GDA aims to deal with food security in dryland nations

The Global Dryland Alliance (GDA) which held its founding conference yesterday, aims to deal with food security and other needs in dryland countries around the world.
Many dryland countries signed the founding treaty of the GDA at the conference. “ A total of 18 countries and five international organisations are represented in the conference. Some countries were not able to sign the alliance because of technicality as they could not produce the letter of authentication,” said ambassador Bader Omar al-Dafa, executive director, the founding conference of the Global Dryland Alliance.
“The GDA is going to be an international organisation that deals mainly with countries that have drylands. There are over 50 countries that come under the category of dryland. The challenges that most of these countries are facing are great. There is shortage of food, water, energy. We will try to help each other,” explained al-Dafa.
“If some countries in the alliance are hit hard by climate change, we will come in for assistance soon.We will have food stored in some safe place. In case of any crisis, we will move fast to help those countries affected by the crisis,” continued al-Dafa.
According to al-Dafa the next step is to register the GDA as an international organisation. “There are several procedures before the GDA is registered as an International organisation within the UN bodies. The next step for us is to go to UN and register the GDA as an international organisation. Once it comes into effect, the apex body or the executive council will decide the policies and acts and all that is needed for this organisation. The objective is to deal with food security in dryland countries,” he elaborated.
During the inaugural session of the conference, al-Dafa said that food security challenges are more critical in dryland countries, most of which are developing countries with limited resources, and more exposed to hunger and disease.
Al-Dafa noted, “His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has approved to extend co-ordination and consultation with the concerned parties who are involved in food security like regional and international organisations, and leading researches institutes. His Highness has advised that the Alliance will complement the efforts of the international organisations that are specialised in food security and will not compete or duplicate their efforts.”
“The Global Dryland Alliance will be the response to the needs of our countries to develop joint initiatives that meet our priorities, establish innovative financing mechanisms for their programmes and projects, and benefit from the leading technological innovations, policies and developments to enhance their food security,” highlighted al-Dafa.
He noted that in the next three decades, the world will witness an increasing consumption of meat from cereals and crops. “The world’s population is increasing by 200,000 each day and is facing constant climate change. The globe has witnessed a significant deforestation and water resources have been depleted. Food production should increase to 70% in order to feed 9 billion people by 2050,” he added.
The official pointed out that a large number of countries, international organisations, UN agencies and development banks have welcomed and supported the initiative and have contributed to prepare the reference documents of the Global Dryland Alliance.