Global food shortages have placed the Middle East and North Africa in a quandary, as they are forced to choose between growing more crops to feed an expanding population or preserving their already scant supply of water.
Chinese and Mozambican governments want to make the Zambezi Valley region of Mozambique a centre for rice production for the Chinese market, which is faced with increased consumption and less and less arable land, says researcher Loro Horta, a specialist in relations between China and Portuguese-speaking African countries.
Sources say that UAE businessmen are considering buying large land holdings and importing food items from Pakistan at 20-25 percent less cost.
One issue reportedly delaying UAE investment in Pakistan is the Gulf state appearing to want “blanket exemption” from Islamabad’s agricultural export policies.
As part of a national food plan, the country is particularly considering investment in chicken farms.
A Kuwaiti cooperative union said yesterday the Gulf Arab state was interested in investing in farmland abroad to help secure food supplies, but would focus on local farms for now and a possible subsidies expansion.
The United Arab Emirates is seeking to invest in agricultural projects in Kazakhstan as part of its efforts to secure food supplies.
President of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed, has said that in order to secure food supply for the country, the government wants to invest in farmland in Kazakhstan
Jordan's Agriculture Ministry will soon appoint a private sector company to manage its substantial investment in farmland in Sudan.
Emerging nations are trying to cash in on the global food crisis by getting big importers of crops to effectively lease their farmlands -- a new trend that is already sparking complaints from farmers in some countries who are concerned about their own food supplies.
There is growing interest in agricultural land, which Bramdean Asset Management is looking at and believes has huge potential
The UAE is actively looking at acquiring farmland in Vietnam, Cambodia, Africa and South America in an effort to ensure the availability of food stocks, according to the UAE Minister of Economy.
