00:23İzlediğiniz için teşekkür ederim.
00:30But in a country that has more sand than soil, forging food security isn't so straightforward.
00:35So what does it take to grow resilience closer to home?
00:39I'm Laila Humayra and this is Qatar In Motion.
00:48Did you know that a decade ago, a carton of frozen vegetables like eggplants or lettuce
00:54would have travelled thousands of kilometres before reaching supermarket shelves in Qatar?
01:00Meanwhile, bottles of cranberry juice would have had to be imported from GCC neighbours
01:05like the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
01:09Fast forward to today, Qatar is nearly completely self-sufficient,
01:14producing almost all of the vegetables and dairy it consumes,
01:18and even exports the agricultural surplus.
01:21The numbers show great success and prove that large-scale food production is possible here.
01:28But how?
01:31I'm about an hour's drive north of Doha in the middle of a desert,
01:36an unlikely place for fruits and vegetables to grow.
01:39Yet all around me, coriander, cucumber and eggplant grow all year round.
01:45So I'm here to see for myself how this farm defies nature,
01:50producing a steady harvest despite a harsh climate,
01:54and to see how it manages to supply up to 90% of Qatar's fresh produce.
02:00This is Nasser Al-Khalaf.
02:03In 2011, he started running the country's only hydroponics organic farm on 12 hectares of land.
02:11Today, that land has more than doubled,
02:14and Agri-Co has become Qatar's leading agricultural company.
02:19Right here we have the cherry tomato,
02:22and we start plantation in August, every August for the cherry tomato.
02:27So this is the hydroponic system.
02:29We have the grow bags.
02:32The grow bags has coconut fibre.
02:34So the coconut fibre is actually, it replaces the soil for us.
02:38So instead of soil, we use a natural product like a coconut fibre.
02:43So it has coconut chips and the cocoa peat.
02:45There is no add value of the coconut fibre itself,
02:49other than preserving the water and releasing the water slowly,
02:54instead of the natural soil actually release the water much faster than the coconut fibre.
02:59Other than hydroponics and vertical farming,
03:03Agri-Co also uses aquaponics as a farming method,
03:06which it's able to do by cultivating its own fish and aquaculture.
03:11Nasir's family has been in the food trading industry for more than 70 years,
03:17and it's from this experience that came the foresight to establish the company.
03:21We knew back then that we were below the red line in terms of food security,
03:26especially with fruits and vegetables.
03:28Everything in Qatar is actually against agriculture.
03:31So we had to adapt and we had to create the right temperature,
03:35the right humidity, the right amount of water, quality of water,
03:39the right supply chain, the right material.
03:41We had to source all the material individually
03:44and to make sure that we are using the best material.
03:49As industries align with Qatar National Vision 2030,
03:52the road to being self-sustaining is increasingly paved with a commitment to sustainability.
03:58So farmers growing food where nature says no
04:01are now asking how they can do so while using less resources.
04:06Leading the way is Agri-Co,
04:08making the farm green in more ways than one.
04:11All the waste in Agri-Co, from organic waste,
04:15even the excess water usage,
04:18the water is being recycled three times
04:20to make sure that we are taking the optimum consumption of the water.
04:25We are producing around 120 ton every week of organic waste.
04:29All of this is being treated and being composted,
04:33which will again go back to different farms,
04:36even in Agri-Co,
04:37and to landscape companies
04:39to produce new plants,
04:41to produce new vegetables
04:42and those vegetables go back to the market.
04:45This circularity, Nasir believes,
04:48is not only good for the environment
04:49but also the business strategy.
04:52In recent years,
04:53strong yields have enabled Agri-Co
04:55to export its agricultural surplus
04:57to neighbouring countries.
05:00Revenue growth has allowed the company
05:02to expand its operations
05:04and explore new technology,
05:06such as using LED lights for horticulture,
05:09which will further help reach Qatar's food security goals.
05:13Food security is divided into two sections.
05:17So one part is local production,
05:19but the other part is logistics,
05:23distribution, manufacturing,
05:25and supply chain.
05:26So the logistics and supply chain
05:30and distribution,
05:31we have to focus on things
05:32that we should not grow locally.
05:34Things like grains, rice, sugar,
05:40oil products and things like that.
05:41No, this we should not focus on growing it locally.
05:45We have to have a proper facility
05:46to import, manufacture,
05:48and downstream from there.
05:51The other part,
05:52which is I think the most difficult part,
05:53is local production.
05:54from farming,
05:56vegetable,
05:57poultry,
05:58red meat,
05:59kettles,
06:00livestock,
06:01aquaculture,
06:02all these kind of things,
06:03it has to be produced locally.
06:06It can be produced
06:07because
06:07it's a short shelf life product.
06:11We cannot store it for a long time
06:12and we cannot depend on other countries
06:14to secure our needs.
06:16Still, Qatar isn't looking to replace
06:20all imports completely,
06:22but rather building a food system
06:24that is resilient and shock resistant.
06:27The country was already quietly building
06:30the foundations of self-sufficiency
06:32and one crisis after another
06:35forced it to scale them up
06:37for the better.
06:43Beyond the technologies
06:44that help crops thrive
06:46and roadmaps that guide Qatar's vision
06:48is another intricate ecosystem,
06:51one that is led by nature.
06:53A network of pollinators,
06:55their role in agriculture
06:56goes far beyond the buzz
06:58and one the country hopes
06:59will eventually bear fruit
07:01on a large scale.
07:04Peas are extremely important.
07:07Our food,
07:0930% of our food production
07:12depends on the fertilization,
07:14pollination by bees.
07:17So if bees don't exist,
07:20we will lose 30% of the world
07:22agriculture product,
07:24which is huge.
07:26When I came here
07:27at the end of 23,
07:30as an advisor,
07:32I saw so many trees here.
07:34So my first reaction
07:36as a Yemeni
07:36because we like honey and bees,
07:40I asked,
07:41do you keep bees here?
07:44And they told me,
07:46no,
07:46there are no bees
07:47in education city.
07:49But they told me
07:50that somebody
07:51in the development section
07:53is interested in beekeeping,
07:56which is Simon.
07:56So we became a partner
07:58in this
07:59and we got approval
08:01of the leadership
08:02of Qatar Foundation
08:03to start our apiary
08:06here in Qatar Foundation
08:08in the education city.
08:10Our production cycle
08:12starts in early,
08:14late August,
08:15early September.
08:16And by mid-November,
08:18we harvest the cedar honey,
08:19which is the most valuable,
08:20most sought-after honey.
08:24So the cedar honey
08:26has got a really,
08:27really unique taste.
08:28It's a monofloral type of honey
08:30and it's got lots
08:30of medicinal benefits.
08:32Right now,
08:33the cedar season
08:34has just finished,
08:35so the flowers
08:35have stopped blooming
08:36and the nectar
08:37has stopped flowing.
08:38So now's the right time
08:39to harvest.
08:41This morning,
08:42we went to the education
08:43city apiary
08:44and we harvested honey
08:45from 10 beehives.
08:47So generally,
08:48the bees are pretty calm,
08:49to be honest.
08:50But when we go
08:51and do the inspections,
08:52we have to wear these suits,
08:53we wear the gloves
08:54and then we put our hoods on.
08:55And then we use a smoker
08:56just to smoke the bees
08:57to kind of calm them down.
08:59And then that's when
09:00we start taking out the frames.
09:03So we take the frames
09:04out of the hives
09:05and we bring all of the frames
09:08here to Green Island.
09:09and then we take
09:10the wax cappings off
09:11and then we put it
09:12into the extractor
09:13and then through
09:14a centrifugal process,
09:15it spins out
09:16and all the honey flies out
09:17and then we keep it
09:18in steel drums
09:18for around a month.
09:20We can save 99% of the bees
09:25and also we don't harvest
09:28all the honey
09:29that they are producing.
09:30So we leave a lot of honey
09:32also for them
09:33to start new season.
09:37We are producing
09:38an average of 7.5 kilos
09:41per hive.
09:42Usually in Qatar
09:43the average is
09:44around between
09:454 and 5 kilos.
09:47But we hope in the future
09:49to have a facility
09:51with lecture room
09:53and maybe outside area
09:55with secure glass
09:58to have a few hives
10:00for demonstration
10:01so we can invite
10:03more students
10:04and they are safe.
10:06They don't need to wear
10:09protective clothes.
10:10They are behind glass
10:13and we explain to them
10:15the importance of bees
10:16and all these issues.
10:22So we've seen how Qatar
10:24is tackling food resilience
10:25from several different aspects.
10:28So what's next
10:29and how can the country
10:30prepare for food challenges
10:32of the future?
10:33Researchers at
10:34Hamad bin Khalifa University
10:35have embarked on a new study
10:37to figure it all out.
10:39In collaboration
10:40with our government partners
10:41we've been doing research
10:43to look at
10:43what has worked really well
10:44in the past
10:45to help us overcome
10:46some of those challenges
10:47and what are the transferable
10:49lessons from those.
10:51So what happened in 2017
10:52is different
10:53than what happened in 2020
10:55but there are transferable
10:57lessons about how we build
10:58resilience into our systems.
10:59So that's what we're doing
11:01in the College of Public Policy
11:02is to look across
11:03how can we build resilience
11:04from successful lessons here.
11:07So in 2017
11:09as a result of investing
11:10in infrastructure like ports
11:12as a result of investing
11:13in infrastructure
11:14like roads and storage
11:16and so forth
11:17we were able to overcome
11:18the shock
11:20of having our food trade
11:21disrupted when COVID came.
11:23So these lessons
11:24give us insight
11:25about how we can
11:26build resilience
11:27into our broader system
11:30not only food security
11:31but throughout the government
11:32and throughout society.
11:36From bees to hydroponics
11:38to desert-defying farming methods
11:40the seeds of resilience
11:41Qatar planted years ago
11:43have yielded a strong sense
11:45of security and confidence
11:47that even in uncertain times
11:49crisis can be turned
11:50into opportunity.
11:52That's all the time
11:53we have for now.
11:54Thanks for watching
11:54Qatar In Motion
11:55and see you next time.
Yorumlar