KUWAIT CITY, Aug 10: 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, reports Al- Qabas daily. The document submitted to the Council of Ministers states the food security file submitted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, includes several recommendations that require quick measures that may limit the effects of high food prices in the short term, which requires speedy implementation and seriousness without any delay that may result in adverse consequences and affect the stability of the domestic market.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry stressed the need to develop a food security strategy in the country through a comprehensive system based on enabling sustainable food production. The study demands increase in financial support for government food companies such as the Kuwait Catering Company, the Kuwait Flour Mills and Bakeries Company, and the Kuwait Livestock Transport and Trading 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 acceptable 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 -- 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; working on diversifying import sources and developing the country’s supply chains; reconsidering the distribution of land, agricultural holdings, livestock breeding and fodder support on the basis of achieving self-sufficiency in the state and 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.

This is in addition to 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 and 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.