Leaders of developing Muslim nations agreed Friday to set up a regional seed bank as part of initiatives aimed at boosting agricultural production and averting a possible food crisis. The agreement came as agriculture ministers and business officials from the Group of Eight developing Islamic countries, or D8, ended a two-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Some of the main endeavours under their Kuala Lumpur Initiative were establishing a D8 Umbrella Seed Bank and enhancing joint-venture projects to build more fertiliser plants in member countries.
"Each of us is successful in our own niche areas, and we should share expertise and learn from each other," Malaysian agriculture minister Mustapa Mohamed was quoted as saying by Malaysia''s official Bernama news agency. Implementation of the projects would begin immediately in member states assigned to lead the initiatives, Mustapa said at a closing media conference Friday.
The D8 - which consists of Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria and Turkey - has a joint population of 930 million people. The grouping was first formed in 1997 as a means to enhance economic co-operation among member states.