Covid-19 becomes a wake-up call to UAE’s food production sector

Covid-19 becomes a wake-up call to UAE’s food production sector

The Covid-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc on food imports and supply chains across the world, served as a wake-up call for the UAE that imports over 90 per cent of its food, a UAE minister has said. Encouraging Emiratis to pursue careers in agriculture and establish high-tech farms, Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, stressed that the Covid-19 pandemic has become a catalyst in pushing the country to look at bolstering local food production, supporting agri-tech companies to increase local food supply, and getting the youth involved in the agriculture sector. With the UAE aiming to become the most food-secure nation by 2051, most UAE farms are now adopting agricultural technology to increase domestic food production. Dr Ameena Al Tenaiji, one of the few Emirati women farmers of the UAE, has taken this call to heart. Dr Tenaiji, who used to live comfortably in downtown Abu Dhabi a few years ago, decided to move to her farm spread over 1.5 hectare in Al Khatem, after a 30-year career in strategic water policy and management in the UAE, working for a range of top-tier water and electricity entities. She also completed her PhD in water use