Panellists at a session during the conference.
Doha: Global Counsel, a leading strategic advisory firm in Doha, hosted its inaugural policy conference under the title ‘The Role of Food Technology in Food Security’ yesterday at the Park Hyatt, Msheireb.
The conference gathered high-level panellists and prominent professionals from Qatar’s food and agricultural sectors to discuss issues in the global food supply chain, water scarcity and its impact on Middle East and North Africa (Mena), and pathways to achieving food security in the region.
The panel featured Hamad Hadi Al Hajri, Deputy Director of the Food Security Department at the Ministry of Municipality; Wafaa AlSaffar, Environment, Social and Governance Director at Baladna Food Industries; Bjoern Witte, the CEO of impact investment firm Blue Horizon Group; Jamie Burrows, Founder and CEO of vertical farming technology and R&D company, Vertical Future. The panel was moderated by Ahmed Helal, Director of Global Counsel’s MENA practice.
Commenting on Qatar’s vision for food security, Hamad Hadi Al Hajri said: “The national food security strategy aims to improve Qatar’s self-sufficiency rates across a range of key food categories by utilising the advanced technologies, suitable to our unique climate in Qatar and the GCC, to improve our agricultural practices. These have allowed our food system to become more sustainable and adaptive to climate change risks in addition to becoming more resilient to external shocks, helping us reduce import dependency and preserve natural resources like water reserves and soil quality.”
The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is both the most water-scarce in the world and also one of the most dependent on food imports. The ongoing global food crisis can be felt acutely in the region, owing to disruptions to the supply of key food staples and soaring food prices.
Speakers discussed the role that technology can play in addressing the causes of food insecurity in the Mena region.
