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Government Entities To Buy Local Produce in UAE | |
| Sumita Pawar |
A report by Reuters says, UAE has directed government entities such as the armed forces and hospital authorities to buy locally grown produce to support agri-tech efforts in the desert country.
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The Minister of Climate Change and Environment said on weekend.
As UAE is preparing to host the COP28 climate conference in 2023, the country is doubling down on its efforts on food security in the nation and beyond.
Mariam Al Mheriri told the World policy Conference In Abu Dhabi, UAE took the decision at an annual government meeting last month to support local production while continuing to embrace open trade policy and UAE imports 90 percent of its food.
Al Mheriri further added, “We want to let the trade keep going, but where you have hands on your procurement and what you can buy, this is where you can encourage that a certain percentage of certain food items are bought locally,” according to the report.
Al Mheiri also noted that an Abu Dhabi accelerator programme has invested more than US$ 150 million to attract agri-tech companies to operate in the UAE, which faces water scarcity and has little arable land, the report said.
“Among initiatives is a vertical farm producing leafy greens under a joint venture between Emirates Flight Catering and US-based Crop One. Vertical farming uses a series of stacked levels to produce crops,” Reuters reported.
“The Emirati minister said berries, salmon and quinoa were also being farmed in the UAE, and that “the country has ambitions to grow grains in closed-system farms where water is recycled”, mentioned the report.
By Sumita Pawar