Dubai (Al-Ittihad)
The UAE has succeeded in enhancing its food security through well-thought-out and innovative strategies and measures, taking advantage of global crises that have negatively affected supply chains since the Covid-19 crisis and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, all the way to shipping and supply challenges due to regional tensions, making the country a major hub for food and beverage trade in the region and North Africa.
According to a recent research paper prepared by the Interregional Center for Strategic Analysis in Abu Dhabi, the UAE now has several strategies to confront any crises related to its food security. In fact, the country has become one of the most important arteries of supply and shipping, and a link between food production and global markets.
Interregional said: According to a report issued by the UAE Food and Beverage Manufacturers Group, the size of the food and beverage industry in the country is expected to reach AED 85.4 billion ($23.2 billion) in 2025, while the number of companies operating in the sector in 2023 will reach more than 2,000 companies, with annual revenues of about AED 28 billion.
The measures taken by the Emirates Food Security Council and the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology during COVID-19 have increased the efficiency and effectiveness of operating 568 food and beverage factories to their maximum capacity, with these factories expected to increase by the end of 2024.
For its part, Statista Market Insights stated that the value of food market revenues in the UAE will reach about 147 billion dirhams ($40.07 billion) in 2024, compared to 37.8 billion dollars in 2023.
A report issued by JLL revealed the growth of opportunities available to investors to establish and expand their projects in the food and beverage sector, amid expectations that the value of the food services market in the UAE will reach 73.3 billion dirhams ($19.98 billion) by 2024.
“Interregional” said, according to the “UAE e-portal”, that the country has taken several measures to achieve food security, most notably: the establishment of the “Emirates Food Security Council”, the launch of the National Food Security Strategy 2051, the National Sustainable Agriculture System, the Aquaculture Pulse Guide 2020, the Emirates Food Bank, and the Federal Law to Regulate the Strategic Stock of Goods.
The National Food Security Strategy aims to make the UAE the best in the world in the Global Food Security Index by 2051. It seeks to develop a comprehensive national system based on the foundations of enabling sustainable food production, and identifies the elements of the national food basket, which includes 18 main types.
Interregional added: The UAE government has adopted Federal Law No. 3 of 2020 regarding the regulation of the strategic stock of food commodities, which aims to regulate the strategic stock of food commodities in the country during crises, emergencies and disasters, and achieve sustainability in the field of food.
In this context, Dubai’s food security strategy aims to diversify import sources, enhance local production, reduce loss and waste, and enhance the sector’s ability to confront crises.
As part of the UAE’s efforts to enhance global food security, Abu Dhabi will host the World Food Security Summit for the first time on November 26, 2024, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority.
Under the guidance and support of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, the Authority launched the “Agriculture and Food Security Data for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi” platform.
The establishment of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Food Innovation Centre in the UAE, in cooperation with the World Economic Forum, comes as part of the Foundation’s commitment to mobilising international efforts to protect and enhance the safety and sustainability of the global food sector.
According to Interregional: The theory of “food nationalism” has recently emerged as a description of the measures put in place by countries to protect their food security, which has been clearly evident during the recent period, especially after the “Covid-19” pandemic, then the Ukrainian-Russian crisis and climate change, which prompted some countries to impose restrictions on their food exports.
The Center highlighted the development of interest in food security in the countries of the region by focusing on the great agricultural value of the countries and their shift to growing commercial crops that are more suitable for export.
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