Israel exploring food security alliances with Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan

TEL AVIV: Israeli Minister of Agriculture Avi Dichter signed declaration of intent agreements with Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan for the joint production and cultivation of wheat on Monday, his ministry announced on Tuesday. “As part of the vision that we lead in the Agriculture Ministry to ensure food security… today, we are advancing another significant step toward ensuring agricultural produce, most of which is not produced in Israel,” said Dichter.

“In this period of global uncertainty, many countries are interested in advancing with us out of common interests. We will continue to create more partnerships between the State of Israel and other countries, thereby ensuring food security for the citizens of Israel.”

The initiative, referred to as “Treat the Wheat,” includes Israel sharing agricultural technology and knowledge in exchange for imports. The ministry’s statement said Israel intends to sign similar agreements with European and African countries. Israel is looking to expand its reserves of grain for regular consumption and for emergency situations.

Israel imports roughly 90 per cent of its wheat. Numerous countries have shown interest in Israeli innovations in agriculture, such as drip irrigation, desalination, crop protection, precision agriculture, soil improvement, as well as ways to improve efficiency and sustainability developed by various Israeli agtech startups.

The possible food security alliance with the the Central Asian Muslim states comes amid the backdrop of disruptions to the international grain trade brought by coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Before the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine exported around ten per cent of the world’s supply of wheat, barley and corn, according to United Nations figures. Since then, countries have been moving to diversify their international food sources.