UAE bets on agtech to meet food security targets ahead of COP28

Al-Monitor Pro Members

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst, Al-Monitor

April 12, 2023

The UAE’s push to eat local is growing and should flourish in COP28’s spotlight. Per new targets outlined in March 2023, the Gulf country wants government bodies to source 50% of certain food products from local farms by the end of the year, and increase those purchases going forward. This further signals the UAE — a country roughly 90% dependent on food imports — is serious about boosting consumption of homegrown products to help strengthen food security. Recent global supply chain disruptions only further demonstrated regional vulnerabilities, which is seeing the UAE focusing on improving domestic agricultural output. That’s underpinned by the adoption of a variety of tech-enabled farming methods, which now need to ramp up further to support government targets.