The land of unlimited possibilities

The land of unlimited possibilities

Naturally, many think of the United States of America. Students from Aeres University of Applied Sciences Dronten have experienced that the United Arab Emirates should not be overlooked. Trade, knowledge, and networking are decisive for the success of the country and its companies. Aeres and GDF may have joined forces to organize a joint seminar at VIV MEA. A beautiful collaboration between GDF and Aeres as knowledge partners. In this seminar, an introduction was given by Ad van Velde, President of Global Dairy Farmers, Frank Post, Livestock Farming lecturer, and each student group gave a presentation on a specific topic. With a diverse audience, a harvest of knowledge was gathered, providing a valuable experience for all!

In Ad van Velde's presentation, there were similarities with the objectives of this Aeres study trip; How can food be produced under climatically complex conditions? What can dairy farming do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

In addition to GDF, the network of Huboranje, VIV, and the embassy were important for our study trip. VIV introduced us to the Ministry of Agriculture of the UAE. The reception and presentation there provided a beautiful insight into cultural differences and views on food production. They appreciated the directness of the Dutch students, "direct, eager to learn but also polite," a welcome compliment for the group as a teacher.

The ministry annually awards a prize for the best agricultural entrepreneur worth 2.5 million euros. The ambition is to increase food production by 3% annually. The focus is strongly on quantity and quality, and for us, it became apparent that sustainability has different key performance indicators (KPIs) and is in a different stage of development than in the Netherlands.

In summary, we look back on a fun and inspiring week. For everyone, it was a special experience, especially because food is highly valued. One of the students, Dutchfarmerjohn, has provided a beautiful summary in stunning images, including fun and substantive commentary at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDin24VwYW0&t=1s.