UAE follows Zayed’s vision of organic farming

He attributed this success to the late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s vision to keep agriculture in the UAE as organic and pure.

Shaikh Mohammed also referred to Shaikh Zayed’s repeated phrase “Give me agriculture and I shall give you civilisation”.

He also stressed the continuous support of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who leads the green agricultural organic movement nationwide.

He indicated that “the organic agriculture practices are on the rise in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. This confirms that farmers are willing to convert to organic practices to achieve self-sufficiency and food security in feeding the emirate of Abu Dhabi with healthy and chemical-free products”.

Shaikh Mohammed added that the organic agriculture will have a positive overall impact on the human health and environment as well. However, the Abu Dhabi organic farms have recently been awarded the first international certification which is accredited by IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement), certifying that their soils are free from any chemicals.

Dr Jacques Diouf, director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) re-affirmed and welcomed support from Shaikh Mohammed to the organic agriculture.

He indicated that the two main sources of general principles and requirements of organic agriculture at the international level are Codex Alimentarius guidelines for production, processing, labelling and marketing of organically produced foods. The other source is the IFOAM, and international body that defines and regularly reviews the basic standard that share the organic term.

Diouf visited Abu Dhabi organic farms during his official visit to the UAE in April 2007, where he met Shaikh Mohammed to discuss developments pertinent to FAO’s mandate to combat hunger globally.