African media involvement in fight against soil degradation urged
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APA-Algiers (Algeria)
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Algerian Minister of Agriculture and Communication, Nacer Mehal, and the Minister in charge of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Rachid Benaissa, on Tuesday urged African media outlets to become more involved in the fight against soil degradation.
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“Communication must play a key role in the fight against soil degradation, at the forefront of which there should be television stations and written media,” remarked Mr. Mehal in Algiers during the opening of a three-day sensitization workshop on land degradation, desertification and drought for journalists from across the continent.
Benaissa said it was necessary that the media partake in such a scheme in so far as 12 million hectares of lands are adversely affected every year in the world thus causing over 1.5 billion people to be at risk of food insecurity and malnutrition.
“The media are expected to play an active role in upholding the campaign aimed at addressing the degradation of the environment and its adverse effects” Dr Rachid Benaissa remarked.
“You must relay the right information,” he told reporters attending the seminar, while exhorting them to spare no efforts in the drive to tackle the matter.
“The rural world is the future because it abounds in potentialities which required to be protected and developed in tandem with the population, by facilitating synergies between different resources through information and communication,” explained Dr Rachid.
Participants in the Algiers meeting are from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and host country, Algeria.
