When the illegal siege of Qatar began on June 5 last year, one of the biggest fears was  how Qatar would manage its food security.

This was because the country used to import most of its poultry and milk products from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. With that gone, there were fears that there would be a shortage of food in the country.

But eight months since the start of the illegal siege, Qatar has become 98% self sufficient in poultry products, producing a total of 21,500 tonnes of chicken, reported Qatar Tribune.

“Around 23 new poultry projects have been licensed by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and 11 of them have already started production,” said Saleh Jarallah Al Marri, Head of Veterinary Services Section at the Animals Affairs Department at MME, during the ‘livestock festival’ at Al Mazrouah Yard.

He said self-sufficiency in frozen chicken will reach 100% by the end of this year and plans are afoot to increase self-sufficiency in meat products and eggs to satisfactory level within the next two years.
He said plans were afoot to make the country self sufficient in milk and its products as well.
“Four dairy farms are currently operating in the country and licences have been given to three new companies. Once all of them become operational, by the second quarter of this year, we can cover 100% requirements of local dairy products in the Qatari market,” he was quoted as saying by The Peninsula.

Earlier, Qatar had turned heads with its out of the box thinking when it decided to fly in 4,000 cows from around the world to make it self sufficient in milk products.

The project is ongoing and have been termed a success.