Bearing Fruit

According to bq magazine, in December 2013, state-owned Qatar Development Bank (QDB) launched a soft loan scheme for people in the farming sector and those in poultry, fish and livestock breeding businesses. The idea was to encourage the private sector to increasingly participate in food production to ensure food security for the country over the medium to long-term. The government also has a scheme to distribute land for farming.

Rightly, therefore, Qatar’s food security programme largely focuses on the private sector’s involvement, for, without their active participation and support no economic pursuit can succeed. We know rather too well that as part of this programme, through Hassad Food Company, huge swathes of land have been bought for agricultural production in countries like Sudan and Australia, among others.

By the middle of 2011, media reports began trickling in suggesting that a study was conducted which identified a multi-billion dollar Agricultural City Project for possible launch by the private sector. Not only could it make Qatar self-reliant in food, but, eventually, it would add Qatar to the list of food exporting countries. The proposed city’s proponents at Qatar Chamber, representative body of the private sector, claim the project, if launched, would make Qatar a regional agricultural hub.

But exactly how, no one knows. Officials at the Chamber are not even willing to say when the project idea was mooted and when the proposal was submitted to the government for approval after studies. However, from the tone and tenor of those involved with the project it is clear there is disappointment in the business community over a lack of response from the government. But nobody will admit this for fear of offending government officials.

The brain behind the project, Mohamed Ahmed Al Obaidly, tells bq magazine in an interview that he cannot discuss details unless it is approved by the government. “It is still an idea so we can share details only after its official approval,” he says of his favourite project. He is the main man behind the project by dint of being the head of the Chamber’s Agricultural and Environment Committee.

For Qatari planners it should be a disturbing realisation that many of the estimated 1,400 farms in the country are lying defunct, with the country continuing to rely on imports for at least 90 percent of its food needs. Al Obaidly adds: “This is in addition to more than 3,000 enclosures (animal camps usually located in remote areas and near beaches). While those enclosures cost the country, their sole purpose is to entertain their owners. The proposed project combines entertainment with production, thus, contributes to the economy.”

For more on this story visit bq magazine’s website