AOAD

The UAE controls more than 2,800 square kilometers [280,000 ha] in farms in Sudan -- more than triple the area of Bahrain -- as a result of its decision to invest in agricultural projects in fertile Arab nations to slash its soaring food import bill

Arab nations are considering launching an ambitious strategy involving investment of nearly $65 billion in the next 20 years to expand their farming sector and ensure food for their fast-growing population.

Study says creation of a farm fund is crucial for the success of Arab agricultural projects aimed at achieving self-sufficiency since most fertile countries in the region lack sufficient investments.

Saudi Arabian Agriculture Minister Fahd Bin Abdul-rahman Bin Sulaiman Balghunaim said at the summit that Saudi Arabia was planning to invest in Algeria's agriculture, like Egypt and Sudan.

Tareq al- Zadjali, director general of the Arab Organization for Agriculture Development, wants to see more Arabs investing in agriculture within the Arab worlds’ borders rather than buying farms abroad in Asia and Africa.

Members of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development , undeterred by low world wheat prices, plan a fresh wave of deals to lease farmland abroad,

Most wealthy Arab nations are still "reluctant" to invest heavily in farming projects in fertile member states for political and security reasons, says AOAD, a key Arab League organisation.

In a new study, the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development says that Gulf States' projects to grow food abroad are not large enough to slash the Arab farm import bill.

AOAD Director-General Salim Allowzi said the private sector in the Arab World needs to step up investment in farming projects to cut the massive import bill, ensure enough farm products for the region and bolster food security.

Arab leaders called for launching an emergency Arab food and water security program, as per the draft resolution of the Arab Economic Summit, Kuna reported.

Gulf oil producers need to set up agricultural projects in fertile Arab countries to achieve self-sufficiency and to bridge a massive farm deficit that exceeded $12 billion (Dh44bn) in 2006, a Gulf group said yesterday.