Conversations around food security have become more urgent than ever before as nations around the world battle hunger and commodity prices rise due to the impact of recent global events on food distribution and supply chains.
UAE consumers have begun to feel the pinch of inflation even as flour prices surge 40 percent and cooking oil rose 20 percent compared to pre-Covid prices.
Meanwhile, the cost of a basic food basket – the minimum food needs per family per month – registered an annual increase of 351 percent in Lebanon, a 97 percent increase in Syria, and an 81 percent increase in Yemen – three countries that are heavily depend on food imports, a recent report stated.
There’s no doubt that it has become increasingly critical to spur local production, agri-tech innovation, and support the ease of doing business in the agricultural sector.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Arabian Business, the UAE Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, said: “What’s really important is for each country to take a holistic approach while tackling the problem of food security. We need to look at all pillars of food security from a trade point of view; from a local production point of view; from food loss, food waste, and a food safety point of view; among others.
“Now, if we zoom into one of these pillars, in terms of local food production, what we’re trying to do is to transition our food systems into more sustainable ones. When you look at the UAE and the climate we’re in – we are a water scarce country and we have less than 5 percent arable land – it is very difficult to have an open-field form of agriculture that is traditionally known around the world.”
Almheiri added: “So, when you talk about local production in the climate that we have to work with, you begin to understand why we need innovation and technology to increase our local production. Using the technologies that we have today, local production in hot arid climates are starting to becoming commercially viable and are starting to become more sustainable, as well.”
UAE’s role in ensuring sustainable food production
The UAE has taken a leading role in leveraging innovation and technology for sustainable local production. For instance, the ability to use the water spent on a farm and recirculate it for re-use shows how the UAE has leveraged innovation and sustainability to address the key challenge of local production in arid climates, while also ensuring food security sustainably.
The UAE has also set up an ambitious National Food Security Strategy 2051, which aims to aims to achieve zero hunger by ensuring access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food throughout the year, and throughout the world. The initiative is as necessary as it is timely.
“Food systems today are very inefficient, and the numbers show this. In fact, one-third of all food being produced goes to waste, yet we have more than 800 million people around the world going hungry. So, although we have the right food, it is not reaching the right people. And yet, in other parts of the world, we have a lot of the non-communicable diseases such as obesity and diabetes, which are all related to wrong foods or bad behaviour around food. We really have a broken food system,” Almheiri explained.
“And, at the same time, food systems contribute to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. So, the way they are now is a problem. Fixing our food systems challenge will also provide a huge solution for our climate agenda.”
Initiatives such as the FoodTech Challenge address this issue. The FoodTech Challenge was initially inaugurated in 2019 by the UAE Food and Water Security Office and Tamkeen, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Commenting on the initiative, Almheiri said: “If we can show how we grow food in hot arid climates in a water-scarce country with limited arable land, then we can solve a lot of the food systems problems around the world.
“The FoodTech Challenge also offers small-scale startups that have innovative ideas the opportunity to request a helping hand to access markets, to scale up, and to receive guidance. Through initiatives such as this we can incubate ideas, scale up ideas, and bring like-minded people to think about every step of the process – from production and distribution all the way to the consumer.”
The second edition of the FoodTech Challenge is being organised by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment in partnership with Tamkeen, an Abu Dhabi entity that partners with leading local and international institutions to deliver projects that enrich the UAE’s social, cultural and educational landscape.
For this edition of the competition, the entities are also joined by ASPIRE, the programme management pillar of the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), which oversees technology related R&D funding for Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE.
“Following on the success of the first edition, this edition has received increased interest. The prize money in the second edition has been doubled to $2 million. It will also take a more focused approach with a look at two specific tracks – namely, food production and food loss,” Almheiri added.
Each track of the FoodTech Challenge is also being supported by local champions, with Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and SILAL coming on board as track partners to increase food production, and the Emirates Foundation partnering to reduce food loss and waste.
UAE creates a movement to address food loss and food waste
The UAE Minister also highlighted the recent launch of an initiative named Ne’ma – which means “blessing” in Arabic – also known as the National Food Loss and Waste Initiative.
“The idea behind Ne’ma originated from a conversation I had with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, on the status of food security within the country during Covid,” Almheiri shared.
“Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed told me that it was so important for people to understand that the importance of food security goes so much beyond the role of the government and the private sector. Consumers also have a role to play. Their behaviour around food and how much if it goes into the bin also plays a role in food security.
“We took those words and developed an initiative called Ne’ma around it. Although this was announced just a few weeks ago, this has become a national movement.”
The initiative aims to encourage public and private sector entities to collectively address food waste and encourage responsible consumption to preserve food resources for a sustainable future.
Ne’ma also aims to contribute to achieving the UAE’s target of reducing food waste by 50 percent by 2030 to meet the country’s food security strategy and UN sustainable development goals.
According to Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, food wastage in the UAE is estimated to be 3.2 million tonnes, with around 38 per cent of the food prepared daily being wasted, most of which comes directly from the home. This number rises to 60 percent during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
“No country can move the food systems agenda if there’s no political will behind it. Firstly, we are fortunate to have the political will to do so here in the UAE. Secondly, there needs to be a plan. The UAE has the National Food Security Strategy, which has objectives until 2051 with short-term goals and targets as well.
“Thirdly, we need a strong governance model, which we have in the form of the Emirates Food Security Council. This provides a platform for all relevant stakeholders to come together and discuss the food systems transformation, the policy gaps we have, the issues that we have, and more. This council also was a huge help through the Covid period, when we had to manoeuvre through all the restrictions to ensure that all UAE citizens and residents always had access to food at all times. Finally, the ease of doing business is also really important to address the challenges in the ecosystems that is hindering the modern agricultural sector,” Almheiri concluded.
For more insights on recent measures being taken at the government level to overcome challenges in the agricultural sector and to listen to the UAE Minister’s opinions on the need for the public and private sector to consciously involve women and youth in dialogue and action, watch the video above.
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