DUBAI: Faced with a scarcity of fertile land, water shortages and surging world food prices, wealthy Arab states in the Gulf are seeking to secure their food supplies by investing in agriculture abroad.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the top food importers among Arab countries in the Gulf, are now looking to Asia and Africa as opportunities for agricultural investments.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan said in Kazakhstan on Monday that his country, which imports around 85 per cent of its food, is interested in the central Asian nation “to diversify its sources of food supplies.” Investing in agriculture abroad “is part of our strategic investment in general,” UAE Economy Minister Sultan bin Said al-Mansuri said earlier this month.

Rapid growth fuelled by record oil revenues has triggered a huge influx of expatriates in the Gulf, steadily boosting populations and stretching the ability to meet demand for mostly imported foodstuffs.

The total population of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE -- rose from around 30 million in 2000 to more than 35 million in 2006, according to GCC statistics.

This figure is expected to reach nearly 39 million by 2010 and 58 million by 2030, according to a Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre (GRC) report.

Although these nations have huge oil reserves they are among the world’s poorest in natural water resources and arable land -- just two per cent of the vast Saudi desert kingdom and one per cent of the UAE.

GCC food imports cost $10 billion in 2007, said the GRC study, although some press reports put the figure much higher. Saudi Arabia, with a population of about 24 million, remains the largest food importer.—AFP