Horticulture
AN ECO-SYSTEM APPROACH FOR FOOD PRODUCTION
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orldwide, there is an increasing demand for selfsufficiency in the production of high-quality, healthy, fresh, and affordable food. Governments worldwide, and specifically in the Gulf region have launched initiatives to focus on ensuring food security through various means, and are doing great efforts to become more selfsufficient. Partly because of the sustainable development goals and high levels of food waste. Holistic solutions from the Netherlands for producing food locally in a region with challenging climate conditions, involving water-energy-food simultaneously, can be of great
30 Gulf Agriculture | www.gulfagriculture.com
use for further ensuring food security in countries worldwide. We in the Netherlands learned how to deal with extreme weather conditions, as well. As we are partially located below sea level, we had to learn how to master the threat of water and actually make use of it. The Netherlands has a 150-year history in breeding, producing, and selling food by working closely together with others and for others. This resulted in a pioneers position in developing innovative solutions for smart agriculture techniques that ensure that crops can be grown year-round in a sustainable way. We’d like to combine our horticultural knowledge and
experience with the specific challenges in your countries in a long-term partnership. Knowledge exchange on sustainable food production is not only regional but of global importance to reduce the environmental impact caused by food production. Together, we have everything in place to achieve your foodsufficiency goals. Key message 1: How the Dutch do it? It requires a whole new ecosystem to substantially increase the supply of safe, nutritious and tasty food and reduce the loss of food. We established an ecosystem with an integrated approach. Important parts of the
January-February 2022
