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, reviewed the most important indicators of the Authority’s strategic plan 2022-2025 and its achievements, which aim to stimulate the agriculture and food sector and increase its contribution to the gross domestic product of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, within the framework of the Abu Dhabi government’s vision towards building a diversified economy and enabling sustainable agricultural development, in addition to achieving global leadership in food security..
This came during His Highness’s meeting with a delegation of leaders from the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority in His Highness’s office at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi..
The percentage of achieving strategic indicators reached 97.6%, while the percentage of achieving strategic projects reached 98.7%. The plan witnessed the completion of several strategic projects, including developing a roadmap for the agricultural genome, developing a sustainable agricultural development plan, launching the “Zadna” food facility evaluation program, developing the agriculture and food security data platform, in addition to the air monitoring project on farms, launching a comprehensive program to reduce food loss and waste, implementing a detailed model for smart support, and establishing the reference center for camel diseases, which is the first in the world..
During the meeting, the results of the competitive indicators were reviewed, as the Emirate of Abu Dhabi achieved a rate of 96% in the food safety index, and a rate of 48.8% in the agricultural sustainability index during the year 2023..
The value of the food loss and waste index, which is measured for the first time in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, reached 162 kg per person in the emirate, according to the Economist report. In addition to the biosecurity index, the first of its kind in the world, which was launched in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to measure the level of biosecurity in the areas of plant and animal health, food safety and the environment in an integrated manner..
His Highness was also briefed on the most prominent achievements of the Authority in the agricultural sector, both animal and plant, during the year 2023. The agricultural sector’s contribution to the emirate’s GDP amounted to AED 14.5 billion, and the total amount of agricultural production reached 344,228 tons, while the area of farms amounted to 827,325 dunums, and the number of forest and fruit trees planted was 1,636,959 trees, and the number of farms that obtained the Good Agricultural Practices Certificate.(GAP) 1,530 Farm While water consumption in the agricultural sector decreased to 1.89 billion cubic meters compared to 2 billion cubic meters in 2019.. This data confirms the steady progress in the agricultural sector activities compared to previous years.
The Agriculture and Food Security Data Platform is an electronic portal that provides accurate and comprehensive information on various aspects of the agricultural and food sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, starting from agricultural production and reaching distribution and consumption..
The platform enables the analysis of updated data and the preparation of reports, which contributes to the development of an effective and sustainable food system capable of facing future challenges and achieving food security..
On the other hand, the feed market available to 40,000 breeders across the country has achieved sales worth AED 1.72 billion since its launch in June 2023, while total sales of the Livestock Auction Platform auctions amounted to AED 15.5 million through the organization of 42 livestock auctions since its launch at the end of 2022..
Veterinary treatment services were provided to approximately 566,710 heads of livestock, and 10 million vaccination doses were provided to livestock during 2023..
The Authority has won 16 local and international awards since 2019, including the World Information Society Award, the Golden Bridge International Award, the ACMG Award, the AgriNext Award, the Stevie International Award, and the Digital Government Award..
The strategic plan represents a roadmap for the future in order to establish sustainable food systems, address the challenges facing the sector, increase the rate of agricultural sustainability, and reduce the use of groundwater used in agriculture..
The strategy is based on effective partnership with institutions working in the field of agriculture and food production, consolidating reliance on technology and artificial intelligence, and building the sector’s capabilities based on the principles of research, development, governance, and excellence in service provision..
The strategic plan is characterised by diversity and integration to ensure the enhancement of food security based on flexibility, professionalism and efficiency to enable sustainable agricultural development, modernise agricultural systems, improve farm productivity, and encourage farmers and livestock breeders to adopt the application of best practices consistent with the principles of agricultural sustainability..
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