Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) announced that the platform, which was launched in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Government Services Platform "TAMM" to serve livestock breeders, has achieved sales of approximately 294.2 million tonnes of fodder with a total value of approximately 477.5 million dirhams. In particular, 412.6 million dirhams were transacted through the electronic wallet provided for the beneficiaries of the fodder programme, while 64.9 million dirhams were transacted through credit card payments by livestock breeders.

From its launch on 20 June to 11 October, the platform received more than 771,546 visitors and issued around 168.2 thousand completed purchase invoices to beneficiaries. In addition, around 209 thousand invoices have been uploaded to the platform.

The fodder market platform is supported by HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President of the UAE, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Presidential Court and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), as part of His Highness' keenness to support livestock breeders nationwide, facilitate their access to high-quality animal feed at competitive prices while ensuring safe and sustainable solutions for local fodder companies to access markets.

Distinguishing itself as a pioneer in the Middle East, this platform, both online and physical, stands as the largest in trade volume and value annually. It offers livestock owners nationwide access to high-quality products from reliable suppliers, saves breeders time and effort by protecting them from unverified fodder sources and unregulated street vendors in addition to promoting diversity and a broad range of grass and compound feed through registered companies on the platform or located in the actual market.

With the capacity to serve around 40,000 breeders across the UAE and more than 5 million livestock, the Fodder Market not only meets the demand for feed, but also provides safe and sustainable solutions for local feed companies to access markets. The UAE's feed trade volume is approximately 3 million tonnes and the platform, along with its physical markets, is poised to drive growth in the feed trade and promote fair competition among suppliers.

The platform is linked to a group of existing regular markets located near livestock farms (Ezbah). In addition, there are already 16 markets in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, including 112 outlets allocated to 30 companies for the sale and marketing of animal feed. More of these markets will be established with the inclusion of more companies specialising in the sale and marketing of feed.

As part of its commitment to promoting sustainable food production, ADAFSA aims to leverage resources, skills and initiatives that regulate the fodder trade in the country. The Fodder Market initiative is an important step towards achieving this goal by integrating physical markets and electronic trading. It aims to encourage breeders to adopt best practices, ensure livestock sustainability and development, enhance the role of livestock production in local consumption, improve market competitiveness and strengthen the biosecurity system.