UAE to grow more food locally under strategy update

The UAE is updating its National Food Security Strategy 2051 with the aim of growing half of the country’s crops locally, a government official said.

The country currently imports almost 90 percent of its food, according to a 2025 World Economic Forum report. The renewed push comes as the Iran war highlights Gulf countries’ vulnerability to disruptions in international food shipments.

Increasing domestic production could reduce some of those risks, although high water and energy requirements make large-scale farming expensive in the UAE.

Launched in 2018, the strategy aims to boost local production, diversify food sources through international partnerships and introduce legislation and policies to improve nutrition and reduce waste.

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It is being revised in collaboration with the private sector, the UAE’s state-run Wam news agency reported.

To meet its target while reducing emissions from traditional farming, the UAE needs to adopt smart farming systems, including indoor agriculture and hydroponics, said Mohammed Saeed Al Nuaimi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.

Separately, Khaled Al Huraimel, group CEO of Beeah Group, said Sharjah has achieved a landfill waste diversion rate of 93 percent, which he claimed is “the highest in the Middle East”.

The company’s waste-to-energy plant, which currently generates 30 megawatts, is set to double its capacity to meet the power needs of a new community being developed by its real estate arm, he said.