Qatar records remarkable growth in vegetable food security

Qatar has achieved remarkable growth in terms of self-sufficiency in vegetable production with an increase in the volume of produce.
Dr Masoud Jarallah al-Marri, director of the Food Security Department at the Ministry of Municipality and the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Islamic Organisation for Food Security, told Qatar TV that the self-sufficiency rate of vegetables in Qatar reached 46% while it was only 20% in 2017. “The hike in the volume of production was the result of plans and programmes undertaken by government agencies, led by the concerned departments of the Ministry of Municipality. Also, the efforts of Qatari farms played their role in increasing production in response to the call of the nation,” he said while attending the Hayatna programme of Qatar TV.
He pointed out that what has been achieved is the result of joint efforts between the public and private sectors noting that the authorities responsible for support have done their part. “The farms followed the ministry’s plans. Mahaseel company, which was established by the state, solved a major problem facing the farms, represented in the issue of sale and access. to the market, stressing that this matter was a challenge facing Qatari farms,” he said. Al-Marri noted that the company took the products from the farms and worked on sorting, packaging and marketing them appropriately, which made the farms focus their efforts on production, which contributed to achieving this leap in vegetable production.
With regard to dairy production and its fresh derivatives, al-Marri explained that in 2017, at the beginning of the implementation of the National Strategy for Food Security, the self-sufficiency rate was about 28%. “We have now reached 100%,” he said.
“The absorption of excess quantities was represented in their use in the manufacture of dairy-based derivatives. This created a kind of diversification in production, and indicated that the idea of ​​​​exporting excess quantities of milk abroad is contrary to the strategy, stressing that Qatar has limited natural materials, in particular Water and land, and therefore we seek to make local production for local consumption,” he said.
He added that the work is being done on the latest types of balance between production capacity and licenses that are issued to establish factories, in order to achieve the strategic goal of food security and not the economic dimension.
With regard to self-sufficiency in meat, the director of the Food Security Department said that the consumption pattern in Qatar is 30% fresh and 70% frozen.