Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Spurned by Neighbors, Qatar Aims for Self-Sufficiency

Jacob Wirtschafter

   DOHA, QATAR - Before June 2017, when Qatar's neighbors severed
   diplomatic and trade ties, the oil-rich Arab gulf state imported nearly
   all its food through the Saudi border crossing at Salwa, and by ship
   from Dubai's Jebel Ali Port.

   Doha food distributor Ahmed Al-Khalaf remembers the first stressful
   days after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain imposed
   a blockade.

   "It was a big surprise for Qatar to wake up and find that the border
   was closed," said Al-Khalaf, the CEO of International Projects
   Development Company, a food importer and investor in local greenhouses.

   Egypt, which has the biggest army in the Arab world and 20,000
   nationals working in Qatar, quickly joined the embargo, accelerating a
   sense of shock and vulnerability.

   "We had more than a thousand trucks waiting to come inside waiting at
   the Salwa Border gate and five thousand containers in Jebel Ali, most
   of them containing foodstuffs," Al-Khalaf said.

   Qatar continues to refuse the blockading states' demands that it shut
   down broadcaster al-Jazeera, reduce diplomatic and economic ties with
   Iran, and send back the nearly 3,000 Turkish troops stationed in the
   emirate.

   But even without an embargo, Qatar's harsh climate, sandy soil, and
   water scarcity challenge its food security, especially when it comes to
   growing greens and vegetables or producing milk.

   "This all happened during Ramadan when everybody is consuming three
   times more than normal. I had to fly from Qatar to Iran and other
   countries to buy food, and we paid twice, sometimes three times the
   usual price to bring it here by airplane and ships," Al-Khalaf recalls.

   Those difficulties are tackled at Al-Khalaf's farm in Al Khor, where
   hydroponic greenhouses are yielding cherry tomatoes, chard, mushrooms,
   and eggplants.

.