Qatar Increases Efforts to Achieve Food Security

Masood Jarallah al Marri, Secretary of the Committee on Food Security, said the strategic warehouses project will be completed this year.
In a press statement on the sidelines of the agricultural exhibition (AgriteQ2019) on Wednesday, Marri said the warehouses are expected to be operational next year.
The strategic food security facilities and warehouses at Hamad Port have capacity to stockpile processed and stored food for 3 million people for two years.
In the first phase, the committee aims to implement 34 projects, out of which 10 projects have already been started and another 10 will be started next year. The rest 14 project, that will raise the ratio of self-sufficiency in several areas, will take off the following year
“We have achieved 24 percent self-sufficiency in vegetables. We are locally producing 66,000 tonnes of vegetables annually. Through new projects, we aim to raise the ratio to 70 percent by 2023. New projects and existing farms will help achieve 65 percent self-sufficiency and other 5 percent will be achieved through use of greenhouses,” he said.
“We have achieved self-sufficiency in fresh poultry (124 percent and fresh milk (106 percent),” he added.

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He said four new projects will be implemented to boost egg production.
The first two projects will help produce 20 million eggs annually, while the other two projects will take the production to 30 million eggs annually.
“We are producing 15,000 tonnes of fish annually. So far, we have achieved 74 percent self-sufficiency and this is expected to reach 90 percent after all the three aquaculture projects start operation,” Marri added.
He said there were 10 projects for production of green fodder and this will help achieve 63 percent self-sufficiency.
Youssef al Khulaifi, Director of the Department of Agricultural Affairs, said the Ministry of Municipality and Environment is focusing on the development of the existing 1,200 farms.
The ministry is working to provide several marketing platforms that will offer multiple options to farmers, he added.
“The Qatar Farms project is currently one of the largest marketing platforms available to farmers with 140 local farms, where the largest quantities of local agricultural products, amounting to more than 4,000 tonnes, are marketed,” he added.
Khulaifi said the government’s support to farm owners includes distribution of 3,000 protected homes (greenhouses).Strategic warehouse stores to start operation next year.