Food Security in the Uae
Food security in the United Arab Emirates: Classifying the country’s main food suppliers
Abstract
Between global climate change, natural disasters and geopolitical conflicts, the arid countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council have concerns over food security. Within the GCC, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) produces an extremely limited amount of its necessary foodstuffs and depends almost entirely on imports. A primary UAE staple food import, e.g., rice, primarily comes from India, Pakistan, and Thailand. From 1975 to 2010 the UAE population increased from 557,000 to over 8 million, with a current annual expenditure of over AED 41 billion (US$1.5 billion) on food imports. This paper thus focuses on the question of UAE food security in relation to limited productive potential and unstable global markets. It examines the national strategic plan for future food supplies, classifies the main food supplying countries, and explores local efforts to increase food production.
Keywords: Food security, geography, government, strategy
Introduction
As the world population increases beyond 7 billion , food availability has become a crucial problem and concern facing many countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in particular. As a country with a harsh desert climate, limited agriculture land, poor soil fertility, and less than 110.5 mm of annual rainfall, the UAE has always faced problems of food supply. More than 8 million people live in the UAE’s seven Emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Qaiwain, Ajman and Fujairah. Covering an area of 83 thousand square kilometers (Figure: 1), the UAE’s 2008 estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of AED 600 billion (approximately US$175 billion), derived mainly from petroleum revenues. While a nation’s agricultural sector is a vital aspect of its food security requirements, the UAE’s agricultural sector contributed only AED 9 billion towards its 2009 GDP. According to the Ministry of Environmental and
Abstract
Between global climate change, natural disasters and geopolitical conflicts, the arid countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council have concerns over food security. Within the GCC, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) produces an extremely limited amount of its necessary foodstuffs and depends almost entirely on imports. A primary UAE staple food import, e.g., rice, primarily comes from India, Pakistan, and Thailand. From 1975 to 2010 the UAE population increased from 557,000 to over 8 million, with a current annual expenditure of over AED 41 billion (US$1.5 billion) on food imports. This paper thus focuses on the question of UAE food security in relation to limited productive potential and unstable global markets. It examines the national strategic plan for future food supplies, classifies the main food supplying countries, and explores local efforts to increase food production.
Keywords: Food security, geography, government, strategy
Introduction
As the world population increases beyond 7 billion , food availability has become a crucial problem and concern facing many countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in particular. As a country with a harsh desert climate, limited agriculture land, poor soil fertility, and less than 110.5 mm of annual rainfall, the UAE has always faced problems of food supply. More than 8 million people live in the UAE’s seven Emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Qaiwain, Ajman and Fujairah. Covering an area of 83 thousand square kilometers (Figure: 1), the UAE’s 2008 estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of AED 600 billion (approximately US$175 billion), derived mainly from petroleum revenues. While a nation’s agricultural sector is a vital aspect of its food security requirements, the UAE’s agricultural sector contributed only AED 9 billion towards its 2009 GDP. According to the Ministry of Environmental and
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