It is projected that there will be a population of nearly 10 billion living in the world by 2050, which means about 3 billion more people need food than they were in 2010. It is a task that is harder than we realise!
It is estimated that demand for food will increase anywhere between 59 per cent and 98 per cent by this period. It means we need to increase the amount of agricultural land to grow more crops or enhance productivity on existing lands. It's true that the more people in the world, the more there will be pressure on agriculture to meet dietary needs. Millions of people are already living without enough food, and the magnitude of its impacts varies across different countries and groups.
At the same time, attempts to increase food production have been dented by issues like migration from rural to urban areas, shrinking arable land, deepening rural poverty, and the like.
So, is the food crisis going to be perpetual phenomenon? And what are the steps that the countries going to take to tackle it? How does our world ensure resilient food security?
We know the food crisis is not new to the world. This has happened in the last decades amid predictions that the world would not be able to keep up with them.
Many countries in the world have achieved outstanding progress in overcoming it, though not fully, due to challenges like climate change, geopolitical fissures, and economic shocks.
Despite the fact that food production is a bigger challenge for countries in the Gulf region due to limited arable land, lack of fresh water resources, and arid climatic conditions, they were able to contribute to food self-sufficiency to a greater extent.
They have implemented several initiatives to meet the domestic food demand. Once remained a dream, now green deserts are happening sooner than we expected in these countries thanks to innovative techniques.
For example, the Sultanate of Oman, which has historically been reliant on international markets for a major part of its food requirements, has made significant strides by deploying innovative technology solutions to increase its farm output.
Areas of priority for the Oman government are agriculture, fisheries, dairy, vegetables, and poultry. Currently, Oman imports around 40 per cent of its food, but there are already high self-sufficiency rates in products like eggs and white meat.
Since the spike in global food prices in 2007-2008, food security has been at the heart of Oman’s agricultural policy, which helped the country revolutionise its agricultural sector by deploying breakthrough techniques to increase food self-sufficiency.
Agricultural modernisation and rural farm development are key pillars of Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and Water Resources’ Sustainable Development 2040 Strategy.
Oman has plenty of space to expand or more the productive land area with no negative affect on nature. The focus is particularly on the development of areas in the Dhofar Governorate, where there is an abundance of land with adequate water and infrastructure.
Reports show that Oman’s agricultural sector witnessed substantial growth in 2023, with agricultural land expanding to 293,000 acres, up from 286,000 acres in 2022. The country has 5.5 million acres of land suitable for agricultural reclamation, representing 7.5 per cent of Oman’s total area.
The ability to grow sufficient cereal and grain crops domestically would be a game-changer for the Sultanate of Oman, helping alleviate some of its heavy reliance on imports.
As a result, the country is pushing for wheat cultivation, with the government allocating various land plots across the country to support domestic production that witnessed an increase from 2,000 tonnes in 2022 to over 10,000 tonnes last year.
After all, Oman wants to ensure that its citizens and residents have access to enough affordable, safe, and quality food on a consistent basis.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
