​Given its role in preparing plans, programs and activities related to agriculture, food safety and food security, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) announced it will organize two major global events in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi by the end of this year. They will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of ADAFSA, and in a strategic partnership with the authority. The two events aim to strengthen the national and regional food security system by seeking more sustainable solutions to improve food production efficiency, enabling the local product as one of the most important pillars of the national food security, and providing the local food sector with more opportunities.

The first edition of EuroTier Middle East, the world's leading trade fair for animal production, will be organized on 2-4 September 2019. It is an ideal platform for agricultural businesses and livestock breeders to enter a growing livestock market and take advantage of the opportunity to help shape a promising future of animal production in this region, as there are 265 million head of cattle in MENA region according to FAO's statistics.

The fair, which will be held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC), enables animal husbandry professionals to access to advanced technological know-how and developments in international agricultural markets, and to find the best global breeds and the latest technologies in livestock production. Moreover, participants will benefit from the live shows to be presented by international experts and specialists in livestock management. In addition to learning about the entire range of inputs, products and global services in this field, the fair gives the participants an opportunity to engage in auctions for the best sheep breeds worldwide.

Abu Dhabi is also set to host the 10th edition of SIAL Middle East 2019, the fastest-growing food, beverage and hospitality event in the MENA region, and the 5th edition of Abu Dhabi International Date Palm Exhibition, Which is being organized by ADNEC on 9-11 December 2019, at ADNEC. Over 25,000 visitors and experts interesting in this industry as well as more than 1,000 exhibitors are expected to participate in the exhibition. They will organize several activities and events to address the most important food production issues, to meet the region needs of foods in light of the rapid economic and population growth, improve the national food industries, and promote the sustainable food production concept.

Furthermore, Abu Dhabi will host the Global Meeting of the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN), which aims to exchange information on the best practices and standards in food safety. In addition, the emirate will host "Agriscape", the international exhibition dedicated to agricultural investments abroad, and Skift Restaurants Forum, an event devoted to study consumers' trends and behaviors to choose their favorite brands in the field of restaurants and hospitality services providers. Skift also highlights consumer-brand relationship and the role of technology, innovation, design and workforce in strengthening it, to enable brand owners to improve services they offer to customers.

Those events are organized at a time when MENA region is facing major challenges to food security due to climate change, water scarcity, limited arable land and rapid population growth. They aim to diversify sources of food supply in the region, find more sustainable solutions for livestock development as one of the most important food sources, and adopt innovation and advanced technology to the agriculture and food sectors. The events offer real opportunities in the animal and food production sector, and encourage the major players in those sectors to make more investments and improve the production efficiency, thereby reducing the gap between supply and demand and overcoming a considerable part of food insecurity problems in some countries in the Middle East.