Qatar TV has featured the Sahara Forest Project in a documentary on food security in Qatar. CEO Joakim Hauge was interviewed in Doha prior to Qatar TV’s visit to the Sahara Forest Project pilot facility in Mesaieed Industrial City.
Qatar TV has featured the Sahara Forest Project as one of the agricultural initiatives in Qatar. The Sahara Forest Project has developed quickly from concept to reality and now offers solutions to Qatar’s food security challenges.
Qatar TV met with the management and experts of the Sahara Forest Project and its partners Yara and Qafco at a visit to the Sahara Forest Project pilot facility in Qatar.
The episode is called “Blooming Desert” and is part of the program “Qatar Inside”. Qatar TV is the state-run domestic broadcaster.
Cutting edge technologies
Qatar is trying to reduce its reliance on food imports.
“The State of Qatar faces limited land and water resources, restraining its agricultural growth. Qatar is addressing these concerns by aiming to establish a model that utilizes cutting edge technologies to realize a sustainable approach to Food Security for dry land countries. Given the demographic growth of Qatar, current levels of domestic agricultural output satisfy no more than ten percent of total national food consumption needs. The food supply deficit is met by a substantial volume of imports”, states Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNSF). QNSF was established in 2008 to develop a sustainable Food Security policy for Qatar by increasing and enhancing domestic agricultural production, and strengthening the reliability of food imports.
In December 2012 HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani opened the Sahara Forest Project pilot facility in Qatar. The pilot demonstrates that environmental technologies and the synergies between them enable restorative growth in desert areas. The operational facility creates enormous interest from both scientific and business communities, politicians and media.
