Tunis, August 25 (TAP) - Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources, and Fisheries, Ezeddine Ben Cheikh, called on members of the Executive Council of the Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) to strengthen regional cooperation in addressing climate change.

In a video address at the opening of the Council’s 45th session, which he chaired, Ben Cheikh stressed the climate challenges facing Arab countries, including water scarcity, declining productivity and the expanding phenomenon of desertification in the region.

The meeting was attended by members of the Council, a representative of the General Secretariat of the Arab League, the Director-General of ACSAD, as well as representatives of Arab and regional organisations, institutions, and Arab funding bodies.

Ben Cheikh emphasised the need to exchange expertise and research, noting that the Executive Council has taken on the responsibility of closely monitoring the implementation of ACSAD’s action plans and programmes and assessing achievements.

He added that the Council worked on discussing the difficulties facing Arab agriculture and ways to strengthen ACSAD’s role, enabling it to continue following scientific and technological developments and benefiting from them in support of common Arab goals, in line with the scale of challenges and changes confronting Arab countries.

For his part, ACSAD’s Director-General, Nasr Eddin Al-Obeid, reviewed the organisation’s key achievements across various agricultural sectors in all member states.