Middle East weighs agri-tech solutions as pandemic underscores urgency of food security

The Gulf Coast Countries (GCC), have managed to avoid food shortages caused by the pandemic, but for a region whose member countries import 90% of their food, they have to take action to counter other effects such as climate change and depleting freshwater stock.Countries now have to step up and escalate initiatives to have more local produce and be more food secure. Such a step-up involves Agri tech firms.  One such firm is a start-up with a patent liquid nano clay that binds a mineral-rich solution to grains of desert sand. According to the UN, about 135 million people could lose their homes and livelihoods to creeping desertification by 2030. Inhabitants of the Middle East and North Africa are more vulnerable than most. Therefore a paradigm shift for these countries on food production is essential, which would help reach SDG 12, to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns for middle eastern countries.