The municipality has finalized its final visions regarding strengthening the food security system, establishing activities in agricultural holdings, and issuing commercial licenses in order to meet the needs of farmers and those interested in agricultural affairs.
A memorandum prepared by the Kuwait Municipality on food security, seen by a local Arabic daily, revealed the desire to allow marketing outlets for agricultural products, and to add activities for the production, packaging of agricultural products, while allowing owners of farms raising cows, livestock and broiler chickens to obtain commercial shares.
The municipality stressed on the need to promote agricultural tourism in the country because of its great impact on revitalizing the national economy, as well as working to strengthen the country’s position on the global agricultural tourism map.
The municipality has put in place a set of requirements to benefit from the agricultural tourism activity, that it be seasonal, and the area of agricultural holding be not less than 100,000 square meters, and that the owner of the license adhere to the specified activities.
The memorandum indicated that the municipality believes in the importance of paying attention to the issue of food security in order to face any global or local crises or disasters that may disrupt the food security system.
The municipality also desires to help the owners of agricultural holdings located in Wafra, Abdali and Sulaibiya to overcome the problems and obstacles that the Kuwaiti farmers suffer from and subjugating it to open the way for the Kuwaiti product to prove its worth and that it is the alternative to the importer.
The sources said given the rapid and many developments that our world is going through, especially after what “we went through during the Corona pandemic crisis, it is imperative for us to pursue and keep up with them to achieve the purposes for which agricultural holdings were established” to provide food security so that it has become an urgent necessity to meet the needs of farmers and those interested in agricultural affairs.
In the face of this situation the municipality wants to deepen communication with Kuwaiti farmers and has proposed a study of the following to be presented to the Council of Ministers and the Municipal Council to take the appropriate decisions in this regard, as follows:
First: Allowing marketing outlets within agricultural holdings in the agricultural holdings of Sulaibiya, Abdali and Wafra to market the products of agricultural holdings, as agricultural markets should have priority by allowing marketing outlets for local fresh agricultural products within agricultural holdings, selling them to citizens and exporting what is surplus, This will benefit Kuwaiti farmers who wish to market their products through their farms directly.
The municipality decided to allow them to license this within the borders of their farms, and to establish prestigious marketing centers equipped with public facilities to serve citizens and residents with the aim to support farmers and enhance their revenues by marketing their products, which will result in reducing subsidies and reducing public spending in addition to moving the wheel of national economy and increasing state revenues by collecting fees for issuing licenses related to that activity.
Second: Adding an activity of production, packaging, canning and packaging of agricultural and food products with an area not exceeding 500 square meters, and adding activities such as pressing dates, chips and other crafts related to benefiting from agricultural production within the borders of agricultural holding, with the aim of helping agricultural holders and encouraging them to invest and linking them to markets, which helps diversify their crops and expand their business horizons.
Third: Issuing commercial licenses to manage cow-breeding farms, milk production, livestock and camel breeding farms and broiler or chicken eggs laying farms by enabling breeders to obtain a commercial license to establish or operate animal and poultry production, whether a cattle farm or a poultry farm and a milk collection center for entrepreneurs and animal and poultry production through facilities to obtain operating approvals.
Fourth: Settling agricultural tourism activities and defining their uses and areas within agricultural holdings with large areas of 100,000 square meters or more, in a manner that does not conflict with agricultural production, setting conditions and controls regulating them, and issuing commercial licenses for them.
The municipality believes that the promotion of agricultural tourism in the country has a significant impact on revitalizing the national economy and preserving the natural resources in the country, as this type of tourism can provide continuous self-financing that benefits the community.