Our dreams terrify us!
as usual, and for the thousandth time, i say we do not pay attention, or rather, the concerned authorities in the government ignore the possibility of disasters and fail to take precautionary measures. we saw this in the so-called ‘bedouin’ problem and dozens of other issues.
we saw it during the pandemic, and we see it now in the food crisis, and its negative impact on the prices of all food and other commodities, with the continuing repercussions of the russian-ukrainian war and its dangerous impact on food stocks.
it was not surprising to note that our backs were exposed to all the chaos, idleness, and corruption in which we live, and have been living through for decades, regarding how to benefit from food security through the random distribution of farms and plots and the billions that were spent to support water, seeds, and fodder, all of which were wasted without result, other than the production of a few cartons of zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers produced by some local farmers, who suffer from various random government decisions!
in the midst of all these dangers facing us, and the chaos that has been going on for half a century to secure even a small part of our food needs, the public authority for agriculture affairs and fisheries resources came out with a “strategic plan” for food security that extends until 2035, and it goes without saying that it is not worth the money spent on its status.
who can believe in the existence of an effective and feasible plan, which will be implemented literally without interventions and parachutist appointments from now until 2035, and will not be postponed or deprived of spending especially as it includes increasing agricultural production in quantity and quality, substituting the national agricultural product for the imported ones, and creating an investment climate in the agricultural sector?
and of course the most important thing in the plan, which will make some members of the national assembly salivate, and obtain their approval of the proposal to establish a supreme council for food security, develop and update the options available to strengthen it, and establish “giant” agricultural projects (!!) to enhance the strategic stock and provide “financial funds” for access for self-sufficiency (100%) of plant-based products, at least!
the plan is not ambitious, but rather a failure par excellence. it needs hundreds of thousands of new workers, the source is known in advance, a huge amount of water, special soil, agricultural skills, and marketing plans are not available.
this is in addition to the weather factors, and the most dangerous of that is the environment of corruption in which the various government agencies thrive. if we were more efficient and upright, we would have transferred “food security” from our shoulders and placed it on the shoulders of another country, through agricultural, animal, and fish investment in huge joint projects, and other suggestions. but where are the competent and honest people to manage these projects in an environment that has become ruined to the core?
i remember on this occasion the huge project for shrimp farming and breeding in one of the cities off the iranian coast, on which the late hassan hayat spent a lot, and he could have self-sufficed us, but he lost everything, as a result of his partners abandoning him, and he left while waiting for government support, which never came.
