FRESH POINTE
ABSTRACT In recent years, due to Covid19 and military conflicts, the world has faced unforeseeable market conditions. Where global trade plummeted, and prices of goods significantly increased. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the overall consumer price index of food prices is 10.1% higher than in May 2021. Leading to growing concern about food security; nations are either incapable of producing enough food to feed their people or are vulnerable because of global external factors that affect the food supply. As a result, any economic or environmental risk at this point can jeopardize the availability and affordability of food. Like the UAE, despite recent efforts to convert 7,237 square kilometers of desert into farmable land, agriculture accounts for only 3% of the UAE’s GDP. Since the 1900s, the UAE but more specifically Dubai gained its reputation as a trading hub; immigrants would choose Dubai as their home due to its affordability and strategic location along the trade route. Farmlands at the time were mainly palm trees since they could survive with little to no water. They would visit Dubai creek, where Indian and Persian merchants sold fruits close to the trading ships for easier accessibility. In doing so, the community unintentionally created dynamic markets for commerce and chatter between different backgrounds. Today, Dubai has welcomed over 200 nationalities, and the population is forever growing. The creek is still present, and the people are still here, however the interaction between consumer and seller has diluted into big chain supermarket-dominance. Once a vital aspect of a Dubaian lifestyle, a marketplace where people gather, strengthen social ties, and commerce has been wiped to nonexistence. This research aims to explore the UAE’s response to food security, analyze the significance of marketplaces and their symbolic importance in societies, and examine the connection between rural-urban linkage. In times of modernity and globalization, it will assess the need for a market space for cultural preservation and food security.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, due to Covid19 and military conflicts, the world has faced unforeseeable market conditions. Where global trade plummeted, and prices of goods significantly increased. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the overall consumer price index of food prices is 10.1% higher than in May 2021. Leading to growing concern about food security; nations are either incapable of producing enough food to feed their people or are vulnerable because of global external factors that affect the food supply. As a result, any economic or environmental risk at this point can jeopardize the availability and affordability of food. Like the UAE, despite recent efforts to convert 7,237 square kilometers of desert into farmable land, agriculture accounts for only 3% of the UAE’s GDP. Since the 1900s, the UAE but more specifically Dubai gained its reputation as a trading hub; immigrants would choose Dubai as their home due to its affordability and strategic location along the trade route. Farmlands at the time were mainly palm trees since they could survive with little to no water. They would visit Dubai creek, where Indian and Persian merchants sold fruits close to the trading ships for easier accessibility. In doing so, the community unintentionally created dynamic markets for commerce and chatter between different backgrounds. Today, Dubai has welcomed over 200 nationalities, and the population is forever growing. The creek is still present, and the people are still here, however the interaction between consumer and seller has diluted into big chain supermarket-dominance. Once a vital aspect of a Dubaian lifestyle, a marketplace where people gather, strengthen social ties, and commerce has been wiped to nonexistence. This research aims to explore the UAE’s response to food security, analyze the significance of marketplaces and their symbolic importance in societies, and examine the connection between rural-urban linkage. In times of modernity and globalization, it will assess the need for a market space for cultural preservation and food security.
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Figure 1: The growth of UAE green tech
The UAE’s agricultural policy outlines the nation’s persistence
to grow crops despite severe weather conditions,
shortages of water, and a limited supply of farmland.
The authority, particularly the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,
handles 85% of the UAE’s soil and proceeds to provide
free cropland to its citizens. As a component of the federal
decision to encourage the agriculture sector, the
government will continue to aid farmers by paying 50%
of the expenses of farming supplements such as fertilizers,
pesticides, and seeds in good condition. Furthermore, artificially
cooled greenhouses have also been utilized successfully
in some agricultural regions of the UAE. Furthermore,
the government has established platforms for local
farmers to deliver their crops to these locations so they
can be marketed at the highest price possible through
government-owned distribution facilities (Al Qaydi 156).
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Figure 2: UAE greenhouses grow crops without soil
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Policymakers have emphasized out-ofthe-box
techniques such as aquaponics,
aeroponics, hydroponics, shipping
container farms, and last but not least
greenhouse farms. This shift led to hydroponic
farms’ growth from 50 in 2009 to
over 1,000 today (Research and Markets).
Lately, the idea of “arability” is expanding
due to the emergence of cost-effective
solutions like sand technology. This innovation
and its affiliated solutions, with their ability
to retain water for extended periods and
simultaneously allow free air passage, have
enabled high yields in desert farming. The
Breathable Sand has unique water retention
properties, combined with air permeability,
which can massively empower the sustainability
and ease of landscaping, in residential
and commercial projects within the UAE.
It has proven to reduce irrigation requirements
by nearly 80 percent compared to
conventional agriculture and enables high
agricultural creation across various crops.
To study such methods, it’s essential to understand
the history of agricultural land
in the UAE and what initiatives are considered
to better the production and farming
of produce in the most sustainable way.
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