The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) has launched its Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Security Data Platform to support decision-making on food security and agriculture issues in Abu Dhabi.
According to the authority, the platform provides “accurate and comprehensive” information on all aspects of the agriculture and food sector in the Emirate, from agricultural production to distribution and consumption.
By providing analysis of up-to-date data and the extraction of reports, the platform, developed in collaboration with strategic partners from the public and private sectors, aims to help policymakers make decisions on agriculture and food security.
His Excellency Saeed Al Bahri Salem Al Ameri, Director General of ADAFSA, explained that the platform was fed with data from 16 strategic partners of the authority and that this collaboration will enable the provision of comprehensive data for the agriculture and food sector in accordance with best practices in data management and governance.
The platform reportedly monitors the local, regional and global food security situation through a comprehensive and integrated dashboard that covers more than 335 indicators, collecting and monitoring all data related to agriculture, food and food security, such as:
- Data on local agricultural production,
- Trade and investment data,
- Future production data
- Strategic food reserve levels, and
- Data on food loss and waste rates throughout the value chain.
Additionally, the authority shared that the platform monitors animal and plant health data, pest control and eradication programmes, vaccination programmes against animal and zoonotic diseases, investment data, and anticipated investment opportunities.
It also provides real-time updates of this data, along with over 200 dashboards for displaying this data, analytical reports, and future forecasts.
Moreover, the platform includes a warning system for local, regional and global risks and threats, ADAFSA said.
Alerts are activated when there are changes in global or local prices of essential food items and when there are changes in production levels, whether rising or falling, in addition to alerts on weather and diseases that affect the availability of local or international supplies, and the ability to track biosecurity threats, environmental data and other data that support decision-making in the agriculture and food sector in Abu Dhabi.