Bill Gates calls on GCC countries to lead agricultural innovation

Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates encouraged the Arabian Gulf to invest in agricultural innovation during a conference on Monday.

ABU DHABI // The Arabian Gulf can lead agricultural innovation to address global food and water scarcity, the Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, told an Abu Dhabi conference on Monday.

The region can help a global effort to solve these problems using new technology, he said in a video message aired at the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture opening ceremony.

“The Middle East region is in a unique position to be a catalyst in this effort,” he said.

“Specifically, improving agricultural productivity is crucial for countries with concerns about food security. The proximity of the Gulf to sub-Saharan African provides a great opportunity for linking consumers with producers.”

Innovation in agriculture could help the world’s impoverished, Mr Gates said: “In short, if you care about the poor, you care about agriculture.”

Arabian Gulf countries have been strengthening their own food security by buying farmland elsewhere, storing large quantities of food staples and investing in agribusiness, said Frank Rijsberman, chief executive of CGIAR Consortium, an agricultural research organisation.

He believed they should redirect their focus towards the rapid growth of agricultural innovations, he said.

“This is certainly an exciting time to be an agriculture scientist. The life sciences revolution is just reaching agriculture,” said Mr Rijsberman.

The new direction would benefit other countries as well, he added. While obesity is prevalent among the populations of wealthier nations such as the UAE, 200 million children in developing areas have stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition and “will never reach their full potential”.

The technologies presented at the conference included the "lab burger" introduced last year by Maastricht University's Mark Post, seawater-cooled greenhouses built for the desert and fuel byproducts that can be used for more efficient crop growth.

Not all innovations applied to the UAE and some would take a long time to appeal to farmers here, said Chris Hirst, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Farmers' Services Centre. But he hoped they would appeal to some – a small but significant minority of local farmers who are "ahead of the curve".

“Agriculture is generally fairly conservative by nature,” said Mr Hirst, an Australian whose organisation has more than 19,000 members.

Fahad Hareb attended the conference to showcase the company he founded, Desalt Innovation Middle East, which sells hydrophobic sand, that does not absorb water.

He said this innovation can save up to 75 per cent of water required for a planted area.

Mr Hareb said he invested his personal savings into the company, which uses an additive created by a German scientist whom he works with. But he had difficulty marketing the product, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis.

“I hope the forum opens people’s eyes and shows them what’s available,” said Mr Hareb, 33, from Dubai.

Something as novel as a laboratory-made hamburger could attract future UAE investment, said Mohammed Jalal Al Raisi, spokesman for Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority.

“Why not? We are a place of welcoming innovation around the world,” Mr Al Raisi said.

“If there is any possibility to take advantage of something, we will do it.”

The forum, held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, runs until Wednesday.

About 1,000 delegates and 100 exhibitors attended, under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation served as a global development partner.

At the forum opening ceremony Rashid bin Fahad, the Minister of Environment and Water, announced on behalf of Sheikh Mansour the launch of the Sheikh Zayed Prize for Pioneering Innovation in Agriculture. The prize would raise the bar on agricultural research, especially “practical applied aspects”, he said.

Mr Gates, Mr Rijsberman, Mr Post and Andras Forgacs, CEO of Modern Meadow cultured meat and leather company, served as keynote speakers at the opening ceremony, while a BBC journalist, Stephen Sackur, was the moderator.