Qatar Charity’s sustainable projects aid food security
Qatar Charity (QC) has commemorated World Food Day, which is observed annually on October 16, to promote awareness of the issues surrounding hunger and advocate collective action to highlight the need to ensure healthy diets for all.
World Food Day has been marked amid the continued Covid-19 pandemic, which has underlined that an urgent change of route is needed.
This day comes at a time when farmers are suffering, and millions of people are requiring emergency food aid. Sustainable agri-food systems, therefore, are needed to nourish 10bn people by 2050.
Believing in the need to enhance food security in countries experiencing disasters and crises, Qatar Charity supports farmers, implements qualitative agricultural and livestock projects, and distributes foodstuffs to internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees and the poor, in addition to expanding partnerships with United Nations (UN) organisations to contribute to addressing food shortage, according to a press statement.
600,000 beneficiaries
Qatar Charity provided aid and implemented projects to support food security in 29 countries, benefiting nearly 600,000 people at a total cost of approximately QR30mn in 2020.
Supporting farmers
QC has rehabilitated more than 90 greenhouses with an area of more than 150,000sq m during the past five years, at a total cost of over QR1mn, benefiting more than 550 people.
Qatar Charity recently started rehabilitating 15 greenhouses with an area of more than 20,000sqm, in co-operation with the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture. This comes as part of QC’s continued efforts to support the agriculture sector and small farmers in Palestine.
Wheat for IDPs
Qatar Charity continues, for the second year in a row, to implement the ‘Support Wheat Value Chain in North West Syria’ project to contribute to meeting the wheat needs of people.
The project, which is the first of its kind in northern Syria, extends comprehensive support - from providing agricultural inputs to offering bread to the local community. The project has covered the needs of 200 families.
The project includes rehabilitating grain silos with a storage capacity of 12,000 tonnes of wheat, providing a new mill with a production capacity of 50 tonnes of flour per day, purchasing more than 1,000 tonnes of wheat, distributing subsidised bread, supporting farmers with basic inputs to grow wheat, and providing technical support to them through awareness sessions.
Aid for Rohingya
QC recently distributed more than 200,000kg of food items to nearly 9,000 Rohingya refugees in Bhasan Char, a remote Bay of
Bengal island in Noakhali district of Bangladesh.
Int’l partnerships
Qatar Charity has signed two new co-operation agreements this year with the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs to support the wheat value chain in northern Syria for the third year in a row during the 2021-2022 season. The $2mn agreements are expected to benefit 92,000 people.
Last year, QC signed a contribution agreement for $1.5mn with the UNRWA in support of the agency’s food assistance programme in Gaza during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The agreement includes the home delivery of food aid and medication.
“Qatar Charity seizes this opportunity to convey its sincere thanks and gratitude to all its partners like international organisations, donors, local companies and philanthropists in Qatar who have supported — and still support — the implementation of its continuous projects that contribute to achieving food security in crisis-stricken areas and poor communities,” the statement notes.
“Qatar Charity also calls on them to continue their generous support to achieve more qualitative accomplishments and make a difference in the lives of the target groups.”