Al Ain farm offers model for countries to tackle food security and water scarcity, says minister

Lessons learnt from the challenges faced by farmers in the Emirates could help the UAE to play a leading role in addressing global food security and water scarcity, said the Minister of Climate Change and Environment.

Dr Amna Al Dahak made the comments during a visit to a farm in Al Ain on Monday. She saw how challenges caused by the hot climate and water scarcity were being overcome. Climate change and growing water scarcity mean more countries must find new and unique solutions, she added.

The farm, which belongs to Emirati entrepreneur Abdulrahman Al Shamsi, is among those that have shown how developing new models can allow farmers to thrive amid adverse conditions. The farm in the Al Arad region spans 160,000 square metres and grows produce including dates, pomegranates, courgettes, watermelons, lemons, cabbage and mangoes.

"In our visit today to Abdulrahman Al Shamsi’s farm, we have seen a very innovative model in terms of a very complete and coherent agricultural system where they have aquaculture, they have poultry and livestock, and also the open field in the closed system farming," she said.

"Those are all different models that have been brought together in an innovative model that we’d like, through this visit to Abdulrahman Farm, to export in a very cost-effective way to other farmers in the UAE.

"We believe that implementing or investing in such models is going to create that disruptive leap that we’re looking for when it comes to food production in the UAE."

Seeds of the future

It comes after the Plant the Emirates campaign was launched this month by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to boost the country's agriculture sector and to help address food security issues.

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

Dr Al Dahak said the farm’s innovative agricultural systems were a model for sustainable food production. The farm integrates aquaculture, livestock, poultry and closed-system farming, with the comprehensive approach able to address food security challenges, she added.

She emphasised the importance of investing in innovative models to tackle issues such as water scarcity and climate change, to scale them within the UAE and export the knowledge to countries around the world.

"There are a lot of challenges related to hot climates and water scarcity that we, in the UAE, have been dealing with for a number of years and decades.

"But we know that those are challenges that a lot of places in the world are facing and dealing with. And we, in the UAE, know that we can also globalise a lot of the innovative solutions that we have on the ground and export them to the world - because food security is not just a national issue.

"It is not something that we in the UAE focus on alone. It is something the world is focusing on ... and we, in the UAE, like to lead and also provide for humanity worldwide when it comes to solutions in food security and food systems."

In a year, Mr Al Shamsi's farm produces 150 tonnes of fruit and vegetables and 50 tonnes of tilapia fish, which are distributed to local supermarkets. The farm is self-sufficient, with the food for the fish and the livestock grown on site and water from the fish pools used to irrigate the crops. Ammonia-rich fish waste is used as fertiliser, while plastic coverings on the soil help to conserve moisture.

A key component of the Plant the Emirates project is to create a National Agricultural Centre, which can develop local production to enhance quality and competitiveness.

"One of the areas that the National Agricultural Centre is focusing on is identifying innovative models across the agricultural landscape in the UAE and looking at how those can be replicated in a very scalable, but also cost-effective way, that can be implemented in other farms in and also outside of the UAE," Dr Al Dahak said.

Further details of the centre will be revealed later this year, state news agency Wam reported. The National also paid a visit to the farm last month, with Mr Al Shamsi saying at the time that many people visit his farm to “learn about his methods”, with “more than 40 farms" using his techniques.