The president of Embrapa, Celso Moretti, established a cooperation agreement with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) for joint activities in different areas. ICBA is an international agricultural research center based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aimed at improving productivity and sustainability in marginal and saline environments that operates in the whole Middle East region and also in Africa. For Embrapa, the agreement, which will be signed in the upcoming weeks, entails the opportunity to obtain funding, sell technology and services, promote technical cooperation and support Brazilian companies abroad, including in Africa. There is also the prospect of setting up an office in the UAE, in partnership with Apex-Brasil and the support of the local government. Apex-Brasil promotes Brazilian products and services abroad and attracts foreign investment for strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy. The details were defined during the presence of a Brazilian delegation in the Arab Emirates between the 18th and 21st. The mission is related to a strategy to strengthen Embrapa's operations in Africa. The activities have been followed by minister Tereza Cristina, of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, and are part of a broad agenda that has been carried out with the Ministry of Food Security of the United Arab Emirates, through the minister Mariam Al Meheiri, who met twice with the Brazilian delegation during the four days of the mission. Closer ties started in 2018 The visit and the agreements give continuity to the steps first taken in 2018, when Celso Moretti visited the UAE to participate in an event focused on agriculture and, on another occasion, for a meeting of the Global Economic Forum. On both opportunities minister Al-Meheiri was invited to visit Embrapa. In January 2019, as she was present in Brazil for president Jair Bolsonaro's inauguration, Mariam Al Meheiri went to the Headquarters and to Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology with a delegation that included diplomats. On the occasion of her visit to Embrapa, the Minister reaffirmed the intention of attracting investments for the agricultural sector of that country, responsible for only 0.7% of the GDP of a country whose economy is based on oil. Her goal, she said, was to awaken youth interest in agriculture. Al Meheiri demonstrated interest in learning about the participation of the private sector in Embrapa's budget and revealed that food security is one of the current priorities for the UAE, since more than 90% of the species used in their diets come from other countries. Ongoing joint action The exchange of researchers for technical cooperation was one of the subjects addressed. A dedicated team at Embrapa will proceed with the negotiations. In practice, collaboration between researchers has already started. Based on early talks, Embrapa Semi-arid Region researchers have been webconferencing about the use of biosaline water in agriculture. The UAE has vast experience in using subsoil saline water in agriculture. Agreement can generate broad actions, including in Africa President Celso Moretti believes that one of the great advances will be the institucional relationship that allows action in different scopes. There is a possibility, for instance, to strike up partnerships for fruit and vegetable production in the Arab Emirates in protected environments. Embrapa has expertise in the subject, while the UAE has high-technology equipment but lacks experience and technical foundations. Another possibility in discussion is the exchange of genetic material, management of natural resources and biodiversity, development of studies in bioenergy and aquaculture, particularly fish production in waters with higher amounts of salt. The president of Embrapa assesses that “we can help in two fronts: by establishing partnerships and business to help giving the Arab Emirates food security security and by working together in other countries, especially in the African continent. Several UAE companies have lands in Africa and have been producing there with a lot of interest in technology, products, services and equipment.” For the last five decades, Brazil was the only country in the world that managed to develop technology for tropical environments that can generate a large volume of foods. Brazil has moved on from being an importer to producing enough to feed seven times its population “We feed 1.4 billion people in the world and the UAE imports more than 90% of the foods they consume”, Moretti compares. “Embrapa has technology for the tropical world, they have funds for investment and want our help not only for production in the Emirates, but also in Africa. We want to define a model for this partnership, as well as for other countries, but with involvement from the Brazilian private sector so that they can seize opportunities”, Moretti says. Four pillars for the work at the UAE During the mission's visit to the UAE, there was an expression of interest in Embrapa's help to structure the country's agriculture, which would facilitate joint research, development and innovation activities. “They have public companies that are responsible for research, technical assistance, farmers, a university that works with the agricultural sector and the private initiative. Our idea is to help in the institutional framework to coordinate all of that, including capacity-building”. The second pillar would be to support agricultural climate risk zoning. “We have vast experience in Brazil. We know what, where and when to plant in 44 production chains in a country of continental dimensions, with different biomes. It is possible to support them in this development. This is going to help them make decisions, and we want to actively participate in the results that this will bring”. Developing a territorial strategic intelligence system is the third pillar of this work. With this, it would be possible to constitute a system where it is possible to have information about the natural scenario (soil, terrain, rainfall, altitude), the agrarian scenario (including properties, size, number of farmers), agricultural scenario (e.g.: goat herd, cattle herd, what is being produced in each region), infrastructure (storage, for example) and the socioeconomic scenario. Integrated access to such set of information would allow facilitated quality decision-making, something that we already have in Brazil. The fourth pillar is cooperation work in Africa. “Private companies in the UAE have been producing agricultural goods in countries like Madagascar, Sudan and Namibia, but not with technologies with the quality level of those developed in Brazil. Brazilian companies involved with animal and plant genetics and with machinery, for instance, would have great opportunities. The goal is to establish a partnership to take technology developed by Brazil alongside the private sector to trail the new paths to be opened in the UAE and in the African continent”, he explains. And here is an example: Embrapa has wheat varieties that have been adapted to the tropics. Adoption on a large scale in Africa can entail a great opportunity for seed and equipment companies in Brazil. The president of the Embrapa explains that the whole process has relied on the leadership of Minister Tereza Cristina and the support of Apex-Brasil and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC/MRE). “In Africa, for example, we are going beyond the partnership with the United Arab Emirates. The proposal is to work in cooperation with local government institutions, but also have the support of Apex and ABC to open doors and create opportunities for the private sector”. It says that the intention, at the moment, is not to open an office in Africa, but to work on projects. One of the next steps is to evaluate the establishment of an office in Abu Dhabi with support of the local government jointly with minister Tereza Cristina and the [Brazilian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “I am optimistic about the possibilities the office can bring to stimulate Embrapa's projects and private businesses in the region. If the diagnosis is positive, we can create it in 2020”, says Celso Moretti. Visit to government agencies, companies and research institutes The technical mission to Abu Dhabi and Dubai included visits to companies, government bodies and research agencies. The agenda included visits to Camelicious Farm, to the Fish Farm (which focuses on marine fish breeding and hatchery to supply the local aquaculture industry), to the Agthia Group (leading company in the food and beverage sector), to the Al Dhahra Holding Company (multinational leader in agribusiness, specializing in the cultivation, production and trading of animal feed and essential food commodities and end-to-end supply chain management), to Elite Agro (company that grows ans trades fresh food products) and the Jenan Investment Company. Another visited place was a research station run by ADAFSA (Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, responsible for agriculture, food safety, food security and biosecurity) Minister Mariam Al Meheiri welcomed the Brazilian delegation on two occasions during the four-day visit. Besides the president of Embrapa, the Brazilian government mission also comprised the secretary of Innovation, Rural Development, and Irrigation at Mapa and secretary of the Embrapa's Administrative Council (Consad), Fernando Camargo; the heads of Embrapa Vegetables, Warley Nascimento, Embrapa Cassava and Tropical Fruits, Alberto Vilarinho, and Embrapa Goats and Sheep, Marco Aurélio Bomfim; as well as a representative of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil). Translation: Mariana Medeiros