Volunteers gather in Abu Dhabi to pack iftar boxes for low-income residents

N’ema, the UAE’s national food loss and waste initiative, on Thursday hosted an iftar box-packing event in Al Qana, Abu Dhabi.

The event brought together more than 100 volunteers to pack boxes as part of Ne’ma’s Valuing Our Roots campaign for Ramadan. More than 5,000 boxes have been prepared and sent out across Abu Dhabi and Sharjah since the holy month began.

The initiative's food rescue programme works to ensure that surplus food is safely redistributed rather than wasted. It brings together food producers, distributors and the hospitality sector to divert food and deliver to those in need. The Ramadan campaign consists of three key pillars: the family iftar box programme, the one million surplus meals drive and the Ne’ma community fridges initiative.

"We came here today to do good for other people," Zayed Al Hazaili, one of the volunteers on Thursday, told The National. "We organised different food including dates, vegetables and fruit. It's important to do good for the soul and support people in the community by giving back from our blessings."

"Giving back to the community is the least we could do," said Abdullah Alryami, another volunteer. "It's our duty to help in the country's humanitarian mission in the grander picture. This is also a way to support in the nation's efforts in food security."

Zayed Al Hazaili, left, and Abdullah Alryami volunteered and packed food for low-income residents. Photo: Ahmed S. Almansoori / The National

Family iftar boxes

The family iftar box programme takes surplus food from distributors, retailers and farmers, channelling it to low-income beneficiaries in Abu Dhabi, Al Dhafra, Al Ain and Sharjah. Each box contains fresh produce, staple grains, sources protein and essential pantry items.

More than 400 volunteers are engaged in food rescue efforts this Ramadan, with support from UAE-based food producers, including Silal, Al Barakah Dates, IFFCO, Ektifa, Arla, Safco and Bel Group.

Surplus meals and community fridges

The one million surplus meals project works with the hospitality sector to collect and redistribute untouched food from restaurants and hotels.

The community fridges initiative provides a structured way to distribute surplus food in high-demand areas across Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Last year, 16 hotels participated, successfully providing 11,581 meals. This year, 35 hotels and hospitality partners are working with Ne’ma on the project.

“Reducing food waste is a high priority for the UAE,” said Khuloud Hassan Al Nuwais, chief sustainability officer of the Emirates Foundation and Ne'ma's committee secretary general. “Ramadan is a time of generosity and reflection, and is a great opportunity to strengthen community connections while working hand-in-hand with our partners to redistribute surplus produce to low-income families.”

More than 5,000 boxes have been prepared and sent out across Abu Dhabi and Sharjah since the holy month began. Photo: Ne'ma

Ne'ma as an international model

Ne'ma was established in 2022 under the directive of President Sheikh Mohammed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi at the time, with the aim of addressing overproduction and overconsumption.

"The work being done here can be used as a prototype for other communities outside the UAE. Last year we visited Japan and Denmark to transfer the knowledge and experience we gained through Ne'ma," Ms Al Nuwais added. "We are always pioneering in the UAE and the experiences we have here can be exported and implemented internationally to reduce food waste and bolster food security."

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”