The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Mr Aziz Akhanouch in Morocco celebrated the Seventieth anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at the International Exhibition of Agriculture of Meknes-Morocco, April 29, 2015, with the presence of Mr Michael George Hage, FAO representative in Morocco, and Ms. Sandra McCardell, the Canadian Ambassador who agreed to participate in person in this celebration.

«FAO, as required by its mandate, contributed to a successful venture that has had a fundamental impact on the welfare of humanity. Despite this good result, we have not managed to meet all the expectations of those who had created the Organization. In fact, 805 million people continue to suffer from hunger. The fact that a human being could be hungry in this world of abundance and technology defies reason». According to the declaration of Mr Michael Hage.

The technical cooperation program between Morocco and FAO dates back more than 60 years. FAO has supported Morocco for improving the nutritional level of the population. It has contributed to the strengthening of national capacities in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, forestry and sustainable rural development.

During his speech delivered on the occasion of 10th edition of the SIAM 2015 The FAO Representative welcomes the strong commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco for accepting to share his expertise with other African countries to help them achieve these same goals through South-South cooperation program implemented since 1998 and which has recently been strengthened by the signing of a General Agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and FAO for the period 2014-2020. In this context, three Tripartite Agreements South-South cooperation are already signed with Guinea Conakry, Mali and Swaziland in addition to three more that are ready to be signed with Guinea Bissau, Chad and Cameroon.

« The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO) would like to solemnly renew its commitment, as part of its mandate bring a vigorous contribution to the international efforts to give new impetus to the struggle against poverty in particular by addressing the root causes of hunger in the world». According to the declaration of Mr Michael Hage.