UAE looks into alternative food options
DELEGATION VISITS AUSTRALIA TO STUDY LATEST AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
As the UAE continues its efforts to ensure food security for its future generations, looking into various alternative food options as well as sustainable agricultural practices, a UAE delegation led by Mariam Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Food Security, visited Australia exploring the country’s food landscape.
Al Muhairi was accompanied by Dr Obaid Al Katbi, UAE Ambassador to Australia, and representatives of the Food Security Centre, Abu Dhabi, as the team visited several innovative food production facilities in Queensland and New South Wales.
The delegation visited the Queensland Parliament, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission to get more insights on Australia’s food landscape.
The team also visited the University of Technology, Sydney, where Al Muhairi discussed the UAE’s research agenda regarding alternative food and applications to bring algae to the forefront of food applications, with the blooms used for human, animal and fish nutrition, as well as cosmetics and biofuel.
The delegation reviewed how algae can provide threefold more protein yield than beef using virtually no land or freshwater.
At the Queensland University of Technology, the UAE delegation looked into the applied research on utilising robotics in harvesting and reviewing how to minimise food loss.
Al Muhairi said the team was able to draw some incredible insights that will help shape the finalising of the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy, which will be released in September setting out long-term policies for future food security in the UAE.