In this episode, Saadia takes us on a journey of women empowerment, inspired by her industrialist father. Through her various initiatives, Saadia aims to inspire women to actively engage in the digital transformation of the agricultural world. She shares how she connects cultures and continents, particularly the MENA region, Africa, and Canada, and how she hopes her efforts will create opportunities for women entrepreneurs globally.

Saadia discusses the challenges and opportunities women face in these industries, offering her own strategies for overcoming and leveraging them. She emphasizes the critical role of empowering women in ensuring a future for food security.

Through her initiatives, Saadia not only supports women-led Canadian companies in exporting their expertise globally by connecting them with international leaders but also encourages women to follow like-minded role models to further contribute to the future of food security. We were inspired by Saadia’s insights on gender equality, innovation, and the immense potential of women as a talent pool essential for the digital transformation in food production, processing, and distribution. This episode is an invitation to all those seeking talent in the industry!

In this episode, join us on a culinary odyssey with Executive Chef Rohan from Sofitel Corniche, as he navigates the realms of passion, creativity, and sustainability in the context of food security and resilience in the UAE. Chef Rohan shares his insights on the importance of sourcing fresh local ingredients, and the critical role of reducing food waste in building a more resilient food system.

Discover how Chef Rohan's dedication to delighting customers is intertwined with his commitment to sustainability. Through his captivating anecdotes, Chef Rohan illustrates how Sofitel's approach to sustainability not only enhances their culinary offerings but also contributes significantly to local food production and the development of innovative solutions.

His creative process, rooted in utilizing local ingredients, demonstrates a parallel to the UAE's efforts to support local agriculture and reduce reliance on imports.

Join us as we explore Chef Rohan's culinary artistry and how Sofitel's sustainability practices align with the UAE's goals for food security and resilience.

We extend our gratitude to Sofitel, Abu Dhabi, Corniche, for their hospitality and for allowing us to engage with their key F&B stakeholders.

https://www.sofitelabudhabicorniche.com/

In our inaugural episode of "The Gentlemen of Abu Dhabi" podcast, we sit down for an engaging conversation with Atul Chopra, the visionary founder and proprietor of Fresh on Table. This serial entrepreneur chose the UAE as the backdrop for a groundbreaking business model, one that empowers local farmers to tap into premium distribution channels within the HORECA sector through the innovative Fresh on Table platform. Not only does this initiative bolster local economies, but it also significantly reduces food miles and enhances product freshness. Join us as we delve into Atul's entrepreneurial odyssey, tracing the remarkable journey of Fresh on Table from its inception to its current state. Together, we explore the pivotal partnerships it has forged and its overarching contribution to food security in the dynamic landscape of the United Arab Emirates.

www.freshontable.com

We are the first podcast and blog post on Food Security in the Emirates centered on the topic of farming in challenging climates. 

The UAE is on a mission to become self-sustainable in terms of the fresh produce it requires for its population. Through higher leadership guidance , the government has deployed a large number of initiatives, grants, subsidies and in kind support in order to boost the development of this industry from grass root level. 

The requirements go far beyond  capacity and local availability of fresh produce. There is a necessity to source and ensure  transfer of knowledge and technology, build sustainable food producing infrastructure, amplify awareness to spike youth interest towards the field to produce relief entrepreneurs and technicians and of course deep needs for further research and development in order to stay ahead of the curve and eventually lead beyond  its own borders as to fulfill global needs in the sector.

We have chosen to become a conduit of information in support of food security , in order to centralize all public programs , provide introductions and centralized access to global technology and hardware providers, discuss fields experts and academics thesis to what is relevant and applicable in the UAE context as well as spike interest from residents of all ages and background in order to ensure that everyone understand how they can contribute and get involved in the creation of this economic sector. 

We will do that by inviting all relevant stakeholders to discuss the topic on the podcast as well as by providing weekly blog posts on the various facets of the topic. 

We are the founders of The Farms and now the engineers and host of this blog and  podcast that will allow us to fulfill the level of impact we wished to bring to the world. In leading this initiative we hope that our contribution to Abu Dhabi will be enhanced and that we will help empower  projects, entrepreneurs and citizens to participate by engaging them in different levels of contribution. 

It became obvious to us that in order to best achieve our goal we needed to find a way to offer and share the opportunity we were given and allow everyone an intimate access to the global network we have built along our own journey building our project.

This is such an important part of our mission and we feel that by only building one project even of a spectacular scale, the ambitions of Abu Dhabi will require far greater awareness and involvement from its population and hundreds of projects like The Farms ,  if not thousands are needed. 

We have the ambition to make our blog and podcast the “To Go” source of centralized information around the U.A.E. food security and to be accessible to anyone that wishes to contribute to the UAE’s mission towards national food sovereignty.  

Please follow us, and spread the word. Sustainable Food security success requires for every single citizen to become an engaged actor.

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