How Plant the Emirates is part of a wider strategy to strengthen food security

Campaign to encourage domestic agriculture follows numerous projects aimed at reducing reliance on imported food

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, during the launch of Plant the Emirates. Photo: Wam

The Plant the Emirates campaign announced on Sunday is the latest step by the UAE authorities to develop the country’s agricultural sector and promote food security.

It involves setting up a national centre to promote domestic farming with the aim of increasing agricultural production by one fifth over the next five years. Traditionally heavily reliant on food imports, the UAE has more recently attracted significant investment in agricultural technology to increase its own output.

For example, vertical farms, in which crops are grown indoors in stacked layers under artificial light, and hydroponic farms, where crops are nurtured in nutrients instead of soil to cut water use, have been set up.

Layers of protection

Prof Michael Mason, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the focus on food security was part of a "wider vision" to manage "key strategic resources" as the country moves to a post-fossil fuels economy in which commodities are less heavily subsidised. While he said efforts to promote food security were being made before the Ukraine war and the conflict in Gaza, these have highlighted "the precarity of global food supplies", so the UAE wants to insulate itself from fragile global supply chains.

"It's an attempt to ensure they're resilient," he said. "Part of that is [being a] confident, post-industrial nation where they’re more resilient in the face of external shocks around food security."

Efforts in the UAE to reduce food waste were part of the wider strategy to strengthen food security, Prof Mason said. Plant the Emirates also aims to encourage residents to grow crops at home and to increase the country's green spaces.

The project will consider ways to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint, Dr Amna Al Shamsi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, told the Dubai Eye radio station on Monday. What she described as "climate smart systems" would "overcome the challenges of the region", which could be vital given that agriculture is one of the key contributors to global warming.

“The initiative will focus on leveraging advanced technology to reduce the carbon footprint. It will look at ways to use drones and artificial intelligence to monitor and minimise emissions,” she said.

One aim would be to ensure the country’s restaurants make greater use of local produce and crops, with a target to increase this by one fifth having been set. Timetables set by the project are ambitious, Dr Al Shamsi said, but she remained optimistic that progress can be achieved in the next five years.

Feeling the heat

Just as Plant the Emirates aims to reduce the carbon emissions of agriculture, so climate change poses a challenge to farming in the Gulf and elsewhere. Already, high temperatures, water scarcity and saline soils make growing crops harder than in many parts of the world, but with the region warming twice as fast as the global average – average temperatures in the Gulf are increasing by almost 0.5ºC every decade – conditions are becoming tougher.

Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said the effect on food security was going to be "one of the most serious consequences" of climate change.

"Most countries rely on not just their own food production, but production in other parts of the world," he said. "It's difficult to isolate oneself from the impact of flooding and heat, which can impact crop yields and kill livestock."

The effects of climate change will, Mr Ward said, "grow progressively worse until the world gets closer to net-zero" carbon emissions. It was important to make agriculture "more resilient", he added.

Numerous approaches are being taken, often by the private sector, to help agriculture cope with a climate that can be increasingly warm and dry. "Technology is crucial for enhancing food security in the Gulf region, especially in the face of climate change," said Sami Joost, head of public affairs, communication and open innovation for the Middle East at the German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, Bayer.

"Accessible digital tools are essential for farmers to optimise their practices. Advanced technologies, such as data analytics and satellite weather systems, enable farmers to grow stronger crops while minimising environmental impact. These tools help reduce food waste and improve market access with precision."

Technology the key?

Bayer has been working in the UAE with Silal, an agritech company, to trial dozens of types of crops such as aubergine, tomato and red pepper, so varieties optimised for local conditions are available.

"Our focus on assessing performance of selected crop varieties and enhancing agricultural practices aligns with government priorities, contributing to the overall goal of achieving food security in the region," Mr Joost added.

He said the company used technology including AI to "develop better seeds and more desirable plant traits". Another company that works with Silal is FarmERP, an Indian-based provider of AI tools that help farmers to, for example, decide on the optimum amount of water and nutrients to feed crops, depending on the weather.

Watch: Enterprising farmer is growing strong

A solution to have emerged in the Gulf is SecondSky from a company called iyris. Developed in Saudi Arabia, this is a film applied to the roofs of buildings such as greenhouses to allow light to penetrate while heating is reduced.

John Keppler, iyris's chairman, said that with Gulf countries importing around 85 per cent of their food, attention often turned to high-tech solutions, but more than 95 per cent of global fruit and vegetable production was from low to mid-tech growers. He said his company focused "ready for deployment" approaches.

"The tangible results for farmers means they can extend the growing season and reduce their water and energy consumption by over 30 per cent, empowering them to sustainably mitigate the impact of climate change and food security concerns," he said.

"Technology will be crucial to improving food security, but farmers need solutions which are immediately implementable and cost effective. There are considerable barriers, such as capital intensity and installation complexities, facing farmers across the region when it comes to deploying technology like vertical farming, drones, machine learning or AI."

Lab-grown meat

As well as investing in technology such as vertical farming, the UAE could, suggested Dr Mukesh Kumar, an associate professor in operations management at the University of Cambridge, who researches food security, focus on "alternative proteins".

These include meat-like products made using a fermentation process that involves fungi, a method able to produce "very large quantities" of food.

Lab-grown meat is another area they can look at, he said. "Singapore and the United States are making advances in production."

A greater reliance on these types of foods would, he said, require changes in consumer behaviour as well as more investment in technology.

Mr Ward of the Grantham Institute said it was important that countries did not merely rely on domestic food production but ensured they had secure access to global food supply chains. "If you're hit by a major weather event, you need to be able to rely on other countries," he said.

The UAE has made investments overseas to ensure it can source supplies for its growing population, with government bodies including Jenan and Al Dahra having secured agricultural land in areas as diverse as Egypt, Romania and Serbia.