Qatar goes farming
Last week I had the opportunity to visit AgriteQ, an International Agriculture Exhibition, at the Doha Exhibition and Conference Centre. Held in Doha each year, it brings together agricultural specialists from around the world to share expertise, showcase innovation in farming and do business in Qatar, which has a rapidly expanding food production sector, as it seeks to become much more self sustainable and food secure. Since the blockade by Qatar's neighbours, which started some 10 months ago, this nation found itself cut off from the mainland when Saudi Arabia closed the only land border and the UAE prevented the shipping of goods via Dubai. These measures and others have given Qatar a real challenge to continue to meet the needs of its 2.5 million population. However, the country's rulers moved quickly to secure assistance from its allies whilst it immediately began fast tracking its plan to become self sustainable, particularly in the areas of dairy, poul