The UAE's push for agri-tech to achieve food security

In a geographically unforgiving climate, where water is precious, there are myriad challenges to growing a wide variety of food crops perennially and in the volumes required to feed a small country, not least of which is the arid desert soil.

The UAE has been familiar with these obstacles for decades, but has not allowed them to stand in the way. Today, the countless-seeming rows of fresh produce in the aisles of neighbourhood supermarkets are the result of strong ties with trading partners, due to which the UAE is able to import a diverse selection of food and provide abundantly for all those who call it home.

But just as the country knows all too well the challenges of growing grains in the heat of the summer months, it is also familiar with the related costs – both climate-related and strategic. Which is to say, the carbon costs of importing fruits, vegetables, fish and other ingredients in our refrigerators, but also the cost and risk of being overly reliant on imports, both of which are true for any country.

Even before Covid-19 showed the world how fragile all global food systems were, the UAE had set its sights on overcoming such hurdles and gradually ensuring it is in a better position to grow its own produce, thus ensuring a greater level of food security. Ensuring such a goal was always going to be through technology.

For the UAE, tapping into technology, as it has been doing, is like playing on home turf, considering the rich talent pool of entrepreneurs, and the right policy frameworks that have given rise to innovative agri-tech solutions in the Emirates. These have, in turn, fuelled the drive towards establishing strong food systems.

In the past few years, the UAE has been able to produce significant quantities of locally farmed salmon, grow berries and quinoa, lettuce, tomatoes and other food products, all by using technology, including AI, to its advantage.

It has done so by relying on new science, new techniques, researching systems and developing partnerships that yield the kind of long-term results the UAE is invested in. The resources dedicated to food security are led by an investment in know-how and the right people to lead the industry.

Prioritising access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round is the crux of the National Food Strategy 2051 that was launched in 2018. In the past five years, the UAE has made strides in the direction of robust agricultural practices and has increased food productivity.

By investing, for example, in vertical farms that make use of a system of hydroponics – which allow plants to thrive in water rich in nutrients, instead of soil – the UAE is beginning to see desirable results. The country is evidently seen as a beacon of stability, and last year had the lowest food security risk among 56 countries in the region.

Alesca's vertical smart farm in Masdar City is already operational. Masdar City

The UAE's agricultural drive has been steadily progressing in numerous other innovative ways, including securing arable tracts of land in the fertile regions of Africa, and extending the crop cycle window and thus the growing season.

The country's overarching aim to eliminate hunger by 2051 as part of the National Food Strategy will be on track at this pace. The research and development that is being conducted in the emirates could be inspiring to other countries who have similar geographies and face similar challenges of soil and water.

Investing in agri-tech has a pay-off not just in terms of greater food security for a country but also in meeting its environment goals. In these times of climate crises, adopting food-growing techniques that are less land and water intensive, will inevitably also work sustainably in favour of other crucial areas that are high up on the list of national priorities.