The UAE can ramp up its annual food production capacity three-fold to meet emergencies and crises, the Emirates Food Security Council said on Thursday.

There are currently 568 factories in the UAE producing 5.96 million tonnes of Food and Beverage (F&B) products annually, with 2.3 million tonnes comprising essential food items, the council said in a joint announcement with the Ministry of Energy and Industry.

Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy & Industry, said the food and beverage manufacturing sector is key for achieving food security and self-sufficiency in basic commodities.

He said the sector is the third largest in the UAE in terms of the number of companies, accounting for 30 percent of total investments and 10 percent of total employment in the UAE industrial sector.

Dubai, with 315 factories, accounts for the bulk of the F&B manufacturing units in the UAE, followed by Sharjah (77), Ajman (72), Abu Dhabi (40), Umm Al Quwain (34), Ras Al Khaimah (23) and Fujairah (7), representing an aggregated maximum production capacity of more than 16.3 million tonnes annually, the Council’s statement said.

It said the annual production capacity for key products include 633,000 tonnes of dairy products (milk, cheese, cream and butter); 400,000 tonnes of legumes; 331,000 tonnes of cooking oil; more than 140,000 tonnes of dates, and dates products; 108,000 tonnes of poultry and 63,000 tonnes of fish.

The UAE also produces sugar, tea, pepper, eggs, baby food, wheat, rice, coffee and fresh meat, the statement concluded.

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, said the National Food Security Strategy has set a target of improving domestic yield by 30 percent using technology-enabled production methods and increase production of select essential food items by 15 percent by 2021.

“These targets are being achieved through full cooperation with our partners in both the government and private sectors, with our strategic partnerships, resulting in further investments in the UAE’s food sector and an increase in the number of food projects in the country,” she said.

In April, Zawya had reported that the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) is pumping a total of $100 million across four agriculture technology (AgTech) companies to develop next-generation agriculture products, services or applications in Abu Dhabi.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; editing by Seban Scaria)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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