FOOD

The Big Fright

by sindhu nair

40 Qatar Today february 2011

the big fright food cover story

When the whole country is basking in the euphoria of the 2022 Bid win and the fine
show of Qatari footballers at the Asian Football Cup 2011, Food Security seems like
an implausible topic to ponder over.

But not if you look at recent reports from around the world on escalating food
prices and the mounting tension and disrupting occurrences in some parts of the
world. Though we have not seen the wave of food riots that rocked countries such
as Haiti and Bangladesh three years ago, when prices of agricultural commodities
jumped, it is still a possibility, caution experts from UN.

he increase in food costs will also hit developed economies, with
companies from McDonald’s to Kraft raising retail prices. Finan-
cial Times in a recent report emphasised that higher food prices
boosts overall inflation, which is above the preferred targets of
central banks in Europe.
UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has given the global
food market ‘critical’ status and says that immediate measures
have to be put in place to stave off a repeat of the 2007/2008
crisis, when food prices doubled in just a week.
Earlier, addressing the UN Summit on Food Security at the
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters in Rome
in 2009, HH the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani
pledged Qatar’s commitment to contribute in eradicating hun-
ger and malnutrition. The urgency of the situation was reflected
in HH the Emir’s words and subsequent actions.
The Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP)
was established in 2008.
“Qatar believes that national food security is part of the re-
gional and international food security,” said HH the Emir.
But what does Qatar have to do with riots and hunger in other
parts of the world? A country which has never had a food crisis
so far?
“Here is a country, one of the wealthiest in the world that
could buy food at any price, no matter what the price, from the
world market. There has been concern in Qatar as there has been
concern in the rest of the world. From 2007, we entered a new
era in world food. Until then price of food commodities was go-
ing down. The era of low-food price is over, worldwide” says Dr
Mahendra Shah, Director of Programme International Affairs,
QNFSP.
And this is so, “because of increasing world demand,” says Dr
Shah. “Only 5% of the world’s food is traded. And international
food trade will increase rapidly due to a number of factors includ-
ing population growth, urbanisation and rise in incomes.At the
same time biofuel requirement mandated in a number of coun-
tries will also affect land availability for food cultivation result-
ing in high food prices. The food demand cannot be met in some
countries and hence there is higher dependence on exports.”
But the export market is very sensitive. Countries can stop
the export of food based on local reasoning. India banned the
export of rice and Russia banned the export of wheat in recent
times. “On the one hand, the world needs free trade and on the
other countries can refuse to export food commodities due to
many reasons – a drought in the country being just one. All this

february 2011 Qatar Today 41

 cover story food the big fright

puts pressure on commodities, a fact that countries are painfully
aware as food is a essential need.”
Understanding this need, Qatar has set up a comprehensive
national programme that takes into account the challenges that
are the country’s alone.
And thus under the direction of HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh
Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the QNFSP was established with
the objective of creating a sustainable Food Security road map,
by introducing structural reforms to address the problems that
affect the sustainability of energy, water, agriculture and food
supplies.
Heading the QNFSP taskforce is Fahad Al-Attiya, Chairman of
QNSFP, who says that this nationwide initiative will make Qatar
food secure in 10 years (interview on page 43).
“The global risk is high and food is a critical component for the
existence of any civilisation, which then makes QNFSP one of the
highest of national priorities,” says Al-Attiya.
The Arab challenges
While food security is a worldwide issue, the challenges that the
Gulf countries face are much higher.
“GCC with a total population of approximately 40 million, of
whom 40% are foreign workers, are endowed with oil and gas
reserves estimated at some QR130 trillion ($35 trillion). This
puts the region’s nationals among the world’s richest peoples in
terms of per capita wealth. However, although the region’s eco-
nomic and energy security are assured, the GCC countries are
the world’s most water insecure and food deficient, importing
60–95% of their food requirements,” says Dr Shah.
The limited land and water resources in the GCC pose a sub-
stantial technological challenge to increasing domestic food pro-
duction.
“Of the region’s total land area of approximately 259 million
hectares, only 1.7% is currently under cultivation, mainly with
groundwater irrigation. Although about one-fifth of the total
land area is potentially cultivable, the region’s arid climate and
constraints caused by heat, salinity, limit the levels of food suffi-
ciency that can be achieved.”
Some of the GCC states have established fossil fuel-driven wa-
ter-desalinisation plants, contributing approximately 15% of the
total available water resources in the region.
“However, current concerns about climate change, and the
fact that the GCC has one of the highest carbon footprints in per
capita terms, limit this option. Investment in research into the
use of renewable energy, particularly solar power, in future de-
salination plants offers a means to increase domestic food pro-
duction,” he reveals.
And this is one of the options that is being explored by QNFSP
and once that comes into process will provide the much needed
impetus for the whole region to follow this prototype of success.
“From my point of view, every country in the world should
produce the maximum amount of food it can, in a manner that is
environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.”
GCC should give the highest priority to establishing a regional
(contd pg 45)

Skewed metrics in the Region

4o
approximately
importing

60
oil and gas reserves
estimated at some

QR130 95%
to
million population in the region, of whom

40% are foreign workers

trillion

of food
requirements
region’s total land area

259
of approximately fuel-driven
about

1/5
water-desalinisation
plants, contribute

15%
approximately

million hectares, of the total land

only
area is potentially
cultivable
of the total

1.7%
available water
resources
in the region
is currently under cultivation,

42 Qatar Today february 2011

the big fright food cover story

interview

“Creating a
sustainable
food economy”
Sustainability and research are the two key words of the food security
master plan (MP) that is being put in place by the QNFSP.
Research & Design facilities are also part of the MP to create the wholevalue-chain
that QNFSP Chairman, Fahad Al-Attiya and his taskforce are putting in place.

T
success of this revolutionary programme will mean a solution
that can be shared with countries that have similar challenges.
“Third generation technologies, policies, legislations, efficient
methods will all be put in use to make sure that all the farms ex-
isting here today will change to 21st century farms,” he says.

Qatar currently imports 90 % of its food, with over 75 %

his will be through QSTP and other institutes that complement
QSTP and support the creation of a high-tech renewable energy
industry.
In an interview to Qatar Today, Al-Attiya is confident that the
supplied by just seven countries. This leaves it extremely
vulnerable to external world food market influences, which
is beyond its control. What solutions do we have to ensure
our food security?
QNFSP is a taskforce comprising 17 government and non-gov-
ernment agencies collaborating to ensure that the plan is solid,
secure, well-designed and robust.
We have reached the concept design of the MP and we are in
the final stages of preparing a detail design which will be revealed
in 2013.
The MP goes through four different stages, of which the first
three stages are complete.

february 2011 Qatar Today 43


Food Kind
“We will have a strategic list of products
that will be produced in Qatar. It will be
an exhaustive list; it will cover most of the
crop types consumed by the population.”
Two birds with
one stone
“We intend to use a solar plant to power the desali-
nation process to get water for the irrigation. We
want to hit two birds with one stone. We want to
protect our ground water resources and we should
stop our farmers from tapping into them. In order to
do so we should provide alternative resources and
for that we will use the other natural resource we
have in abundance, the solar power. The power for
the desalination plant will be 100% renewable.”
education
Research institutions covering renewable energy,
water, food and agriculture sectors will be
provided. Educational institutions in these areas
especially in agriculture and other related areas
will be looked into to support the system and to
fill the knowledge gap.
farms in
qatar
Until 2011 : 1,400 farms
From 2013: Double that
44 Qatar Today february 2011
cover story food the big fright
A WAKE-UP CALL
Cambodian farmers carrying rice in a
field in Kampong Speu province, some
60 kms south of Phnom Penh. Soaring
global food prices are a wake-up
call to action to avoid a new food
crisis that would pitch millions more
of the world’s poor into hunger,
US researchers said on November 18,
2010. Warning that prices were edging
toward crisis levels seen in 2007-2008,
the International Food Policy
Research Institute urged policymak-
ers to learn lessons from that crisis
to prevent another one.
The discovery stage is complete which tracks the issues related
to food supply and production, after which the MP went through
an analysis stage, which involved analysis of the issues that were
discovered in the earlier stage. The third stage is the conceptu-
alisation and selection of the solution while the detailed design,
which is in process now, involves the designing and formation of
a prototype of the model farm.
We are in the process of putting in place a model farm, a 21st
century farm, which puts to use all modern technologies and also
puts some of our own in place.
The food security is a catalyst to put in place four distinct econ-
omies, renewable economy, water economy, agriculture and food
economy. We want to sustain both the system and the resource.
When we look at system sustainability, we look at what makes an
economy thrive and what are the interdependencies that are re-
quired for each and every economy to self sustain and grow. We
are mapping these interdependencies and identifying the critical
and non-critical ones while facilitating these within our plan.
If we want to develop a unique solar power system developed
and applie in our project, we would want that process to be man-
ufactured here and form a renewable energy hub here. This, in
turn, will contribute to the renewable economy. And to support
this we would want the creation of an industrial sector, which
will then create a need for material and so on...
Some highlights of the Master Plan?
By 2023, we should be able to export four ‘know-hows’ or solu-
tions in these four economies.
Though research will be the focus after the MP is in place, ex-
port of food will NOT be something Qatar will focus on. We have
very scarce water resource and hence we will not be exporting
food that is produced here. But that does not mean we cannot
create a ‘re-export’ market. We can make a regional hub of food
that is imported to Qatar and export it to other markets within
the region, which will increase our food security resilience.
And this is where Hassad Food comes in, the $1 billion foreign
investment arm that functions under Qatar Investment Author-
ity. Recently, they have entered into final stages of negotiations
with major agricultural companies around the world to ensure
food security for all.
Is there any case study that QNFSP has looked into that
and that could be replicated here?
No, we don’t have any. We have also seen countries who have
looked at foreign investments to make their food secure. We
have seen other dry countries trying to produce food in their
the big fright food cover story
own country and suffering a blow as they started to export and
then discovered that they do not have water for their produce.
We have learnt from their mistakes and hope to create one that
keeps in mind all the challenges of the region. Other countries
also put up a programme that allowed the farmer to cultivate ac-
cording to his choice thus disturbing the supply/demand equa-
tion through single-crop farming.
We want to match supply with demand in order to make sure
that nothing we produce can go waste. This can be achieved
through Intelligent Contract Farming Support.
What kind of farming systems will be in place here?
We would be looking at Hydroponics, which is soil-less cultiva-
tion. But this is limited to the produce of vegetables and fruits. It
also precision watering and hence it saves on water (90% of the
water is saved) while the yield is increased by 10 times.
Water efficiency will become fundamental and we will put in
place a legislation that makes sure that farmers use only this sys-
tem if they are cultivating the produce it can be used for.
Oil rich countries are investing in land in developing coun-
tries. Will Qatar follow the footsteps of these countries?
There has been some unrest which has risen due to some
land deal made by other countries? What is being done on
this front?
Qatar is already investing in land through Hassad, which is a
member of our programme. In our investment approach we are
trying to build synergies between our domestic activities and in-
vestments abroad to maximise our leverage on benefits. Coun-
tries have to be mindful to social issues that could arise when
land is being acquired in other countries. Because land is such a
sensitive issue.
Hassad is putting in conscious policies and investments that
will not only benefit the investor but will also benefit those who
live there. Hassad will also look at transferring technologies, pro-
viding local employment, education and health-care for those in-
volved in the farming activities. This will also be throwing open
an export market for the country that was earlier extinct or pres-
ent in a small scale. Land in countries like Australia, Sudan, Tur-
key etc will be identified by Hassad.
What’s the status of farming in Qatar?
There are 1, 400 farms as of now in Qatar. We have looked at their
problems and have analysed their stress factors. We have assured
them that new farming methods will solve most of their issues.
Due to the large scale finance involved in making the land
arable, do you think the products from these developments
are in danger of being sold at high prices?
Food is already expensive in Qatar. Unrest in Tunisia, Haiti all
indicate that food prices have gone up. And it will continue to go
up. Developing food in the country is the cheapest way.
How do you think that you will be able to lure customers
away from their favourite brands to a new one?
By giving customers a better brand, of course.
centre of excellence for solar-energy research for water de-
salination, greenhouse solar cooling and greenhouse hydro-
ponic-technology development, says Dr Shah.
Furthermore, a dedicated GCC agricultural research cen-
tre for dry-land crops, livestock and aquaculture develop-
ment, and adaptation to future climate change should also
be established.
Regionally relevant research into protected agriculture,
solar energy for desalinisation and greenhouse hydroponics
has the potential to enhance domestic food self-sufficiency
in the GCC countries.
All these are steps taken into due consideration by the
QNFSP.
“However, some crops, such as wheat, require as much
as 1,400 kg of water to produce 1 kg of yield. This calls for
strategic decisions about which crops to produce locally and
which to secure through international GCC investments,”
says Dr Shah.
A proposed partnership model
Over the past few years, GCC states have begun to consider
investing in farmland overseas. However, there is grow-
ing worldwide concern that such international agricultural
investments must be environmentally, economically and
socially responsible and sustainable. “They must also be
well-structured and legally executed. Otherwise, there is a
risk that the burden of food insecurity in the investing GCC
countries might end up being transferred to the host coun-
tries,” says Dr Shah.
Dr Shah has identified a solution that would give the
oil-rich Arab countries an edge while improving the living
conditions and economies of those countries that they lease
contract land to use for food produce.
“A shared-benefits model that would best meet the needs
of the investor and the local community in currently culti-
vated land areas where the yield gaps are large could provide
the basis for responsible and sustainable agricultural devel-
opment partnerships,” he says.
Dr Shah illustrates his point.
“Consider a situation in which 100 units of land area
farmed with poor management and low agricultural tech-
nology produces 100 tonnes of a food commodity. With
foreign investment bringing in sophisticated technologies
and management, the production on this piece of land is
boosted to 500 tonnes. The local community receives 200
tonnes, while the investor receives a similar share. The re-
maining 100 tonnes is then sold by the investor into the local
market. The market sale would be important in terms of
host-country food security, and the sales income would be
reinvested for the benefit of the local community through
infrastructure and social-services development. The inves-
tor’s share would need to be acceptable in terms of return
on investment.
“Such an innovative partnership arrangement could be
further structured as an official development aid (ODA),” says
Dr Shah.
(contd in pg 49)
february 2011 Qatar Today 45

interview
A generous
heart
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) looks at the
humanitarian side of the food security programme in the Middle East.
he role of WFP role is to reach and feed the most food insecure
people in the Middle East region, especially the children because
they are the most vulnerable. We have running programmes in
Sudan, Yemen, oPt (occupied Palestinian Territories), Iraq, Alge-
ria, Syria, Iran, Jordan, and Egypt,” says Ashraf Hamouda, Senior
Partnership & Business Development Manager, WFP.
Food Security and the region. How fundamental is the
issue?
Food Security has really become the most current hot issue be-
cause it touches on the basic needs of individuals. Most of the in-
stability and riots in the streets lately has been because of rising
food prices. Governments are finding it more difficult to control
costs, thus relying more on organisations such as WFP to support
and aid its people.
The situation has become so volatile and politically sensitive
46 Qatar Today february 2011
cover story food the big fright
that recently a rich country like Kuwait, has granted an emer-
gency food aid package to each of its 1.1 million population worth
around $4 billion in total.
How does this compare to global numbers?
Let me give you a wider perspective because the Middle East
is part of the global Islamic community. Out of the current 50
Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) worldwide, 22 are Muslim
countries.
 WFP plays a major role in reducing poverty and hunger in 34 out
of OIC’s 57 member states.  in 2010, WFP planned beneficiaries in
the Muslim world was more than 54 million representing more
than half the total number WFP is assisting worldwide. The high-
est risk countries in our region are oPt, Sudan and Yemen.  
As of the first quarter of 2011 WFP will suffer a severe shortfall
of $29.2 million for emergency operations and $48.9 million for
safety-net operations.  
Unless further funding is received, WFP will be forced to re-
duce or suspend emergency operations and life-saving seasonal
safety net activities, negatively impacting 300,000 IDPs, 98,000
refugees and 1.8 million severely food-insecure persons.
WFP supports the efforts of the humanitarian community to
respond to the crisis in Sa’ada by facilitating the access of human-
itarian personnel and light cargo to the affected areas through a
Special Operation (SO).
The SO is dramatically under-funded by $400,000 for the next
six months.
And that is the real picture.
the big fright food cover story

CRISIS CALL
Sudanese displaced people queue up
for food during a distribution by the
World Food ProgramME at the Kasab
camp, near Kutum, in northern Darfur.
The European Union called for the UN
Security Council to pass a resolution
threatening sanctions on Sudan if it
fails to immediately meet pledges to
defuse the crisis in Darfur. EU foreign
ministers, while welcoming a partial
improvement in aid access to the west-
ern region, expressed its “dissatisfac-
tion that the government of Sudan
has not implemented the other most
urgent obligations” it faces.

How does this compare to global numbers?

WFP will be forced to reduce

or suspend emergency operations and life-saving seasonal

300,000
safety net activities, negatively impacting
As of the first quarter of 2011

50
Out of the current WFP will suffer a severe

$29.2
shortfall of

98,000
IDPs,

Least Developed million for emergency

$48.9
Countries (LDC’s) worldwide, operations and

22 1.8
refugees and

are Muslim countries. million for

safety-net operations.
million severely
food-insecure persons.

What is Qatar’s role in this and sensitivity to the issue?
Qatar imports approximately 90% of its food. HH the Emir real-
ising how pressing this issue is for his country on the long-term,
as well as being faced with the realities of the harsh agriculture
environment of the mostly barren Qatar, has set in motion a strat-
egy that is both, viable as well as unifying. The initiative of engag-
ing both the private & public sector in creating joint ventures in
more agriculturally friendly countries such as Sudan, benefits all
stakeholders because it shies away from the stigma of being con-
sidered as Neo Colonialist land grabbers.   The Global Dry Land
Alliance (see Box) is a commendable initiative focussed on bring-
ing to light the food security issues we are facing in our part of the
world.  I believe it is still a long way to go before anything concrete
can be felt, but it was long overdue.  And of course they will have
WFP’s support in all stages of its creation and development.
What is the way forward?
 I believe the way forward is more cooperation between the pri-
vate sector and governments in eradicating poverty and hun-
ger.  The rich countries must participate more actively in poorer
countries, and there are ample examples of commercially viable
food security projects benefitting all stakeholders:  Poor land
owners (higher incomes), Investors (profits), Governments (in-
frastructure), populations (available food at affordable prices)...
this cycle must be globally unifying for all beneficiaries can truly
feels its effect.
Oil-rich countries are acquiring land in poor and under-
developed countries? Is this a sustainable way to go in food
security? Isn’t this depleting the land resources of that
country?
The issue is not about land grab it is about the fair sharing of the
capital and the resources. We understand the need for rich coun-
tries with limited agricultural capabilities to seek out help from
outside, and we also understand the poor countries’ limited fund-
ing to cultivate its land to develop their country and their people.
But it should be done in such a way that the local communities
are part of the decision making process since they are the main
beneficiaries. However, most of the time, the local communities
are not included in the loop.

february 2011 Qatar Today 47

 cover story food the big fright

Global Dry Land Alliance

At the Millennium Development Goals summit at the UN headquarters in New York in September 2010, an important alli-
ance was formed. The Global Dry Alliance – Partnering for Food Security was formed for discussions and for forg-
ing development partnerships to meet the food security in the dry regions of the world.
“The Global Dry Land Alliance- Partnering for Food Security” which launched a global alliance aimed at strengthen-
ing cooperation among dry land nations. The event provided a much-needed forum to discuss challenges specific to
dry lands which account for 45% of the world’s land area. “In regions where extreme weather threatens food supply,
the answer is not short-term aid, but a global commitment to strengthening long-term food security,” says Dr Shah
who is working within the QNFSP for this Alliance.
According to Fahad Al-Attiya, QNFSP Chairman, the newly formed Global Dry Land Alliance will constitute 45 to 60 na-
tions with arid or semi-arid environments, including countries in the Middle East, Africa, the United States and India.

80% 40%
5%
Middle East, with

In Figures
60%
of the world’s food
of the rural population in
these areas is dependent of the world’s cereal
of the world’s imports and experiences
insecure population on crop agriculture and
population, the highest level of water
lives in dry lands livestock for both food
accounts for scarcity in the world
and income

Land Grab?
Over two-and-half million hectares in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; half a million hectares in Tanzania; and a quarter of
a million hectares in Libya, 40,000 hectares in Kenya: these figures represent just some of the recent international
land deals where wealthy countries buy land in poorer nations for food, and sometimes biofuel production.

These deals are flipside?

advantageous if

THERE IS A creation of
significant number of farm
and off-farm jobs
there is Development of
rural infrastructure
Poverty-reducing
improvements such as
construction of schools
and health post are made
Several deals have fallen through due to
local unease
Both the Philippines and the Mozambique
have dropped Chinese land-deals, while a
deal in Madagascar to provide South Korea
with 1.3 million hectares has been linked to
the coup which overthrew former presi-
dent, Marc Ravalomanana. Another deal
with Kenya and a Gulf country resulted in
unease as KENYA was faced with famine and
had to resort to international aid to feed
its own people...
Many deals are bad for local farmers
unless the agreements include specific
provisions to protect them.
On the largeness of the international stage,
local landowners in poor countries have
little power to negotiate fair terms for being
displaced from their land to make room for
foreign farmers.
Introducing intensive agricultural
production can threaten biodiversity, carbon
stocks, and land and water resources.
While irrigation, fertilisation, and pesticides
may help increase yields, they could also
lead to long-term problems with salinity,
erosion, and pollution.

( International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) report)

48 Qatar Today february 2011

the big fright food cover story

HIGHER AND HIGHER

Prices of essential food items are
seen at a wholesale market in the
old quarter of New Delhi. India’s food
inflation climbed again to hit nearly
18 percent, official figures showed,
days after THE PM Manmohan Singh
declared the worst of the problem
was over.

us The Saudi predicament Hunger Statistics

75
$10 Saudi Arabia decided to
grow wheat and in the process

$25
to depleted their ground water
resources. They have
now decided not to grow a high
million
water-content requirement
billion in subsidies hungry in the Middle East
for farmers in a year during crop.
the last decade

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with its fertile land, ample water
resources and the world’s lowest agricultural productivity, is the
biggest hot spot for agricultural land acquisition by public and
private investors from the GCC, China, India and Europe. The
agricultural sector in SSA countries is in urgent need of invest-
ment capital.
However, decades of poor government commitments to agri-
culture and low investments have resulted in stagnating produc-
tivity and food-production levels.
In his research papers, Dr Shah has shown how the GCC coun-
tries have a real opportunity to invest in Sudan as a development
aid partner, not only to assure their own food security but also to
contribute to sustainable agricultural development.
“The potential through a shared partnership model, as de-
scribed above, is substantial. For example, current maize
yields of approx 1.2 tonnes/hectare can be increased to more
than 7 tonnes/hectare with high agricultural technology and
management.”
Responsible agricultural investments can contribute to sus-
tainable agriculture development towards achieving food secu-
rity and an end to the hunger that today affects one-third of the
population in SSA.
The GCC’s challenge is to adopt a scientific, knowledge-based
and policy-relevant integrated agro-ecological and socio-eco-
nomic approach to enhancing its domestic food production.
This can be done only by forming sustainable and responsible
development partnerships that can put the SSA countries on a
path of progressive and sustainable development.
The Water Challenge
Dr Patrick Linke, Chief Engineer at QNFSP and the Associate
Professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University Qa-
tar is of the opinion that water issues in the region are critical.
Ground water resources cannot be touched as it cannot be re-
plenished given the climatic conditions of the region and hence
alternative resources have to be worked out for the food security
programme.
“Basically the idea is to desalinate the sea water. The other al-
ternative is to recycle waste water and reuse. But there are health
and hygiene issues to deal with while using recycled water for ir-
rigation, not to mention the large quantity needed for this.”
QNFSP is considering using non-fossil energy for producing
renewable resources, and as a concept, wind and solar energy is
to be put to use. Reusing energy is another option and all this is
being explored too. “All the issues will be explored, the energy
infrastructure, the location of the station, how to transmit the
energy from it, to final feasibility of the desalination project, the
economies of subsidies, all this will have to be looked into and by
2013, and the picture will be in place.”
“For this whole value chain to be economical, at some point of
the chain subsidies will have to be put in place. It could be energy,
water, or both or just the crop,” says Dr Linke
feedback
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february 2011 Qatar Today 49