The UAE has the highest per capita concentration of food and beverage outlets in the world, as The National reported yesterday. Nicholas Maclean, the managing director of CBRE Middle East, also said this market had the highest rate of failure – but does this mean it's a tough situation for local entrepreneurs?
The good news is that the UAE does not lack opportunity but what the country seems to lack is originality and variety in the middle to high-end dining market. International restaurant chains dominate markets like shopping mall food courts but nearly every one of the 200 nationalities who live here have at least one restaurant serving their local cuisine – usually at bargain prices.
This could be the answer for diners bored with mainstream restaurants. If some of these small community-based cafes expand to offer their fare to a much wider audience, it will not only grow the small business sector but will also ensure we are all well fed.
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
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