IFFCO

UAE-based food company IFFCO Group will be investing in palm oil plantations and cattle processing facility in Ethiopia — a country that could be one answer to UAE's food security issues, said a senior company official.

Gulf states are following in the footsteps of China and looking beyond their shores to make heavy investments in agriculture

Local food companies are not financially capable of investing in farmlands abroad to grow basic staples that would insulate them from soaring prices of raw materials, they said on the sidelines of Gulfood 2011.

Joint venture with the India/UAE Allana Group acquires 20,000 head of cattle owned by Felda and gains access to over 850,000 hectares of oil palm land.

The debate over foreign investment is set to expand from the mining industry to agriculture as overseas investors pour billions of dollars into Australian rural properties considered by some to be strategic national assets.

UAE food processing and poultry group Iffco has justifiably ruffled some feathers in Australia. Earlier this year, Iffco acquired a 14.99 per cent stake in Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) from Futuris Corporation for AU$64.7 million (Dh171.6m). AAC is the largest beef cattle company in Australia, running around 500,000 beef cattle on 21 cattle stations comprising 8.2 million hectares.

Could the Middle East become a significant new source of offshore investment in Australia’s extensive northern cattle industry?