Food safety and agricultural growth in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is integrally linked to Abu Dhabi's vision for the future, said Mohamed Jalal Al Reyaysa, Director of Communication and Community Service at Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority.

Al Reyaysa was speaking at the sixth edition of the annual MEED Abu Dhabi Conference, which was held in partnership with the Department of Economic Development at the Beach Rotana, Abu Dhabi.

"We derive our inspiration and strategy from Abu Dhabi's Vision 2030. Our strategy envisages sea changes in every aspect of the food chain from farm to fork. The farm to fork monitoring, enforcement and legislative system of ADFCA has created a congenial business environment.  Opportunities for investment in food and agro-industries increase day by day," he pointed out.

New technologies in agriculture and up to date knowledge and expertise in farming practices and crops suitable for arid desert environment, sustainable use of water in farming and new methods for livestock management are all areas that promise good investment opportunities. Given the demographic composition of Abu Dhabi, in which many different cultures coexist, outlets for various types of cuisines are another area of opportunity," Al Reyaysa said.

"All the latest measures like Global Gap, HACCP and Risk-based systems in place to ensure no unsafe food products enter the Abu Dhabi markets. Our monitoring systems are based on risk analysis and preventive care and as such we believe in preventing potential hazards rather than waiting for them to happen and then taking action. Since the various rapid alert systems cover all food stuff, we make sure food safety threats information always precedes   actual risks," he explained.

Delving deeper into farming reforms in the emirate, Al Reyaysa said: "We are actively involved in implementing Global GAP, a model of the best global agriculture practices in the farms in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. We have embarked on a full scale project for farming reforms in order to achieve our strategic objectives for the farming sector. Our main objectives for the agriculture sector are sustainability, a fair income for the farmers, conservation of natural resources like water and increase in the market share of local produce," he added.