AAAID to Cover Arab Countries Food Gap

Sudan Events – Nahed Oshi

The Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) proposed an initiative to cover the deficit in basic food commodities in the Arab countries, where the investments required to achieve it were estimated at about 156 billion US dollars. The initiative was based on an investment vision that brings together all stakeholders from official bodies, the private sector, groups of small-scale farmers, regional and international financial institutions,
Mohammed Bin Obaid Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development, explained that the issue of sustainable agricultural development remains a basic requirement for achieving food security in the Arab world, which is considered a focus of interest for all Arab countries, due to its economic, social and security implications, as well as to enhance sustainable agricultural development efforts, achieve Arab agricultural economic integration, and create A stimulating climate for agricultural investment, the ability to acquire agricultural technology, and control the factors determining trade exchange to develop Arab agricultural exports. He said that the AAAID sensed the challenges that have emerged in the global arena and which have affected the increase in the size of the deficit in food commodities,
He underlined that the AAAID, based on its mission to provide the food needs of Arab countries through investment and development of agricultural resources, has established a group of agricultural production and food processing companies, numbering about 54 companies, whose assets are estimated at about 5 billion dollars. These companies contribute to providing estimated quantities of basic commodities such as grains, sugar, oils, red and white meat, dairy, and fodder. These companies also provide more than 127 thousand job opportunities, and the AAAID has developed a unique program to finance the small-scale farmers sector in the Arab countries, which has contributed to the dissemination and localization of modern agricultural technologies and doubled the productivity of small-scale farmers by more than 150%.