Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has been praised for her role in tackling malnutrition in Thailand and elsewhere by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.
Agriculture Minister Grisada Boonrach said the praise was conveyed to the princess at the FAO's 34th session of the Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific in Nadi, Fiji, which ends today.
The session was presided over by FAO director-general Jose Graziano da Silva.
Mr Grisada, who has been representing the government at the session, said a video presentation was shown at the meeting commending the princess, who is a special envoy for the FAO, for her active contributions to combatting problems related to malnutrition in Thailand and in other regions.
The princess has also initiated projects to assist the poor and the underprivileged as well as to improve the nutrition children receive in Thailand and elsewhere.
The minister added the FAO distributed at the session pamphlets commending the princess for her various charitable and socially-beneficial projects.
Mr Grisada said the government launched the Thai Niyom Yangyuen (Thai sustainable development) projects financed with a budget of more than 100 billion baht. Central to the policy is reforming the farm production sector, for which a fund of 24 billion baht has been earmarked.
The key objective of the Thai Niyom projects is to tackle the poverty experienced by many farmers by increasing their income and cutting down on household expenses.
At the same time, the projects are building food security in the country.
The projects are rooted in the concept of collaboration between the government, the private sector and the public, also known as the Pracha Rat (People's State) initiative, Mr Grisada said.