(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) In spite of the significant disparity in the agricultural potentials of Arab countries the Arab world as a whole is still abundantly rich in various types of plants animals and fish.
On the occasion of Arab Agriculture Day today Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd Minister of Environment and Water reaffirmed the country’s commitment to support joint Arab efforts to set up a strategic food reserve in response to the world food crisis.
He emphasised the need to establish and implement Arab-wide mechanisms to achieve a level of agricultural integration necessary to maintain the required food stockpile.
Bin Fahd issued a statement under the theme “Strategic Arab Food reserve to Face World Food Crisis”. The minister discussed how the current global food crises resulting from either natural factors such as desertification drought inadequate rainfall or human elements such as political conflicts armed disputes and growing populations require strategic food stocking strategies from the Arab community. He urged countries in the region to intensify efforts to achieve this goal and reduce their dependence on imported foods in order to close the food gap which reached around $35 billion in 2012.
He said in spite of the significant disparity in the agricultural potentials of Arab countries the Arab world as a whole is still abundantly rich in various types of plants animals and fish. The region has about 71 million hectares of agricultural land and over 340 million livestock and produces more than four million tonnes of fish annually.
Limited water resources and inefficient utlisiation of water resources are challenges facing the Arab agricultural sector. The Arab Water Security Strategy prepared by the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development (AOAD) states that should the domestic population continue to grow the Arab region will need around 550 billion cubic metres of water by 2025 to maintain food security. This is equivalent to more than twice the amount of currently available water which stands at an estimated 257.5 billion cubic metres per annum.
Other major concerns include agricultural land degradation misuse of fertilisers and pesticides insufficient awareness and services provided to small farm owners lack of investments and insufficient contributions of the private sector to the agricultural industry.
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