Somaliland. We also successfully introduced new crops previously unexplored in this country, including asparagus”.
