The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has completed its recommendations to address the effects of high food prices and the food security file in Kuwait.
The Council of Ministers has received the report on food security file from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which includes several recommendations that require quick measures to limit the effects of high food prices in the short term, such as speedy implementation and seriousness without any delay that may result in adverse consequences to the stability of the domestic market, reports a local Arabic daily.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry stressed the need to develop a food security strategy in the country to develop a comprehensive system based on enabling sustainable food production; demanding to increase financial support for government food companies such as the Kuwait Catering Company, the Flour Mills Company, and the Livestock Transport and Trade Company, with the state bearing the price difference for its products in case of high prices while selling it to citizens and consumers at the accepted fixed price. The ministry suggested the state’s expansion of international agricultural investment by owning agricultural lands outside Kuwait, specifically in the fertile regions.
The Ministry of Commerce stressed the need for Kuwait to adopt an integrated strategy for food and water security that includes the following dimensions:
1 – Strengthening the national food basket by expanding regional and international agricultural investments, and owning agricultural land, livestock and fisheries in the countries of the fertile regions.
2 – Working on diversifying import sources and developing the country’s supply chains.
3 – Reconsidering the distribution of land, agricultural holdings, livestock breeding and fodder support on the basis of achieving self-sufficiency in the state.
4 – Connecting agricultural holdings with a network of factories for food products through small and medium enterprises to achieve an integrated agricultural economic cycle that ensures stability in the medium and long term in the face of fluctuations in global markets.
5 – Paying attention to the water resources management system in the country and ways to diversify its sources to ensure local water security by using advanced technologies and technological applications, which constitute a major requirement to achieve agricultural production and sustain food security.
6 – Expanding the role of private sector companies, investment companies, and commercial and industrial banks, to enhance food security in the country and provide border markets to ensure the availability and diversity of food products in more effective ways.
7 – Increasing financial support for food security companies (Kuwait Supply Company, Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company, Livestock Transport and Trade Company) to contain the repercussions of rising prices of basic food commodities in global markets, and the government bears the difference in prices for basic commodities.
8 – Activating the role of commercial control to control prices, prevent any artificial increases in food commodities, and take the legal procedures followed.
9 – Determining the national food basket, which must be produced locally in cooperation with international organizations, companies and expertise, and in coordination with the relevant local authorities.
10 – Develop the integrated national strategy for food and water security, its programs, projects, indicators to measure its performance, and draft laws and decisions related to food and water security in Kuwait.
It is noteworthy to make a mention that the Council of Ministers decided to establish a higher committee called (the Higher National Committee for Strengthening the Food and Water Security System), headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil, and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Dr. Muhammad Al-Faris with membership if competent authorities from the public and private sectors such as the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Kuwait Investment Authority, the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Industry, Electricity and Water, the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources, the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.
The committee shall have an advisory body that includes competencies from inside and outside the country to prepare and direct technical activities and recommendations regarding food and water security.