Abu Dhabi-based startup World of Farming will begin building on-site operations at local farms later this year to provide fodder for meat and dairy producers that currently rely on imports for as much as 80% to 90% of their animal feed, said Faris Mesmar, chief executive officer of Hatch & Boost Ventures, a venture capital firm that launches and scales its own startups.“This region doesn’t have a lot of arable lands and the dependency on imports is becoming an issue for all local privately held and commercial farms,” said Mesmar in an interview. Local livestock producers “find themselves with no consistent access to food to feed their animals.”Techniques such as hydroponics, drip irrigation, and enclosed cultivation allow desert nations such as the UAE to reduce costly imports of high-value fresh produce.
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