UAE aims to create 20,000 jobs in agriculture: 7-point agenda to achieve goals revealed – News

The country has been aggressively implementing its food security and sustainability initiatives to improve self-sufficiency.

The UAE aims to increase the contribution of agricultural sectors to the economy by $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) and create 20,000 jobs over the next five years, said Abdulla bin Touq al Marri, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates. United Arab Emirates.

While speaking during the fifth Future Food Forum in Dubai, the minister revealed seven key pillars to achieve the goal, including localizing innovation, fostering a food culture and supply chain that puts the UAE first and converts the UAE into a global regulatory powerhouse that ensures products meet higher standards. and have international recognition, and provide farmers with the necessary support and resources to become a global leader in agri-food innovation and sustainability.

“Access to finance is the reason why people grow, industries evolve and our strategy will seek to secure financing and support. This brings us to our fifth pillar of fostering innovation with world-class R&D innovation. We will provide world-class research and development packages to inspire change,” he stated.

Under the sixth goal, the UAE will focus on enabling businesses to diversify and access new markets. Finally, the seventh pillar of the strategy aims to train the next generation of farmers, who are the future of agriculture and agrotechnology.

The UAE has been aggressively implementing its food security and sustainability initiatives to improve self-sufficiency.

In 2020, the UAE Cabinet approved the National Sustainable Agriculture System to improve farm efficiency, improve food self-sufficiency and create new opportunities. Some of the key objectives of the System include increasing self-sufficiency of specific agricultural crops to 5 percent annually; increase average farm income by 10 percent annually; increase the workforce in the sector by 5 percent annually; and achieve an annual reduction of 15 percent in the water used for irrigation of a production unit.

Al Marri said that with a growing population, food security is assuming top priority and the UAE is doing well on this front.

“(The UAE) ranked first in the 2022 global food security index compared to other Mena counterparts, but food challenges in these uncertain times are real and present. Fortunately, the resilience and adaptability of our food industry make it well-suited to address this challenge while constantly emphasizing sustainable practices, which will nourish our land for centuries,” he added.

Al Marri praised the country’s food and beverage sector’s initiatives in skills development and digital infrastructure capabilities achieved through various programs to reshape the way food is produced, distributed and consumed in the region and globally . He praised the launch of the UAE Food Platform during the Forum to enable public-private collaboration on food security and optimize the food and beverage ecosystem with digital infrastructures to drive sector growth and attract investment and business opportunities.

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