Agriculture is particularly essential for human life, as it provides the fundamental needs for human survival. Agriculture is also an important sector for economic and social development due to its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment. It is recognized as a functional sector for poverty reduction and sustainable rural development, especially in developing countries. Agriculture is the only source of income for the majority of the rural poor in some countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Agriculture is also a significant sector for the OIC economies, where 21 member countries are among the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as categorized by the UN. Agricultural population represents more than one-third of the total population in the Member Countries.
Agriculture is one of the significant cooperation areas of the COMCEC. It has been prioritized by the COMCEC Economic Summit, held in November 2009 in İstanbul. The COMCEC Strategy, adopted by the 4th Extraordinary Islamic Summit, held on 14-15 August 2012 in Makkah, has also identified agriculture as one of the six cooperation areas of the COMCEC. The COMCEC Strategy defined “Increasing the productivity of the agriculture sector and sustaining food security in the Member Countries” as its strategic objective. With a view to achieving this objective, the Strategy envisages four output areas, namely “increasing productivity”, “regulatory framework and institutional capacity”, “reliable and up-to-date data” and “market performance and access”.
Agriculture Working Group (WG) was established as part of the implementation of the COMEC Strategy. WG Meetings provide a regular platform for producing and disseminating knowledge, sharing experiences and good practices, creating a common understanding and approximating policies in this field.
In order to enrich discussions during the Working Group Meetings, analytical studies on the specific themes of the Meetings and “COMCEC Agriculture Outlook” are prepared and submitted to WG Meetings. In addition, Proceedings of these Working Group Meetings, which reflect the outcomes of the Meetings, are published by the CCO, following each WG Meeting. For more information on the COMCEC Agriculture Working Group, please click here.
Moreover, 7 Ministerial Meetings on Agriculture have been held till now in order to enhance cooperation among the Member Countries in this field. Click here for more information on the Ministerial Meetings on Agriculture.
Furthermore, SESRIC organizes training courses on different agricultural and food security aspects in the Member States within the framework of the “OIC Agriculture Capacity Building Programme (OIC-AgriCaB).” For more information on other activities in the field of agriculture please click here.
