Leading scientists and industry experts are in Dubai to attend the biggest international conference dedicated to quinoa, considered one of the world's most popular health foods.

The three-day ‘Quinoa for Future Food and Nutrition Security in Marginal Environments,' which concludes tomorrow (December 8), will focus on developing a set of recommendations for quinoa cultivation in marginal environments which are affected by water scarcity and salinity.

It is being organised by the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment of the UAE, Zayed University, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea), and with the technical contribution of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The participants will share their latest developments in quinoa research, production and trade around the world, at the event, said the organisers.

The conference seeks to find ways to implement research and development programmes and initiatives to introduce and scale up quinoa in marginal environments, they added.

According to experts, the global population is forecast to increase to 9.7 billion in 2050 and there are concerns about the capacity of agriculture to produce enough food for the growing population.

By some estimates, food production will need to go up by about 60 per cent either through an increase in crop yields per unit area or an expansion in the arable land by 2050 to meet the demand.

Furthermore, several regions already suffering from malnutrition, water scarcity and soil degradation are forecast to have a large population growth, which raises concerns about whether traditional agricultural methods and crop species will have the capacity to sustain global food production targets.

People living in marginal environments are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change on agriculture. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify solutions to sustaining and possibly increasing agricultural productivity in areas where growing traditional crops has become difficult and sometimes uneconomical. Quinoa is widely considered a promising crop that can contribute to addressing these challenges.

Addressing participants at the opening ceremony, Dr Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment of the UAE, said: "Climate change poses one of the greatest threats to humanity. Countries that already suffer from droughts, water shortages, and salinity are at an even greater risk.”

“We urgently need to find solutions and adapt and where possible mitigate effects of climate change on different fronts, including agriculture. Ensuring future food security in marginal environments requires a shift in agricultural practices and innovative approaches to crop production systems,” he said.

“Quinoa can play a major role as a staple crop in marginal environments due to its adaptability to harsh environments including poor saline soils with annual rainfall as little as 200 mm,” he added.

Professor Reyadh Al Mehaideb, vice president of Zayed University, said: "We are pleased to host this international conference. It is a timely event as the world faces the implications of grand environmental challenges, and many countries experience food and nutrition insecurity as well as impacts from climate change.”

“We believe that the conference will be an excellent platform for scientists and experts to look at these challenges and come up with a shared vision on how crops like quinoa that grows in marginal land can help address them,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service