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Abu Dhabi plans to offer subsidies to local and international agrifood producers in a bid to become a “net exporter in the future,” Fatima Al Dhaheri, head of Abu Dhabi Investment Office’s (ADIO) food and water division, told Bloomberg. The subsidies will cover everything from livestock and fish farming, to alternative proteins and algae, and will be offered on a case-by-case basis, Al Dhaheri explained.
Subsidies are not all that’s planned: The government could also move to invest directly in some businesses. The investment office will also work with companies to use tech that can boost efficiency in food production, such as desalination, Al Dhaheri added.
The UAE is already laying the groundwork for food security, having launched the AgriFood Growth and Water Abundance (Agwa) cluster in Abu Dhabi last June. The cluster — led by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and the ADIO — is set to attract AED 128 bn in investments and is expected to create over 60k jobs by 2045. The plan is to ramp up the agriculture sector’s contribution to GDP from just 0.1% currently, by adding AED 90 bn of incremental GDP by 2045 from the sector, Al Dhaheri told Bloomberg.
REFRESHER- Agwa already has projects in its pipeline: In June, Agwa partnered with cultivated meat producer Believer Meats to expand cultivated meat production, with the company set to establish its regional headquarters in Abu Dhabi as part of the agreement. Agwa also inked an agreement with Swiss alternative protein specialists Nuos to build an innovation center and food manufacturing facilities for alternative protein production in the emirate.
Becoming a net exporter is within reach, experts say, despite the UAE currently importing 85-90% of its food, according to the climate change and environment ministry (pdf). The government has “already been very proactive in terms of having greater control and scaling up supply chains,” said Christian Henderson, a lecturer on Middle East studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
