APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE Mass imports, a hostile climate and high wastage mean Gulf countries face multiple food security challenges. Can tech help to put more food on the table?
Food security is a worldwide concern taking different forms in each country. In the UAE, food availability is a challenge with little arable land, water scarcity, and an ever-increasing population. To relieve this pressure, the UAE is employing modern technology and innovative approaches to improve the availability of homegrown produce. The strategy includes launching numerous initiatives that utilise modern agricultural technology (AgTech) to find solutions to climate and environmental challenges of the current food systems. Contending with limited freshwater, intense heat and sandy soil, farmers in Dubai can’t go about farming in the traditional sense, so Dubai’s International Center of Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) is creating solutions to boost local food production in the driest and hottest conditions. This not-for-profit has amassed a collection of over 13,000 highly nutritious crops that can adapt and survive in extreme weather conditions. Working with the land’s resources, their crops can grow using seawater and brine from desalination projects.
Abu Dhabi’s ambitious Seawater Energy and Agriculture System (SEAS) project that aims at producing alternative aviation biofuel and seafood. The SEAS projects will bolster the economy by supporting the growth of multiple sectors such as aviation, oil refining, agriculture and aquaculture.
Dairy & Seafood
Since human survival also depends on protein, another UAE-based farm provides fish for local supermarkets. Fish Farm, the UAE’s first organic aquaculture business, was founded in 2013 to grow a variety of foreign species and reduce the country’s reliance on imported products. It supplies supermarkets with sustainably farmed fish at practical price points, without the negative environmental impacts of open-sea farming. Dairy is also a priority and to this end, Ain Farms, the official dairy Provider of EXPO 2020, founded by the Founding Father of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was the first dairy company in the UAE to start dairy operations for the nation.
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