DOHA: Qatar has achieved remarkable progress in the field of self-sufficiency in dairy products since May 2017. The country’s self-sufficiency in dairy products now stands at 84 percent compared to 28 percent in May last year.

The self-sufficiency rate is going to get further fillip in coming months as four new projects to increase production of dairy products are expected to be implemented, said a senior official at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME).

“The self-sufficiency in milk products before May 2017 was only 28 percent and now it has reached 84 percent. This is one of the many positive outcomes of the siege imposed on Qatar by the blockading countries. Earlier we were dependent more on importing these products but the new policy aims at achieving full sufficiency in dairy products,” said Engineer, Farhoud Hadi Al Hajri, Director of Livestock Department at the MME.

“In addition to the government’s attention to and support for the animal breeders, the private sector also played a big role in this regard through its investment and new projects,” he said while speaking to one local TV channel.

Qatar’s dairy sector has undergone a drastic transformation over the last one year and siege was a turning point for this sector. One of the aims of the siege was to cripple country’s food security, but on the contrary production of dairy items have surged over the last one year and the private sector has played a crucial role in strengthening this sector.

Baladna Food Industries, Qatar’s largest producer of fresh dairy, has continuously increased the production of milk and other dairy products over the last year.

The MME has also provided farmers with all the support and assistance to increase production of livestock and breeding. There are around 1.5 million livestock in Qatar currently, which include 40,000 cows and 70,000 camels.

Recently six animal complexes across Qatar were provided with electricity connections from Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa). These complexes have 5,087 blocks which house around 350,000 livestock.

The Municipality has allocated QR105m for 2018 of the budget for supporting the agricultural, fish and livestock sector with a view to achieving food security. In addition, QR70m has been allocated for the next five years. “The Livestock is considered as one of the main pillars of food security meat, milk, cheese and poultry, all these contribute of achieving food security. And due to the government and private sector’s efforts production has risen significantly,” said Al Hajri.

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