FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf awarded the Agricola Medal to the king during a reception at the Safa Palace in Makkah, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Diouf said the medal is in recognition of the king’s efforts to boost agricultural production worldwide. He cited the king's encouragement of Saudi investments abroad in support of sustained and long-term agricultural development.
Diouf also commended the efforts of the Kingdom in controlling pests and fighting plant and livestock diseases in the Middle East and Africa.
He also thanked the king for Kingdom’s the financial assistance to FAO, with which it could finance agricultural development projects worth $1 billion in poor nations from 2010 to 2012.
FAO a special agency of the United Nations whose mission is to lead international efforts to defeat hunger the world over.
