Inaugural ‘Food For Future’ summit launches in Dubai
Dubai: The landmark ‘Food For Future Summit’ and Global Agtech Expo opened at Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC) today, forming a powerhouse of industry innovation and progress. The influential two-day summit, which is uniting the world with the aim of a food-secure future, features world leaders and food and agriculture innovators from international organisations, including the World Bank and several other key global partners.
The Food for Future Summit comprises several key tracks, including the Global Leaders’ Symposium, which has brought together international ministerial delegations and leading executives from non-profit organisations worldwide to explore new solutions to enhancing food security.
In her opening address at the Symposium, Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said: “For the first time in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region, we are coming together to initiate dialogue at all levels to accelerate the global transition towards sustainable food systems. Over the next two days, we will explore new solutions and approaches to the most pressing food security challenges the world faces, and how we can come together as one global community to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
She went on to underline how the UAE is setting a leading global example through its ambitious policy agenda, aimed at building public-private partnerships and enabling AgTech innovations that will shape the future of food.
Need for timely action
Ban Ki-moon, the former United Nations Secretary-General, stressed how the world faced an urgent need to drive climate action, agricultural adaptation, and sustainable livelihoods if it is to cope with a projected 50 per cent rise in global food demand by 2050.