Qatar Keen to Enhance Food Security System in Islamic Countries

Hosting Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) Forum confirms Qatar’s keenness to enhance the food security system in Islamic countries and build their capabilities in this significantly vital sector, by transferring Qatar’s experience in food security to Islamic countries, as Qatar has invested heavily in food and agricultural policies, infrastructure, market updates, ports and storage reserves.

It has also increased interest in the field of food security research and established a fund to sponsor agricultural and food research, in addition to developing the national strategy for nutrition, including guidelines, standards, labels and posters for nutrition, while providing healthy food and nutrients from minerals and vitamins, as well as intensifying efforts to adapt to climate change and preserve land, water and marine resources.

Qatar has significantly developed food markets and agricultural yards, expanded and modernised the logistical infrastructure in ports and warehouses, and established strategic storage reserves of wheat and rice, increasing the reserve stocks of a wide range of basic foodstuffs in retail stores, while increasing public expenditures on agricultural research through the Qatar National Research Fund for food security.

Qatar is considered one of the world’s and the region’s most distinguished countries in terms of spending and funding for research and development in the field of agriculture, as well as investing in crop storage, improving roads, ports, and irrigation infrastructure, diversifying partners in international trade and trade routes, and increase in local production capacity of the most important basic commodities, including milk and dairy products, poultry, fresh vegetables and seafood.

In cooperation and coordination with the official bodies concerned, the Ministry of Municipality is keen to continuously improve the condition of food security for Qatar, as well as increasing classifications in the following editions in GFSI. 

This includes reducing food loss and waste in the supply chain, improving production capacity and encouraging production throughout the year to deal with the critical summer months, adopting production methods that are compatible with the environment, achieving global best practices in food safety and quality standards, improving market access and financing local producers to improve the economic viability and attractiveness of local food production and food processing in the State of Qatar.

It is expected that during the forum held under the umbrella of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in coordination and cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Qatar will showcase its contributions at the global level in terms of food security. 

Recently, Qatar signed, through the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), an agreement with the World Food Program (WFP) to provide a financial contribution of 90 million dollars to help meet urgent food security needs in Yemen, which is threatened by famine due to conflict, economic decline and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qatar also contributed to providing urgent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan by launching an air bridge from Doha to Kabul, through which nearly 70 tons of urgent food were transported.

Learn more at The Peninsula.