The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, called for holding the consultative meeting of the Deputy Ministers for Agriculture in the member countries of the Locust Control Commission in the Central Region in Cairo yesterday morning to follow up on the desert locust situation and the asses damages caused during the last period.

The Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Eng. Ahmed Al-Eyada, said that the meeting has set number of recommendations to serve the countries affected by desert locust, most notably the activation of the emergency fund which all member countries contribute in, to support the countries that have weak ability to combat the desert locust, while the expenditures from the fund will be under the supervision of the Commission to maximize the benefit from it.

Al-Eyada urged the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to play its role in supporting affected countries and rapid intervention in order to combat the pest that threatens agricultural products in affected countries or countries that might be affected by the pest.