Food security is one of the most important factors that define quality of life in a given country. Candel and Biesbroek (2018) define food security as “all people, at all times, having physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (p. 196). As shown in the definition above, food security is defined by a number of factors.
First, the issue of reliability is critical when a country is trying to ensure that it is food secure. Secondly, it should be sufficient. Having a supply of food that only meets the needs of a section of the society, especially the rich, is a sign of food insecurity. A food secure country should be able to meet nutritional needs of all its citizens irrespective of the socio-economic status. The third factor in the above definition is the affordability of the available food. It is not the responsibility of the government to buy food for its citizens. However, it is critical to make sure that the price of food is affordable to all citizens. Finally, the definition emphasizes the need to ensure that food made available for the citizens is nutritious.
Food security is a major concern in most developing countries. Several cases have been reported where people die of hunger in parts of Asia. According to Sahn (2015), extreme poverty is common in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, and parts of Asia. One of the major problems that people in these regions face is poor harvesting and storage strategies. During harvest periods, a significant amount of food is lost because of poor storage.
A few months after harvesting, citizens are left with little amount of food that cannot meet their needs. In Asia, such problems have been witnessed in countries such as Cambodia, Yemen, North Korea, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (Ulrichsen, 2017). Some of these countries are affected by prolonged drought while others suffer from constant internal armed conflicts. Food insecurity is a great hindrance to a country’s economic growth.
Importance of Food Security
Having a food secure country is critical for enhancing economic growth. According to Gardner (2013), food scarcity is one of the leading causes of various type diseases. Marasmus, kwashiorkor, and diarrhea are some of the leading causes of deaths among infants in the developing countries. Severe lack of nutrition and limited balanced diet may lead to marasmus or kwashiorkor. On the other hand, when a child has to eat unhygienic food items because of poverty may lead to diarrhea (Trauger, 2015).
Such conditions not only affect the family of the victims but also the government. More resources have to be set aside for the healthcare department because of the high number of people seeking for medical attention. Adults are not spared either from the problem of malnutrition. Goiter, scurvy, and xerophthalmia are medical conditions directly related with poor nutrition.
Food insecurity may have numerous social consequences if it is not addressed at the right time. Food is a basic need and when one is unable to afford it, he or she can do anything to have access to it. Some people engage in prostitution because of poverty. They expose themselves to dangerous diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and many other venereal diseases. Others may opt to join criminal gangs to rob others as a way of getting basic needs. Amery (2015) explains that when a section of the society decides to engage in criminal activities to have access to basic needs, it is always a sign of failure on the side of the government. It may not be easy to achieve economic progress in a society where crime is common. As such, one of the first steps in enhancing a country’s economy is to ensure that there is food security.
Continental Asia has a population of over 4.5 billion people, which accounts for 60% of the total population in the world. According to Khoury et al. (2014), despite having 60% of the world’s total population, the continent only accounts for less than 30% of the earth’s total area. It has some of the most populated cities in the world such as Tokyo, Mumbai, Beijing, New Delhi, and Manila. China and India are the world’s most populous countries, each having more than 1.2 billion people.
With such a large population, food security is a major country. For instance, India has to ensure that its 1.225 billion citizens have access to nutritious and affordable food supply throughout the year. The ability of the region to provide reliable and nutritious food supply is affected by pollution, hash climatic conditions such as prolonged drought, flash floods, tsunamis (Hanieh, 2018). The region is also affected by political instability. Countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria are currently affected by civil wars that limit the ability of citizens to engage in meaningful economic activities.
The United Arab Emirates has remained relatively peaceful in a region that is currently affected by civil wars following the Arab Spring and War on Terror. The government of the UAE has invested many resources to ensure that the country does not over rely on the export of petroleum products as the main economic activity. Public-private sector partnership has been embraced to promote other sectors such as tourism, transport, and trade in the country. However, Eise and Foster (2018) warn that for the country to achieve the level of diversity it desires, it needs to address the issue of food security.
Given that the country’s population is growing rapidly, the government needs to ensure that there is a reliable flow of food throughout the year to meet the increasing demand. The country largely experiences drought for the better part of the year, which means that traditional agricultural practices are not sustainable (Godfray & Garnett, 2014). In this paper, the researcher will focus on ways and measures that can be taken to ensure that the UAE is food secure.
Background Information
The United Arab Emirates has a limited supply of rainfall throughout the year and limited amount of arable land. The country imports over 80% of its food supplies from other parts of the world (Ulrichsen, 2017). Soon after independence, oil became the primary economic activity in the country. The government and private sector players focused on the petroleum sector because of the growing market and improved international prices (Thompson & Amoroso, 2014).
Agriculture was ignored because the income generated from the sale of oil and gas would facilitate purchasing of food from other parts of the world. However, it is becoming increasingly important for the country to find better strategies of enhancing food security than what has been used in the past. The population of the country is growing rapidly. The strategy of the government to diversify the country’s economy is yielding fruits as tourism, real estate, transport, and trade continue to grow over the last decade. The growth of these industries means that the demand for food in the country is increasing.
The government and players in the private sectors have embraced varying strategies to ensure that the country is food secure. In this section of the report, the focus will be to discuss these strategies and determine their relevance in promoting availability of food in the country.
Promoting Local Agriculture
The government of the UAE has remained committed to promoting local agriculture. As the population of the country continues to increase, a need to enhance food security has become a major priority for the government. Although measures have been taken to ensure that the country imports enough foodstuffs needed by the local residents, new farming methods are promising to transform the local agricultural sector.
One of the concepts gaining popularity in the country is the use of greenhouses to cultivate vegetables and some fruits. Figure 1 below shows a farmer inspecting onions grown in a greenhouse. This concept is effective because it uses little water and crops tend to have higher yields than those grown in open fields. Chandrasekaran and Raghuram (2014) explain that when using greenhouse, one can use a small parcel of land to grow many crops. The controlled environment also means that plants are protected from various pests and diseases. A farmer is able to detect an emergence of a disease and immediate measure can be taken to avoid its spread to other plants or greenhouses.
Desalination is another growing concept that has the potential of transforming the country’s agricultural sector. As Chandrasekaran and Raghuram (2014) explain, one of the biggest challenges that the sector faces is the scarcity of water for irrigation. The limited freshwater available is often used for domestic purposes. The emerging technologies have made it possible to desalinate seawater at low costs for use in the agricultural sector. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) initiated a project meant to desalinate seawater and make it available for industrial and agricultural use (Thompson & Amoroso, 2014). The initiative will help more farmers to focus on crop production to help reduce the country’s reliance on imported food.
Opportunities for local farmers
Local farmers can take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the country to ensure that they achieve sustainable growth to compete with regional farmers. One of the biggest opportunities is the growing population of the country. According to Hanieh (2018), the country’s population of 9.5 million people is projected to increase to 11.5 million by 2015. The growing population is a sign that the market size is increasing.
It should be a proper motivation for the local players to increase their production. Access to the global market is another incentive that local farmers can take advantage of as they seek to expand their operations. The Dubai International Airport is the largest regional airport. The seaports have also increased in size and capacity over the past decade as Dubai becomes the gateway to Africa and the Middle East. It means that the local farm produce can easily be exported to regional and international markets because of improved means of transport.
New technologies in the field of agriculture are also promising to transform this sector. New seeds, which are drought resistant, have become popular, as they need minimal rain to grow to maturity. It is also becoming cheaper for the local farmers to desalinate seawater for irrigation. Embracing best practices from some of the neighboring countries has helped the local farmers be self-reliant. These initiatives have increased food production by increasing the size of arable land through irrigation.
Challenges faced by local farmers
The country’s farmers face numerous challenges that impede their ability to engage in large-scale agriculture. One of the biggest impediments is the limited supply of rainfall (Eise & Foster, 2018). The agricultural sector largely relies on a regular supply of rainfall during specific periods within the year. However, the country is often dry for the better part of the year, which means that local farmers cannot rely on rainwater.
They have to irrigate their land using the limited water available. Some of them are forced to desalinate seawater so that it can be used for irrigation. The cost of treating seawater and pumping it to the arable lands is relatively high. As such, it is cheaper for the country to import some food products, especially those that require large amounts of water, than to produce them locally.
Limited arable land is another issue. Areas of the land that would be suitable for agriculture is in locations that cannot be easily irrigated because of their terrain. Large-scale production, processing, transportation, and storage of oil in some parts of the country have led to land pollution. Oil spillage, according to Thompson and Amoroso (2014), has devastating consequences on agriculture.
Land affected by the spilled oil is not suitable for agriculture. Some players in the agricultural sectors have also complained that the government has failed to make necessary investment into this sector. The incentives offered to other industries such as trade and tourism has helped them grow. However, the same is yet to be done to the agricultural sector.
The availability of cheap food in the international market has been a major factor that hinders local agriculture in the UAE (Fischbach, 2018). Countries such as Brazil, India, France, and Japan have embraced sustainable agricultural practices, which enable them to produce more than what is needed locally. They export their farm produce to the international market at relatively low prices. Local farmers, who have to spend a lot in technology to produce food products, cannot compete with the imported products. Some of them opt to import instead of cultivating these food products because of the cost implications. The more the country relies on imported products, the lesser the local agricultural sector will grow.
Strategic Partnerships Regionally and Internationally
The government of the United Arab Emirates understands the need to increase food supplies in the country because of the growing population. It appreciates the fact that although initiatives have been introduced to promote local agriculture, the local production capacity cannot meet the growing demand. As such, it has embraced various strategies to ensure that the country is food secure. It has signed agreements with various countries to ensure that there is a steady supply of food. Various countries in Asia-Pacific export food products to the United Arab Emirates. It is necessary to look at some of the major suppliers of various food products in the country.
India
Rice is a popular food in the UAE for both the natives and immigrants. Unfortunately, the climatic condition in the country is not suitable for rice growing. As such, the country has a strategic partnership with India to ensure that this popular food is supplied reliably and in the right quantity. India is one of the world’s leading importers of oil. As it buys petroleum products from the UAE, it sells rice to the country to ensure that a balance of trade is achieved. Basmati rice from India has a huge market in local cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The relationship developed between these countries has ensured that some of the popular foodstuffs are always available for the locals.
Thailand
Thailand is known for its production of rice, meat, and fish that it exports to the international market. The United Arab Emirates has made steps to ensure that it promotes rearing of livestock. Sahn (2015) notes that the main challenge those local farmers who specialize on rearing of livestock are the time it takes these animals to mature. In the process, they use a lot of water and grass before they can be slaughtered.
It forces the country to supplement the locally produced beef with that imported from other countries. The close business relationship between Thailand and the UAE makes it possible for large beef companies in Thailand to export their products in the country. The UAE also relies on fish from Thailand. Hanieh (2018) explains that the demand for fish has grown significantly because of the increasing population.
Brazil
Brazil is known to produce soybeans and sugar in large quantities. Many people living in the United Arab Emirates take tea and soymeal almost on a daily basis (Ulrichsen, 2017). However, these crops cannot be produced locally in large quantities. Sugarcane takes several months to mature and require a lot of water. It is often grown in large plantations. The arable land in the UAE is limited, which makes it difficult for sugar to be produced locally.
The strategic partnership between Brazil and the UAE has made it possible for large sugar companies in Brazil to export their products to the UAE. The locals can have access to this important foodstuff at reliably throughout the year and at affordable price. Brazil also exports soybeans and other food products to the country. The desire to have a balance of trade between the UAE and this country has made it necessary for the country to accept import of various agricultural products.
Food Security in Asia
Asia as a continent has a rapidly growing population. However, some parts of this continent experience extreme weather conditions that make it impossible to practice agriculture. Overexploitation of natural resources is another problem in this continent. Such challenges may compromise the ability of a country to be food secure. It is important for countries on the continent to find ways of feeding its huge population. Various countries have embraced different strategies to meet their nutritional needs based on various environmental factors and resources at their disposal. It is necessary to look at some of the countries that have embraced best practices in food production.
China
China is the world’s most populous nation with over 1.3 billion people. Feeding such a large population may be a serious challenge when farmers are affected by the problem of climate change (Behnassi, Pollman, & Gupta, 2018). China not only produces enough food for its citizens but also exports excess produce on the regional and international markets. With over 300 million people actively employed in the agricultural sector, the country ranks first in the world in terms of farm produce. Wheat, rice, barley, sorghum, millet, soybeans, tea, peanuts, tomato, and potatoes are some of the main food crops grown in this country.
Before the land reforms that were introduced by Mao Zedong, land was primarily owned by rich property owners who determined what to grow. They heavily relied upon rainfall and in most cases, their crops were affected by extreme weather conditions.
However, the land reforms redefined agriculture in this country. Land was taken away from the rich and redistributed to the masses. New agricultural practices based on the emerging technologies were embraced to ensure that farmers do not rely on rainfall to water their plants. Currently, farming is fully mechanized in this country. Famers are using modern machines and tools to prepare the land for planting, to weed, and harvest their crops. Measures are also taken to protect crops from pests and extreme weather conditions. Chinese are currently producing enough maize to meet the local demand and export excess to the international market.
Japan
Japan is one of the most populated countries in the world. According to Oda, Rupprecht, Tsuchiya, and McGreevy (2018), Japan was one of the worst affected countries during the Second World War. The government realized that one of the best ways of restoring economic growth was to ensure that the country was food secure. Working closely with private sector players, government agencies came up with different programs to enhance agricultural production.
Mechanization was considered one of the best steps in improving agricultural production. Rice is the staple food in Japan. By introducing mechanization, local farmers were able to produce enough to meet the local demand. In fact, Oda et al. (2018) explain that Japan is currently exporting rice to the regional and international markets because of the initiatives it has embraced.
Urban agriculture is another initiative that has proven successful in Japan. The growing population in the country means that new initiatives must be embraced to ensure that increased food demand is met. Urban agriculture has become a reliable farming approach where farmers use small greenhouses within spall spaces to grow fruits and vegetables (Oda et al., 2018). The move is meant to ensure that urban dwellers have access to fresh vegetables throughout the year.
The concept of urban agriculture has gained momentum because of the growing demand for low chemical and organic food in major cities. Some suppliers are keen on ensuring that they only sell organic farm produce to their customers. The strategy has reduced the demand for large-scale farmers to produce vegetables, making it easy for them to focus on rice production. Such strategies can be embraced in the UAE.
Partnerships as a Strategy to Enhance Food Security
It is important to note that sometimes a country may not grow some crops or keep some animals needed in the local market because of various factors such as unfavorably climatic conditions. Some countries in the Middle East have achieved success despite the harsh climatic conditions by embracing science-based farming methods (Tschirley, Reardon, Dolislager, & Snyder, 2015). However, some of them are unable to maintain steady production of some of the popular food products.
The unreliable rainfall makes it difficult for the local famers in Bahrain to produce enough beef to meet the local demand. As such, the Bahrain government has signed trade agreements with beef producing countries such as Brazil to ensure that this popular foodstuff is readily available in the country. In such trade agreements, Brazil exports maize products to Bahrain. On the other hand, Bahrain exports its minerals to Brazil.
The goal is to ensure that there is a balance of trade between the two countries. According to Trauger (2015), having such trade agreements is crucial in ensuring that the deficit is met in an economical manner. Terms are often agreed-upon by the two governments to ensure traders, who may want to charge high prices for their imports, do not exploit local consumers. Despite some of the best practices that China has embraced, it still has to import dairy products, some beverages, and soybeans from other countries. Like Bahrain, China has trade deals with European Union and North American countries to ensure that these products are made available in the local market at reasonable prices. In exchange, it exports industrial products to these countries.
How the United Arab Emirates Can Embrace the Best Practices
The United Arab Emirates can learn from some of the regional and international best practices as it strives to achieve food security for its growing population. The first step should be benchmarking. The local players in the country should use best practices witnessed in countries within the European Union to redefine the most appropriate approach that they should take to promote local agriculture. Other than embracing the concept of irrigation, these countries are keen on importing food products not available locally (Candel & Biesbroek, 2018). The local farmers have a lot to learn from some of the Egyptian farmers.
The two countries experience similar climatic conditions. They both have limited amount of rainfall throughout the year. Despite these similarities, the UAE imports over 85% of its food while Egypt has put measures to ensure that it is food secure. It means that Egypt has developed unique farming practices that local farmers in the UAE should embrace. The second step is to develop partnerships and trade agreements with other countries to ensure that foodstuff that cannot be produced locally is imported at reasonable cost that can be affordable to the locals. These strategies will ensure that the country is food secure. The sustainable socio-economic development of a country depends on its ability to maintain steady supply of food.
Recommendations
The United Arab Emirates has one of the fastest developing economies in North Africa and Middle East (MENA) region. The country’s population is also growing rapidly in part because of the economic immigrants coming to take advantage of the local job opportunities. However, the country is affected by the problem of limited arable land and scarcity of water that forces it to rely on imported food products. Measures should be taken to enhance the country’s food security. The following recommendations should be taken into consideration to enhance the country’s food security:
- The primary focus of the government should be to promote local agriculture to reduce reliance on imported foodstuffs. As such, incentives such as reduced taxation and promotion of locally produced products should be used to motivate local farmers to increase their production capacity.
- Local farmers should embrace best farming practices to improve their production. Some countries in South America such as Brazil are using modern technologies to increase their crop production. Embracing such practices may increase local production of various agricultural products.
- It may be necessary to take these farmers through some form of government-sponsored training in foreign countries so that they can learn how to use limited available land to produce adequate food for the country.
- The government should identify foods that cannot be viably produced locally, such as sugar and rice, and develop measures that will ensure that they are always available for the locals. A strategic partnership with some of the leading rice and sugar producers may be used to ensure that these products are made available to residents of the country at affordable prices.
- Investors in the UAE can consider investing in the agricultural sectors of foreign countries with the primary aim of selling their produce to the local market. Producing rice in countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh is relatively cheap. Given that they understand the market gap, they will know the amount of rice or sugar that needs to be imported into the country.
Conclusion
Food security is one of the most important parameters of standards of living in a given country. The United Arab Emirates is one of the emerging economies in the world. The government, working closely with private sector players, has managed to diversify the economy of the country to help reduce its reliance on the oil and gas sector. Currently, the city of Dubai is one of the top global tourists’ destinations.
It also has a robust real estate sector that is attracting both regional and international investors. These economic achievements have attracted many people from different countries into the local cities as tourists or economic migrants. Food security is emerging as a major concern in the country as the population continues to increase. As shown in this paper, it is necessary for the government to ensure that its citizens have access to quality affordable food at all times.
The government and private players can use various strategies to ensure that the country is food secure. One of the most important strategies is to embrace emerging technologies in agriculture to ensure that the limited space and scarce water can be used effectively to increase food production in the country. It is also necessary for the government to have trade agreements with countries producing sugar, rice, and other popular food products not available the country. The trade deals should be made to ensure that these products are reliably made available to the locals at affordable prices. It may require elimination of brokers who may hike prices of imported food products to make high profits.
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