The Chair of the Arab Network for Food Sovereignty (ANFS) Razan Zuayter has called for the need to pay attention to the root causes of the conflicts that prevent the realization of peace.

She said during activities of a week on sustainable development in Cairo on Nov.19-22, 2018 that the Arab-Israeli conflict will not end as long as the occupation of Palestinian lands continues.

Conflicts, she said, will not stop as long as there are political goals that seek to perpetuate them for reasons of hegemony and the sale of arms.

The conflicts have become a source of income for international organizations in the region.She called for efforts to end wars and conflicts in the region and for the Arab region to work towards sovereignty over its food and natural resources and institutionalize joint action among Arab civil society organizations.

During a session on the interrelationship between rural and urban development, Mrs. Zuaiter thanked Dr. Nada Al-Ajizi, Director of the Sustainable Development and International Cooperation Program at the Arab League for adopting the fundamental issue of combating hunger in the Arab world.

She underlined the need for agrarian reform and development to reduce rural to urban migration and recommended that rural communities, especially small farmers, be given access to productive resources such as land, seeds, water, extension services, markets and pastures.