Muscat – To enhance food security and promote agricultural products, the Agricultural Production and Marketing Company, Basateen, a subsidiary of Oman Food Investment Holding, has signed an agreement with Khazaen to establish a centre for collecting, storing and distributing agricultural products.

The centre will be part of Khazaen Food City, which will help implement an effective system for agricultural promotion in the sultanate, enhance the efficiency and flexibility of food supply chains, and support the national strategy for food security, an official at Basateen said.

He added that as part of Basateen’s plans, centres to collect, store, process, distribute and market local agricultural products and model farms will be established across the sultanate.

This will help introduce the best agricultural practices, organise marketing of local agricultural produce, forge partnerships with small and medium enterprises that allow them to open outlets to sell agricultural products and also help them pay attention to quality and product safety to export surplus production.

Earlier this year, Oman Food Investment Holding – the government’s food sector investment and development arm – launched its new brand name ‘nitaj’.

nitaj is mandated to promote Oman’s food security through partnerships with government agencies, private operators and investors. It aims to bolster the sultanate’s food security plan and economic well-being by investing in domestic and international food projects in partnership with food companies, investors and other stakeholders.

Oman’s food security situation improved the most in the world in the last decade, according to the latest Global Food Security Index. The sultanate is ranked 35th in the world in the index in 2022 and fourth in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Oman’s score increased by 13.8 points since 2012 to 71.2 in 2022, which gives it the distinction of being the most improved country in the world followed by China (+13.7), Vietnam (+13.4), Bolivia (+12.2), the United Arab Emirates (+12) and Saudi Arabia (+11.8) among others.