Qatar has been ranked as the first Arab country and 23rd worldwide in the field of food security, according to a top official.
In an interview with Qatar Radio, Masoud Jarallah al Marri, Director of Food Security Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), said the food security department is concerned with studying the current status of local production, comparing it with imports and identifying gaps between local production and imports.
He said the new administration focuses on increasing local production to reach self-sufficiency in crops that can be cultivated in Qatar, and work to overcome difficulties faced by food security projects, research and planning in the area.
“The Food Security Department is also mandated to study the private sector’s requests related to food security projects in terms of their economic feasibility and to advise on their feasibility and the issuance of licenses in accordance with the National Strategy for Food Security. Also, the department is mandated to study policies for local production, marketing, storage and post-production chains to reach the consumer,” he added.
Giving details of the National Strategy for Food Security 2019-2023, he said the strategy is based on four basic pillars. Boosting local production is the first of the pillars.
“The second pillar is the strategic storage that aims to provide non-produced goods in the country. The strategy has identified goods that must be stored in good quantities to cover the needs for six months,” he said.
He said the strategy has adopted international trade as a cornerstone and the its third pillar, through which various sources of import are secured.
“Finally, the fourth pillar of the strategy is the local market,” he added.
On the role of the National Committee for Food Security, Marri said the committee is working to formulate policies and overcome the obstacles facing the food security system.
“The Food Security Department is the executive body for the adoption of plans, policies and strategies at the national level by the committee,” he said, adding that “The administration also represents the secretariat of the National Committee for Food Security.”
Marri said food security aims to provide food at a convenient price and with easy access. By fulfilling these conditions, he said, the concept of food security has been achieved.
Pointing out the differences between self-sufficiency and food security, he said self-sufficiency is aimed at achieving only what can be produced in the country. There are national goals to achieve self-sufficiency in a range of commodities that can be produced in Qatar. Food security is the provision of all commodities whether produced locally or externally, he added.
Self-sufficiency in vegetables has reached 24 percent and work is going on achieve 70 percent by 2023, he said.
He said, “Ten new projects are currently under way to boost self-sufficiency by using greenhouses technologies, which can increase self-sufficiency to 38 percent. If the new 24 projects are launched, self-sufficiency will be reached 65 percent.”
In terms of fresh poultry, the self-sufficiency level has reached 124 percent, while 20 percent of poultry consumption in Qatar comes from fresh poultry and 80% from frozen poultry consumption.
He said the market is witnessing a strong demand for national products because of its quality and competitive prices. Qatar is an open market and can get products from any country in the world.
“The competition provided by the local market has contributed to improving the quality of the local product to international standards, enabling it to compete with imported products, he said.
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