In cooperation with FAO, the UAE crowns its efforts in supporting the date palm industry and agricultural innovation
16 March 2022, Abu Dhabi – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has commended the pioneering role of the leadership of the United Arab Emirates and the generous patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, for the seventh conference of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation.
The organization also praised Sheikh Khalifa's unwavering support for date palm industries and efforts to enhance food security in the region and the world. This came in a keynote speech by Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the FAO, delivered on his behalf by AbdulHakim El-Waer, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa at the three-day session.
The organization also participated, through its regional and sub-regional offices, in the conference activities, which included technical and high-level sessions on date palm industries, food security and technologies. The sessions discussed ways to improve the diverse frameworks of these industries and related technologies through innovation and joint collaboration.
High-level opening
The opening ceremony of the conference was attended by ministers, experts, media professionals and stakeholders in various sectors from different countries. The opening speech was delivered by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence in the UAE, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Award, of which FAO is a member.
AbdulHakim El-Waer, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa, also delivered a speech on behalf of FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu. Her Excellency Maryam bint Mohammed Saeed Hareb Al Muhairi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment in the UAE, also delivered a speech.
The opening ceremony was attended by His Excellency Khaled Al-Hunaifat, Minister of Agriculture of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as well as other dignified guests from several countries and representatives from international organizations.
A main session presentation by the FAO on the date palm industry
In the main session of the first day of the conference, FAO gave a presentation on the state of the date palm industry in the NENA region. The FAO regional representative presented the organization's recommendations to the countries of the region to increase their revenues from dates exports and palm industries, and thus improve the overall economic conditions and farmers' income.
El-Waer said that the future of agriculture in North Africa and the Middle East is linked to the outcomes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, through the use of artificial intelligence, the Internet of things, and others. In the next stage, El-Waer stressed, "We should focus more on the younger generation and motivate them to engage more in agricultural work because of their ability to be creative and innovative." "They [youth] are the new blood on which we rely to find unconventional solutions to problems and challenges that the agricultural sector has been suffering from for decades and still persist."El-Waer added: "Our focus is constantly on discussing the transition to climate-smart agriculture and the use of the latest technologies and innovations, and the need to educate farmers in this regard to offer more solutions that give them resilience to climate change and water scarcity." Besides El-Waer, ministers of agriculture and directors of international organizations concerned with date palm cultivation and date production participated in this session.
Honoring the winners
Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, honored the winners of the award in its fourteenth session 2022. In the “Distinguished Innovative Studies and Modern Technology” category, the award was won jointly by Dr. Jacquen Julie Emmanuel from the French Republic, and Dr. Ibtisam bint Rashid Harasiya from the Sultanate of Oman. In the “Pioneering Development and Productive Project” category, the Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination from the United Arab Emirates and the International Center for Local Agriculture from the United Arab Emirates also won the award equally. In the category of “Pioneering and Sophisticated Innovations Serving the Agricultural Sector”, the award went to Dr. Abdullah Hamad Saeed Al Junaibi and Eng. Tariq bin Al Bashir bin Abdeen, both from the United Arab Emirates. Finally, in the “Influential Figure in the Field of Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation” category, the award was bagged by Dr. Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saif Al Saadi from the Sultanate of Oman, and Eng. Anwar Hilal Abdullah Haddad from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The winners of the Distinguished Farmers and Innovative Farms Award in its fourth session 2022, organized by the General Secretariat of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation in cooperation with Al Foah Company - Emirates Dates company, were also honored. In the "Small Farms" category, first place was won by Ghanem Sultan Ahmed Ghanem Al-Suwaidi, while Aisha Abdullah Juma'a Haroon Al Ali won the second place. In the "Medium Farms" category, Mubarak Muhammad Muftah Al Shamsi won first place, and Fatima Muslim Muhammad Al Khaili came second. In the “Above-Average Farms" category, the first and second places were won by Saif Sayah Salem Al-Mansoori, and Salwa Khalfan Hamid Al-Mansoori, respectively. In the “Large Farms" category, Saeed Rashid Abdullah Al-Hamoudi won first place, while Matar Ali Muftah Mohammed Al Shamsi won second place. As for the "Innovative Farmer" category, the award went to Rashid Sultan Hamad Masoud Al-Ariani.
Region-wide memoranda of understanding and innovative platforms to support date palm
On the first day of the conference, the award secretariat signed 12 memoranda of understanding with a number of agriculture ministers and directors of international organizations in a number of Arab countries with the aim of strengthening regional and international cooperation between national institutions and international organizations to support and develop the date palm sector, date production and agricultural innovation at the Arab and international levels.
The award signed a cooperation protocol to establish an international network for the development of the date palm sector and date production with the following international organizations: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), and the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARENINA).
His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan inaugurated the International Network for the Development of Palm Cultivation and Date Production, to manage the largest international cooperation to develop the palm cultivation and date production sector in the world, in cooperation between the Khalifa Award and major international organizations such as FAO, ICARDA, ACSAD, and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), AOAD, and AARINENA. It is hoped that this network will promote the palm-growing sector and the production of dates in the producing countries in order to enhance their food security and economic growth and achieve sustainable development.
On the sidelines of the conference, in the presence of 11 ministers from the region, the representative of FAO, AbdulHakim El-Waer, attended the launch of the Integrated Desert Farming Innovation Platform, which was established by the General Secretariat of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation in cooperation with ICARDA and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). In addition to enhancing food and water security in light of climate change, the platform aims to exchange experiences in areas of palm cultivation, date production and agricultural innovation among the countries of the Middle East and North Africa. The platform builds on the achievements of national, regional and international organizations that are active in the region with the support of donors and sponsors of desert agriculture, foremost of which is the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation.
The “Date Palm Innovation Platform" was also launched, founded by AARINENA, with the support of FAO and in cooperation with the General Secretariat of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation. This interactive platform aims to connect stakeholders with each other to exchange and enhance available know-how, information and innovations related to the date palm value chain and production and to address the challenges facing the palm cultivation and date production sector at the regional and international levels.
Specialized technical sessions organized by FAO
On the second day of the conference, FAO organized a special technical session on the red palm weevil, during which Thaer Yassin, Plant Protection Officer in the FAO Regional Office, gave a presentation on the latest techniques to combat this pest and the strategy adopted by the FAO International Fund for Weevil Control in the Near East and North Africa Region. The session, chaired and coordinated by the organization’s regional office, was attended by a group of experts and stakeholders from the Arab region and the world. During the session, 14 technical presentations were delivered on the management of the red palm weevil, including early surveillance using remote sensing and integrated, biological and participatory control methods with farmers.
FAO also organized another specialized technical session on the third and final day of the conference on the value-added chain of dates and regional cooperation, with the participation of Maryam Rezaei, agro-industry official in the FAO Regional Office.
Preparing for the UN Climate Change Conference in the UAE
On the sidelines of the conference, AbdulHakim El-Waer, FAO Regional Representative, met with Maryam Al Muhairi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment in the UAE, to discuss the UAE's preparations to host the 28th session of the Multilateral Conference on Climate Change (COP28) next year. The meeting discussed cooperation between FAO and the UAE government to ensure that this major international conference achieves its objectives. The conference will be held on November 6-17, 2023.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi commends FAO’s work in the region
At the end of his visit to the UAE, Al-Waer met with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, in the presence of representatives of other international organizations, during a reception for members of the Board of Trustees of the award in his private palace. His Highness thanked FAO for its efforts in the region in the field of food security and support for date palm industries.