Free space

Green economy ... between food and tourism

Faisal Muhammad Al-Shamri

19 September 2020

Agriculture is one of the oldest professions that have developed with human civilization, from total dependence on chance and nature without human intervention coupled with the best wishes and prayers, for the agricultural season to be fruitful and fertile to enhance the prosperity of society, passing through the development of irrigation methods and water channels to the use of advanced agricultural technologies and the applications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. , Robotics, vertical farming, and the "Internet of Things."

Empowering agriculture and supporting farms varies from facilitating the provision of agricultural materials and seeds to providing the necessary licenses and craftsmanship, training and agricultural extension, which are enablers provided by federal and local institutions with the variation and diversity of the UAE agricultural sector, and with a distinguished position that has restored its luster and strengthened food security indicators in light of sovereign directives from Leadership.

The competitiveness of this sector requires looking at unconventional methods of support by providing indirect support and diversifying sources of income. Instead of creating personal breaks for personal use, the availability of renting these facilities comes as a means of collecting additional income, which strengthens the position of agricultural enterprises and maximizes farm resources by allowing the sale of crops Agricultural, and unconventional recreation in the Emirati countryside, similar to what is happening in several countries in Europe, America, Asia, and even the rest of the Gulf countries.

The development and introduction of a license for agrotourism is related to the classification of farms organically, or in the application of best agricultural practices such as "Global Gap", as well as linking them to sustainable environmental practices, and the ceiling of the least expected production;

An important requirement for achieving qualitative leaps in food security indicators and health practices, as a result of raising economic feasibility, diversifying sources of income, and creating these complementary activities.

The "blue lake" in the State of Kuwait is considered a successful educational agricultural model that reflects the achievement of the goals of agricultural tourism, and the maximization of benefits to society and farms, and even government institutions, as a result of these successful practices. We will write about that experience and other experiences that established the green economy, sustainability and food security, and others. From the economic and educational aspects in a later article, God willing.

Achieving the flexibility that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has directed, in order to achieve our goals, consolidate our national gains, and address the food security challenges of the post-"Covid-19" phase;

It requires innovation and adopting the best international practices developed in the licenses of our economic activities. Agricultural tourism is a well-known chapter, but it does not exist as a license to us.

Let us develop our green economy and integrate our food security and rural tourism.

A non-resident internal administrative advisor 

at the Emirates Center for Government Knowledge and Consulting at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government

To read the previous articles of the writer please click on its name .