Al Rawdah invests $32m in phase one of Liwa farm

Emirates Modern Poultry Co. (Al Rawdah) has announced that it is investing US $32.7 (AED120 million) in phase one of a new farm in Abu Dhabi’s Liwa area and that the total investment in the farm will be $400m.

With this investment, Al Rawdah said it will support the UAE's food security and sustainable development, as well as the development of the local famers’ skills , which in turn will help to make the country more self-sufficient - not least because the farm production will reduce Al Rawdah’s reliance on imported hatching eggs by 50%.

The announcement was made during a press conference held on Sunday that Caterer Middle East attended, during which Al Rawdah signed the official build-up contract with LAE-Anlagenbau GmbH (for manufacturing production machinery); Amandus Kahl GmbH & Co. KG (for designing and building feed mills); and Prompt Contracting LLC (for contractual works).

Phase one of Liwa has already started and eventually the 5,000,000 million square metre farm will house parent stock comprised of six hen houses, with 7,000 birds in each, and a feed mill built to cater to the needs of local farmers’ livestock as well.

“We are very proud to announce the launch of our new Liwa facility, which will be of tremendous long-term benefit to both Al Rawdah’s operations and the UAE’s poultry sector.

"The country as a whole will benefit from increased food security and sustainable development through a state-of-the-art facility that can produce its own eggs, hatch its own chicks and guarantee long-term sustainability and excellence.

"It gives us the capacity to house more poultry in world-class conditions to meet market demand,” Al Rawdah chairman Abdalla Al Owais said in a speech at the press conference, which took place at the Fairmont on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai.

Afterwards, Al Rawdah vice chairman Abdulla Al Qubaisi added: "The project will drive revenues and help us meet market demand, as well as help us reduce operating costs by generating our own electricity, reducing waste generation and water use, and limiting our reliance on imports."

The third speaker at the event was Al Rawdah CEO Dr. El Rashid Dafalla, who stated: “Our Liwa project helps us drive key improvements across three core areas that are key to our success – market growth, reducing resource use, and ensuring animal welfare. We have made significant strides across all these operational pillars."

In a Q&A session with local media shortly before the contracts were officially signed, Al Rawdah's management team revealed that the company's Dubai poultry farm has seen a lot of development in terms of renewable energy and is executing a pilot project through the trial of solar panels.