The 7^th Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development and the Inaugural General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) was held on 26–28 April 2016 in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan. The Conference was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The Conference started with the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on April 26-27, 2016 and was followed by the First Session of the General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security and 7^thOIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development on April 28, 2016.

H.E. Amb. Musa Kulaklıkaya delivered a speech at the Senior Officials Meeting about SESRIC's activities on agriculture and food security and introduced the newly launched report on “Agriculture and Food Security in OIC Member Countries".

H.E. Iyad Ameen Madani, the Secretary General of the OIC, delivered a speech at the Ministerial Conference, where he emphasized that launching of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) is fundamental for peace, stability and sustainable development.

The Conference provided an excellent opportunity for continued dialogue and increased cooperation between the OIC member countries and their partners towards promoting the sustainable agricultural development and eradication of hunger and undernourishment. The Conference aimed at sharing the best practices and experience in food security and agricultural development among the member countries and strengthening their collaboration and cooperation with the relevant regional and international organizations. The Conference also hosted the First Session of the General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), newly launched specialized organisation of OIC.

SESRIC actively participated and made important contributions in the Conference within the context of its mandate, namely, statistics, research, training and technical cooperation. During the Conference, SESRIC launched the 2016 version of its Report on “Agriculture and Food Security in OIC Member Countries: Opportunities for Cooperation” and presented the major findings of the Report. SESRIC also presented the relevant activities/projects conducted within the framework of the OIC Agriculture Capacity Building Programme (OIC-AgriCaB), OIC Cotton Training Programme (OIC-CTP) and Water Resources Management Capacity Building Programme (Water-CaB) and informed the participants about the upcoming workshops and study visits related with agriculture and food security which are planning to be implemented within 2016.

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