India-UAE cooperation to sow regional food security

Source– The post is based on the article “India-UAE cooperation to sow regional food security” published in “The Hindu” on 20th April 2023.

Syllabus: GS2- Bilateral groupings and agreements

Relevance: India and UAE relationship

News- The article explains the cooperation in areas of food security between India and UAE.

What is the importance of India from the perspective on food security?

India is a global Agri export powerhouse with a large and growing food production and processing sector.

India has, in recent years, acted as a humanitarian provider of food to developing countries. It has demonstrated its evolving role in advancing regional and global food security.

India has also made major budgetary outlays towards setting up massive food parks, with due emphasis on modern supply chain management.

India Public Distribution System is the world’s largest food subsidy programme. It provides nearly 800 million citizens with subsidized grains. India’s POSHAN Abhiyaan is the world’s largest nutrition programme for children and women.

As a part of its G­20 presidency, India is promoting the consumption and farming of millets — nutritious, drought resistant, sustainable, crops. It demonstrates the resilience focus that India offers to the global food security dialogue.

India’s G­20 presidency seeks to address the three Cs of “Covid, Conflict, and Climate” issues. These are important for food security in India and across the globe.

What are the areas of cooperation between India and UAE in the food sector?

India has vast food sector experience and the ability to operationalize the world’s largest food supply chains. It will strengthen the India­-UAE food security partnership in a variety of ways.

During the India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States summit last year, the UAE committed $2 billion in investment towards constructing food parks in India.

There was signing of a food security corridor on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement sidelines. It has taken forward India’s presence on the global food value chain, beyond the UAE.

The corridor could commence a route for foods made and processed in India. These products will begin their journey on the Indian coast of the Arabian Sea, passing through the UAE, and towards major international markets.

The corridor will emerge as a world class template of successful Agri trade for India. It will unlock greater productivity, efficiency and growth for its millions of workers and employees.

For the UAE, the benefits go beyond maintaining and diversifying its food reserves. Trade linkages could enable the UAE to leverage its strategic location between Asia and Europe to serve as India’s food export gateway to West Asia and the Africa region.

The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre launched Agriota, an Agri trading and commodity platform to link Indian farmers to food companies in the UAE. It gives millions of Indian farmers the opportunity to directly reach out to the entirety of the UAE’s food ecosystem.

A consortium of UAE ­based entities are investing up to $7 billion in mega food parks, contract farming and the sourcing of agro commodities in India.

Those projects will generate lakhs of non farm agri jobs. It will enable farmers to discover better prices for their products. Bolstered by the UAE’s infrastructural capabilities, India’s agricultural products will have more resilient and diversified place in global marketplace.