Abu Dhabi develops integrated food security, agricultural data platform

The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) has launched a strategic project to develop integrated food security and agricultural data platform. This is in collaboration with stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

According to authorities, the platform will provide access to accurate, comprehensive and integrated data for the agricultural and food sector in Abu Dhabi to inform decision-making using the best data governance practices.

Saeed Al Bahri Alameri, Director General of ADAFSA said the data platform is a step forward to achieving ADAFSA's priorities to ensure food availability and safety and promote sustainable agricultural development in Abu Dhabi.

"The platform supports developing a sustainable, flexible and integrated food system supported by a rapid response system, to effectively address food and biosecurity risks, thus increasing the competitiveness of local products," Alameri added.

According to Alameri, the data platform will feature an integrated dashboard to monitor local, regional and global food security situations, which supports decision-makers in responding to food, livestock and agricultural emergencies, taking early action to prevent supply chain disruptions, and avoiding any potential food risks.

"The platform will cover all data of the agricultural and food sector in Abu Dhabi and some relevant data at the federal and global levels. Therefore, the platform will provide comprehensive insights about agricultural production, trade, logistics, environment, weather, biosecurity and food safety, which promotes Abu Dhabi's position in this important sector," he stated.

Alameri further noted that data fragmentation and the lack of a clear model for data governance preclude the provision of the needed information for predicting threats and developing plans for emergencies. He expressed appreciation for the public and private entities that are collaborating with ADAFSA in developing the platform, stressing the importance of their future role in providing accurate and comprehensive data for the sector.

The data platform will collect and monitor all agriculture and food security data. This includes data related to local agricultural production, trade, investment, future production, levels of strategic food reserves, food loss and waste rates throughout the value chain. The platform will also monitor data on livestock and plant health, pest control programs, and vaccination programs against communicable and zoonotic diseases.

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The platform will deliver updated data, analytical reports and forecasts to help address food and biosecurity challenges based on actionable insights.

Furthermore, it will deliver scientific forecasts on production, consumption, supply and demand for food commodities. This will enable accurate analysis of self-sufficiency levels by comparing local production to consumption, monitoring the strategic food reserves, and analyzing price tendencies of major domestic and global products and the level of dependence on food imports for each item.

According to officials, the platform also features an alert system for local, regional and global food risks, supporting decision-makers develop the needed plans to address normal and abnormal conditions. the alerts will be activated if there are any changes to global or local product prices, production levels, weather conditions and diseases affecting the availability of local or global supplies.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi