Damascus, SANA – In a weekly session on Tuesday chaired by Prime Minister Imad Khamis, the Cabinet established its vision for the development of the agriculture sector and for confronting the challenges affecting it, approving three projects in this context.
The first of the three projects is for encouraging home agriculture by helping rural families grow crops or raise livestock in their gardens, with a goal of funding around 5,000 such gardens via grants.
The second project is related to the poultry sector, allowing for importing feed for poultry and providing subsidies for local feed production, in addition to improving marketing and a project for raising poultry at homes.
The third project consists of establishing a work team for developing end encouraging agricultural industries which constitute 11% of gross domestic product.
The Cabinet also discussed mechanisms for launching a project for supporting rural women, as women constitute 50% of the workforce in the agricultural sector. This project would provide rural women with loans for micro-projects,
The Cabinet then discussed the draft of its statement on its work program for the next stage, setting its priorities as supporting the military establishment and the economy.
The Ministers also discussed forest fires and illegal logging and means to address these issues, in addition to discussing mechanisms for combating the smuggling of petroleum products and food.
The Cabinet agreed to allocate SYP 215 million to build a road between Tal al-Ghar and al-Mashrab irrigation center, in addition to approving a suggestion to renovate Tekkiye Mosque, which is a historical landmark in Damascus also known as al-Tekkiye al-Sulaimaniye.
Hazem Sabbagh