Qatar is doing everything in its power to achieve food security, says top minister

Ever since the start of the illegal blockade more than a year ago, Qatar has been striving hard to achieve self-sufficiency in food production.

While the country opened new shipping routes to bring in food from other nations, the focus has been on improving its own production in recent years.

Qatar’s Minister of Municipality and Environment HE Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi said the country was harnessing all its energies to work towards achieving food security.

He said Qatar’s leadership was keen to develop its natural resources, especially agriculture, in order to achieve self-sufficiency, reported Gulf Times.

He was speaking during a function to commemorate World Food Day, which is being celebrated this year under the theme ‘Zero Hunger.’ World Food Day is celebrated the world over on October 16, today.

The Minister said Qatar’s celebration of the day confirmed the importance the nation placed on food and in providing it to everyone living in the country.

He said the theme ‘Zero Hunger’ was chosen to raise the public’s awareness about the issue of hunger and to highlight the suffering of hungry people around the world.

He said that there needed to be measures taken to combat hunger and that Qatar would do its part, reported The Peninsula.

At the national level, Al Rumaihi noted that MME had an important responsibility for food security and natural resource development.

“The Ministry has adopted plans and strategies based on increasing the production of agricultural commodities in the country such as vegetables, red meat, poultry, eggs and fish,” the Minister said.

He said agriculture, dairy and meat production sectors were able to increase their output and raise self-sufficiency in all these fields.

The MME will organise a programme to promote ‘Zero Hunger’ at the Ezdan Mall in Al Gharafa, which will run from today until Thursday.

The Ministry of Public Health, Qatar Red Crescent and a number of local farms and animal production companies will take part in the show.

World Food Day, which falls on October 16, marks the anniversary of the creation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945.