In: Economics
The UAE is one of the world’s most water-scarce nations and faces a crippling shortage of renewable fresh water. Dubai, its most populous city with more than two million people, relies on desalination plants for 98.8 per cent of its water supply. Without an adequate renewable water supply, the UAE is unable to grow the food needed to feed its population. The reasons for this shortage and the methods to overcome this is discussed below
Demand
The UAE’s current population is projected to reach close to 11.5 million people by 2025. This will place increased pressure on the country’s already strained food and water resources. Food consumption is currently growing at 12 per cent each year and it is predicted that the value of food imports will increase from US$3 billion in 2011 to US$8.4 billion by 2020 to meet this demand. Significant issues with food waste and over-consumption further increase the UAE’s food demand. The UAE has one of the world’s highest rates of obesity, in part due to the shift towards a globalised diet that began following the discovery of the country’s oil wealth. The demand for processed, western foods increases the UAE’s reliance on food imports.
Over-consumption is also a problem in the water sector. The UAE is the world’s third largest consumer of water, despite its arid climate and lack of renewable water sources
Food and Water Security Risks
Although the UAE has extensive desalination infrastructure and the finances to ensure access to affordable food supplies, its heavy reliance on artificial water and external food sources exposes it to risks arising from volatility in the global food market, geopolitical instability, and environmental threats.
Market volatility
The global food price crisis was the catalyst that caused Middle Eastern countries to start thinking seriously about their long-term food and water security strategies. The UAE is highly exposed to volatility in world food markets due to its heavy import reliance. As global prices rose and sellers left the market, the UAE’s strategic food reserves fell to only 10 days supply and domestic food prices rose
Geopolitical risk
Geopolitical threats in the Middle East exacerbate the risk created by critical dependency on imported food and artificial water supplies.
Environmental threats
The UAE’s domestic agricultural production faces threats from land degradation, sand invasion and recurrent drought. The environmental threats will be exacerbated by climate change.
Strategies to overcome the crisis
The UAE’s food and water security strategy
The UAE’s energy wealth has allowed it to take impressive steps to address the huge challenges it faces in pursuing a food and water secure future. In 2010 the government established the Food Security Center in Abu Dhabi to support the implementation of the emirates’ food security strategy. The government also supports a number of food security forums, including the inaugural World Food Security Summit, held in Dubai this year. It has pushed for food security to be a key item on the agenda at international meetings, including the G20.
Self-sufficiency strategy
Central to the UAE’s national food security strategy is an aspiration towards agricultural self-sufficiency. The government has invested heavily in the agricultural sector by providing the technology required to improve land and water management.
Bolstering water supply
To support water security, the UAE has created a Water Council to coordinate and supervise integrated water management plans. The Council’s Water Conservation Strategy provides the framework to manage the UAE’s water resources to 2021.
International agricultural investment
In the aftermath of the global food price crisis one of the UAE’s key policies to improve food security was to secure import sources by engaging in offshore farming contracts. Investment in overseas agriculture aimed to increase global food supply and ensure that in times of crisis, the UAE had a guaranteed import source.
Regional agri-food hub
The UAE has also developed a strategy to bolster its position as the hub for food trade for the entire Gulf Cooperation Community (GCC), supporting regional food security. The UAE has an advanced network of ports, roads and air links, leading the UN to identify it as a key potential regional food hub.
Policies for a sustainable water and food-secure future
The UAE has made major investments in its food and water future, but opportunities remain to develop an even more sustainable strategy. To ensure its future water and food security, the UAE needs to address issues regarding water demand and further diversify its food supply.