FAO Director-General, Dr Jacques Diouf, inspecting lettuce grown on a roof terrace using the floating system (soilless culture). As agricultural land has been depleted and areas available for cultivation have become scarce, new technology has been introduced to enable the most affected communities to grow their own vegetables in containers, on roof terraces, in courtyards and on any small, collective parcel of land available. - - Special Programme for Food Security. In December 1999, Dr Jacques Diouf, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) led a delegation, including FAO Ambassador, Ms Dee Dee Bridgewater, to visit sites and activities of the programme.

Sites visited were located at Podor, Kaolack, Fatick, Dakar and Thià??nd the beneficiaries of all the project activities warmly welcomed the visitors in all these areas. In Dakar, the delegation visited a micro-garden project that had been set up using new technology to enable beneficiaries to grow their own produce in special containers by using the minimum space available. A floating system (soilless culture) is used.