The UAE is considering price controls on some foods, as soaring crop prices affect countries around the world.
The government could impose price caps on chicken and milk, said Mariam Al Mheiri, Minister of State for Food and Water Security.
Global food prices climbed to the highest level in six years last month, according to a United Nations index.
The surge was driven by crops such as corn and soybeans, which are widely used to feed farm animals. That adds to food-inflation worries for nations already strained after the coronavirus pandemic upended supply chains.
"We are studying this very carefully and we may need some adjustments," Ms Al Mheiri said, while suggesting that adjustments could apply to local and imported products.
The potential move shows that even wealthy nations are not immune to inflation. The UAE, which imports 90 per cent of its food, already imposes controls on some essentials, which are often listed at supermarket entrances.
Ms Al Mheiri is pushing ahead with improving the UAE’s food security through technology, innovation and diversifying sources of imports.
The nation is encouraging local food production and investing in controlled-environment agriculture such as greenhouses, aquaculture and vertical farming, she said.
"We're being flooded with ... requests to start growing food in the desert," Ms Al Mheiri said.
“We’re now growing blueberries in the UAE, we’re growing quinoa, we’re growing salmon.”
The country, already a well-established logistics centre for Middle East and global trade, aims to become a major centre for food and agricultural technology, she said.
It is “very open” to lab-grown, or cell-based, meats and is assessing what regulations are required to allow for the sale of such products.
It also wants to cut food loss and waste by 15 per cent by the end of the year, and halve it by 2030, she said.
UAE's home-grown oyster farm – in pictures
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Oysters are typically farmed close to shore but these oysters are farmed off shore to take advantage of the warmer climate. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Dibba Bay Oysters farm in Fujairah, where millions of oysters are produced. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Oysters grow in a series of graduated nets, known as lanterns, metres beneath the surface of the sea. ocean farm. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Oysters grow in a series of graduated nets, known as lanterns, metres beneath the surface of the sea. ocean farm. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
The lanterns protect the oysters while allowing the water to flow through so they can feed. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
The lanterns are filled with oysters that take about eight months to grow before being harvested. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Oysters are harvested from the aqua farm. They take about eight months to grow completely. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Workers pull lanterns full of oysters from the sea. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Between 5,000 and 10,000 baby oysters fit in each lantern. Once fully grown, that reduces to about 400 to 500. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Ramie Murray, founder of Dibba Bay Oysters, is a Scottish expatriate who has lived in the UAE for more than two decades.. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Oysters are weighed in the weighing room back at the land processing area. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
After passing through the offshore farm and processing platform, the oysters are washed down, cleaned and individually weighed at the on-shore sorting facility before being packed and shipped for local or international export. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Cleaned oysters are packaged so they can be sold. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Cleaned, freshly harvested oysters are ready for packaging. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Harvested oysters are cleaned before they are packaged and sold. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Oysters freshly pulled from the sea are taken for processing. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
A worker separates the oysters based on their size at the land processing platform. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Ramie Murray, founder of Dibba Bay Oysters, buys baby oysters from the UK and France before growing them in the waters off Fujairah. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Oysters pass through the land processing area where they are weighed, cleaned and packaged for sale. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
The processing platform, where the oysters are separated based on size and cleaned before packaging. Chris Whiteoak / The National
