SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The joint Afro-Arab Ministerial Meeting on Agricultural Development and Food Security kicked off Sunday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh at the level of experts and senior officials.

The three-day meeting is expected to tackle the African and Arab strategies to promote agricultural development and food security with highlights on the Joint Action Plan (JAP).

With the authorization of the African Union Executive Council meeting in January 2008, successive meetings of high level experts from the two regions have been held in Damascus, Riyadh and Cairo, leading to the drafting of the JAP to enhance agricultural development.

According to latest estimates from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have about 90 percent of the hungry people worldwide with more than 200 million people in SSA considered undernourished. Besides, 7.8 percent of the North African and Middle East population are undernourished.