UAE

Why produce a low-value crop such as wheat using expensive water when the FAO says the global wheat harvest will this year be second only to last year’s record?

As the issue of global food security was being discussed yesterday in Rome by world leaders, a senior UN official here highlighted the need for GCC countries to address their dependence on food imports.

Four months ago I travelled to the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines to research agriculture's new land grab phenomenon as part of my postgraduate research. I expected my findings to be a blend of arguments from both sides of the debate. However, I concluded that there was a strong case to be made against the proposition of a "win-win" situation for every stakeholder.

A private sector fund worth $350 million plans to launch by the end of the year in the Gulf, with the aim of acquiring farmland in Romania, Moldova and Tanzania

The planned expansion of plantations in the Papuan provinces of Indonesia should be immediately suspended and reviewed amid concerns over massive deforestation and widespread exploitation of local communities, environmentalists warned today.

Emirates International Investment Company is currently in negotiations with Algerian authorities for the purchase of land to build a large-scale milk farm, Mahassil.

If all these land deals will be beneficial to Pakistan in the long run, why is the government refusing to divulge the details of what is the citizens’ common property?

UAE foreign investment in food production have so far focused on leasing Pakistan and Sudan’s agricultural land, with new prospects in Cambodian rice, Canadian wheat and Australian beef. Alongside the strategic deals at the national level, private investment has followed which should open new channels of trade, for example, Al Qudra Holding has plans to grow grain and vegetables in Vietnam and Croatia as well as Pakistan.

The UAE is interested in investing in agriculture sector as one of the strongest sectors in Colombia due to the availability of fertile land and natural irrigation systems.

Cambodia will be the fourth country after Sudan, Egypt and Pakistan to receive UAE investments intended to achieve a food security plan drawn up by the government. Large-scale planting on Cambodian land acquired through purchase or 99-year lease may be launched there next year.

Cambodia's agriculture minister welcomed the UAE plans of the land reclamation in Cambodia, indicating Cambodia will be a partner to the UAE in regard to the agriculture.

Critics say that by seeking to solve their food shortage problem through foreign farmland acquisitions, the rich emerging economies may succeed in producing enough quantity for their populations but may in the long-term be exporting their food insecurity to other nations.