From food projects toreal production system

Oman’s decision to establish the Omani Livestock Association may appear, at first glance, to be a routine administrative step. It is not.
The timing reflects a much larger shift taking place inside the country’s economic and food-security strategy at a moment when global supply chains are becoming more fragile, food inflation remains volatile and geopolitical uncertainty continues to reshape international trade.
For Gulf economies that have long relied heavily on imports, food security is no longer simply an agricultural issue. It has become part of a broader conversation about economic resilience, strategic stability and supply-chain security.
Oman is increasingly moving in that direction.
Over the past few years, the country has quietly accelerated investment across the food-production chain, from dairy and poultry to feed manufacturing, food processing and agri-industrial infrastructure.
Official figures show that Oman implemented around 494 food-security related projects during the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2021–2025), with investments exceeding RO 1.9 billion. The scale alone signals that food production is no longer viewed as a secondary development sector, but as part of the country’s wider economic transformation under Oman Vision 2040.
Projects such as Mazoon Dairy have significantly expanded domestic dairy capacity, while investments including A’Namaa Poultry and Sohar Poultry continue strengthening local poultry production.
At the same time, industrial integration is accelerating. Madayn recently reported more than 121 food-sector projects across its industrial cities with investments exceeding RO 272 million, highlighting the growing link between agriculture, manufacturing and logistics.
There are already visible results.
Egg self-sufficiency levels have surpassed 95 per cent, while poultry production continues to improve domestic market coverage. Red meat production, however, remains more challenging, with local supply still below total demand.
That partly explains the strategic importance of projects such as Al Bashayer Meat Company, which aims to strengthen local meat production through modern livestock systems and industrial-scale processing facilities. Recently, Brazilian food giant JBS committed $150 million towards the expansion and operational rollout of A'Namaa Poultry and Al Bashayer Meat Company as part of a strategic partnership aimed at strengthening the Sultanate of Oman’s food security.
But the bigger story is not the number of projects being announced.
The real test is whether Oman can turn these investments into an integrated and commercially sustainable production system rather than a collection of isolated projects operating independently from one another.
That distinction matters.
Many countries have invested heavily in food-security initiatives only to discover that production alone does not guarantee resilience. Without integration across feed supply, logistics, processing, storage, veterinary systems and market access, even large investments can become financially difficult to sustain over time.
There is also a risk that some food-security projects evolve into showcase investments without creating a fully connected national value chain capable of delivering long-term economic returns.
This remains one of the livestock sector’s biggest challenges.
Feed costs continue to place heavy pressure on breeders and producers, particularly in a region facing climate and water constraints. Oman’s investment in feed manufacturing projects, including developments in Khazaen Economic City, reflects growing recognition that feed security itself has become strategically important.
At the same time, many small-scale breeders continue to face structural difficulties ranging from financing and productivity to disease management and fragmented access to larger markets.
This is where the Omani Livestock Association could become genuinely important.
If the association develops into a serious professional platform capable of representing breeders, supporting technical development and improving coordination with policymakers, it could help bridge the longstanding gap between traditional livestock activities and Oman’s modern food-security ambitions.
However, if it remains largely ceremonial, its long-term impact is likely to be limited.
The reality is that Oman’s livestock sector can no longer operate as a fragmented traditional activity disconnected from the country’s wider economic transformation.
Globally, modern livestock industries are deeply integrated with food processing, biotechnology, logistics, retail and industrial supply chains. The real economic value no longer lies only in raising animals, but in the broader ecosystem built around production.
Oman increasingly appears to recognise this shift.
The country is not pursuing unrealistic full self-sufficiency targets. Instead, its approach appears focused on building strategic resilience — maintaining enough domestic production capacity and supply-chain flexibility to absorb external shocks while supporting economic diversification and rural development.
That may prove to be the more economically sustainable path.
In the years ahead, Oman’s food-security ambitions will be judged less by the number of projects announced and more by whether the country can build a productive system capable of supporting growth, strengthening rural economies and withstanding future global disruptions.