Qatar on way to meet 2023 food security goals

• The projects will help increase production of fish (from 74% to 90% in 2023), vegetables (24% to 70%), red meat (18% to 30%), and eggs (28% to 70%).
• Qatar will become 100% self-sufficient in shrimp production by 2023. •Green fodder production growth is expected to rise from 56% to 63%.

Qatar is expected to meet its goals of becoming self-sufficient in several food sources in the coming period, which is part of a roadmap that aims to increase food production by 2023.
As Qatar bids goodbye to 2022 with the successful hosting of the FIFA World Cup, the country is aiming to boost food production in areas, such as fish, greenhouse-produced vegetables, red meat, and eggs, as part of the government’s ‘Strategic Food Security Projects 2019-2023’.
According to the strategy, the projects will help increase production (based on 2019 figures) of the following food sources: fish (from 74% to 90% in 2023), vegetables (24% to 70%), red meat (18% to 30%), and eggs (28% to 70%).
The official statistics had also mentioned that Qatar will become 100% self-sufficient in shrimp production by 2023. Similarly, green fodder production growth is expected to rise from 56% to 63%.
In a previous report, which touched on food security in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Oxford Business Group (OBG) stated that the six nations imported around “85%” of their food at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Almost all rice consumed in the region was imported, as well as some 93% of cereals, approximately 62% of meat, and 56% of vegetables. Supply chain disruption triggered by the pandemic had an immediate impact in the region, spurring GCC countries to step up existing programmes to boost food security,” OBG further noted.
In May 2022, OBG released a report stating that among GCC countries, Qatar is leading its Gulf neighbours in the Global Food Security Index 2021.
Qatar was listed in the 24th spot (out of 113) in the global ranking and garnered an overall score of 73.6 (out of 100). Kuwait followed with a global ranking of 30 and an overall score of 72.2.
According to the Covid-19 Response Report, produced by OBG, in partnership with the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development, the Global Food Security Index 2021 listed other GCC countries as follows: UAE (35th global ranking, 71 overall score), Oman (40th, 70), Saudi Arabia (43rd, 68.5), and Bahrain (44th, 68.1).
Qatar’s interdependent food security strategy rests on four pillars: international trade and logistics, domestic self-sufficiency, strategic reserves, and domestic markets, according to a January 2020 report by the Food Security Department.
These pillars ensure that Qatar’s food import strategy is resilient against potential trade shocks and disruptions and that the country can quickly react to the loss of trade partners or a drop in self-sufficiency, the report stated.
It also ensures Qatar’s self-sufficiency in strategic commodities, such as perishables that Qatar can produce competitively, and shift production towards best practice technologies to drive yield improvement.