The UAE celebrates with the world the World Food Day which falls on October
the16th of each year, which is the day proclaimed by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and the theme of World Food Day in 2014 is:
Family Farming: “Feeding the world, caring for the earth” which has been chosen to
raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farmers. It focuses world
attention on the significant role of family farming in eradicating hunger and
poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing
natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable
development, in particular in rural areas.
The UAE supports the joint Arab effort to find an Arab strategic stock
of food to cope with the global food crisis, since the food crisis in the
world, whether caused by natural factors such as desertification, drought and
the scarcity of rain, or human factors such as political crises, armed
conflicts, and sustained population growth, make the building of an Arab strategic
stock of food a necessity.
Higher Education in UAE pays great attention to agricultural research
and studies, and the highlight of it is the “Khalifa Center for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering” at the UAE
University which specializes in the genetic fertilization of plants with the aim of
increasing agricultural production. The center was opened in the year 2014 and aims
to achieve sustainable development in agriculture and plant production; to
support the strategic integrated agricultural development planning of the State;
to use advanced techniques for the genetic improvement of plants; to find
solutions to the agricultural challenges that face the community and to
maximize the optimum use of human and economic resources to contribute to
finding a radical and lasting solution, enabling the society to meet its food
needs by drawing on its resources and capabilities, and achieve local food
security, especially in light of the worsening global food shortage problems.
The Center is
expected to be an international platform for academic and research
collaboration among related academic and research institutions.
The “Khalifa International Date Palm Award”, which aims to strengthen
the leading role of the State in the development of scientific research of the
Palms, reflects the interest of the leadership in food security.
His Excellency Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman of Dubai Ports World,
stressed through his participation in the fourth session of the World Investment
Forum, held recently in Geneva, that foreign investors should focus on the
development of the infrastructure to support the growth of agriculture and
natural resources through effective access to markets.
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