ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fahad Al-Attiya - Food security expert
Fahad Al-Attiya's job is to maintain food security in Qatar, a country that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food.

Why you should listen

Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya has his work cut out for him: His home, Qatar, has found itself a newly oil-rich country with an economy growing at an average rate of 15 percent a year, with a rapidly expanding population. That burst in population has been accompanied by a huge surge in water consumption. So what's so strange about that? -- Qatar has virtually no water. In comparison to Brazil's annual 1782 mm of rain, Qatar's annual rainfall is 74 mm.

Al-Attiya is the Chairman of Qatar’s National Food Security Programme, and he is tasked with making food secure -- and keeping it that way -- in a place that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food. He hopes that his program's innovations in sustainable agriculture, especially in arid regions, can help other countries deal with dwindling food supplies due to extreme climate change.

More profile about the speaker
Fahad Al-Attiya | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxSummit

Fahad Al-Attiya: A country with no water

Fahad Al-Attiya: Nchi isiyokuwa na maji

Filmed:
1,529,461 views

Fikiri kuhusu nchi ambayo ina umeme mwingi sana -- mafuta na gesi,Mwanga wa jua,upepo(na pesa) --lakini imepungukiwa na huduma muhimu kwa ajili ya maisha: Maji. Mhandisi wa miundo mbinu Fahad Al-Attiya anaongelea njia zisizotegemewa ambazo taifa dogo la Mashariki ya Kati la Qatar linatumia kutengeneza mfumo wake wa usambazaji wa maji.
- Food security expert
Fahad Al-Attiya's job is to maintain food security in Qatar, a country that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
SalaamSalaam alaikumalaikum.
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Salaam alaikum
00:19
WelcomeKaribu to DohaDoha.
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Karibuni Doha.
00:21
I am in chargemalipo of makingkufanya this country'sya nchi foodchakula securesalama.
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Mimi ndio muhusika wa usalama wa chakula nchi hii.
00:24
That is my jobkazi for the nextijayo two yearsmiaka,
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Hii ni kazi yangu kwa miaka miwili ijayo,
00:26
to designkubuni an entirenzima masterbwana planMpango,
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kutengeneza mpango mkuu,
00:28
and then for the nextijayo 10 yearsmiaka to implementkutekeleza it --
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na kwa miaka kumi ijayo kuupendekeza
00:32
of coursebila shaka, with so manywengi other people.
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na watu wengine wengi,
00:34
But first, I need to talk to you about a storyhadithi, whichambayo is my storyhadithi,
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Lakini kwanza,nahitaji kukuhadithia,hii ni hadithi yangu,
00:39
about the storyhadithi of this countrynchi that you're all here in todayleo.
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kuhusu nchi hii mliyopo leo
00:43
And of coursebila shaka, mostwengi of you have had threetatu mealsmilo todayleo,
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Kwa uhakika,wengi wenu mmekula milo mitatu leo,
00:46
and probablylabda will continueendelea to have after this eventtukio.
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nahisi mtaendelea kula tena baada ya hii shughuli.
00:51
So going in, what was QatarKhatari in the 1940s?
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Tuangalie sasa ni vipi Quatar ilikuwa katika mwaka 1940?
00:55
We were about 11,000 people livingwanaishi here.
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Tulikuwa watu kama 11,000 tunaoishi hapa.
00:59
There was no watermaji. There was no energynishati, no oilmafuta, no carsmagari, nonehakuna of that.
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Hakukuwa na maji.Hakukuwa an nishati,mafuta,magari,vyote hivo havikuwepo.
01:06
MostWengi of the people who livedaliishi here
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Watu wengi walioishi hapa
01:08
eitherama livedaliishi in coastalpwani villagesvijiji, fishinguvuvi,
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waliishi vijiji vya pwani,kuvua,
01:10
or were nomadsmajambazi who roamedwalivamia around with the environmentmazingira tryingkujaribu to find watermaji.
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au walikuwa watu wa kuhamahama ambao walitembea kutafuta maji.
01:16
NoneHakuna of the glamourutazame that you see todayleo existedulipo.
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Uzuri wote huu unauona haukuwepo.
01:20
No citiesmiji like you see todayleo in DohaDoha or DubaiDubai or AbuAbu DhabiDhabi or KuwaitKuwaiti or RiyadhRiyad.
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Hakukuwa na jiji kama uonavyo leo Doha au Dubai au Abu Dhabi au Kuwait au Riyadh.
01:25
It wasn'thaikuwa that they couldn'thaikuweza developkuendeleza citiesmiji.
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Haikuwa kwamba walishidwa kuendeleza miji.
01:27
ResourcesRasilimali weren'thawakuwa there to developkuendeleza them.
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Malighafi hazikuwepo kuweza kuendeleza.
01:29
And you can see that life expectancymatarajio was alsopia shortmfupi.
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Na unaweza kuona muda wa watu kuishi ulikuwa mfupi.
01:32
MostWengi people diedalikufa around the ageumri of 50.
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Watu wengi walifariki katika miaka 50
01:34
So let's movehoja to chaptersura two: the oilmafuta erazama.
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Twende sasa ukurasa wa pili:wakati wa mafuta.
01:38
1939, that's when they discoveredaligundua oilmafuta.
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1939,hapo ndipo mafuta yaligundulika.
01:41
But unfortunatelykwa bahati mbaya, it wasn'thaikuwa really fullykikamilifu exploitedkunyonywa commerciallykibiashara
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Kwa bahati mbaya,hayakutumika vya kutosha kibiashara
01:46
untilmpaka after the SecondPili WorldUlimwengu WarVita.
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mpaka vita ya pili ya dunia.
01:48
What did it do?
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Ilifanya nini?
01:51
It changediliyopita the faceuso of this countrynchi, as you can see todayleo and witnessshahidi.
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Ilibadilisha muonekano wa nchi,kama unavyoona na kushuhudia.
01:54
It alsopia madealifanya all those people who roamedwalivamia around the desertjangwa --
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Na ilifanya wale watu wote waliokuwa wakizunguka jangwa..
01:58
looking for watermaji, looking for foodchakula,
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kutafuta maji,kutafuta chakula,
02:01
tryingkujaribu to take carehuduma of theirwao livestockmifugo -- urbanizeurbanize.
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wakijaribu kuwatunza wanyama wao..wakaepata maendeleo
02:05
You mightnguvu find this strangeajabu,
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Unaweza kuona ni ajabu,
02:07
but in my familyfamilia we have differenttofauti accentsmikazo.
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lakini katika familia yangu tuna lafudhi tofauti.
02:11
My mothermama has an accentmkazo that is so differenttofauti to my fatherbaba,
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Mama yangu ana asili ambayo ni tofauti na baba yangu,
02:15
and we're all a populationidadi ya watu of about 300,000 people in the samesawa countrynchi.
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wote tupo idadi inayofikia watu 300,000 tunaoishi katika nchi moja.
02:20
There are about fivetano or sixsita accentsmikazo in this countrynchi as I speaksema.
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Kuna lafudhi kama tano au sita katika nchi hii ninapoongea mpaka sasa.
02:23
SomeoneMtu saysanasema, "How so? How could this happenkutokea?"
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Kuna mtu husema"Kivipi?Inawezekanaje kutokea?
02:27
Because we livedaliishi scatteredkutawanywa.
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Kwa kuwa tuliishi tukiwa tumetawanyika.
02:29
We couldn'thaikuweza livekuishi in a concentratedkujilimbikizia way simplytu because there was no resourcesrasilimali.
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Hatukuishi katika sehemu ya pamoja sana kwa sababu hatukuwa na malighafi.
02:34
And when the resourcesrasilimali camealikuja, be it oilmafuta,
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Na malighafi zilipokuja,mafuta,
02:38
we startedilianza buildingkujenga these fancydhana technologiesteknolojia
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tukaanza kutengeneza teknolojia ya hali ya juu
02:41
and bringingkuleta people togetherpamoja because we neededinahitajika the concentrationmkusanyiko.
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na kuwaleta watu pamoja kwa sababu tulihitaji kukusanyika.
02:45
People startedilianza to get to know eachkila mmoja other.
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Watu walianza kufahamiana.
02:47
And we realizedgundua that there are some differencestofauti in accentsmikazo.
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Na tukagundua kulikuwa na tofauti ya asili.
02:51
So that is the chaptersura two: the oilmafuta erazama.
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Hiyo ilikuwa ukurasa wa pili:wakati wa mafuta.
02:54
Let's look at todayleo.
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Tuangalie leo.
02:56
This is probablylabda the skylineskyline that mostwengi of you know about DohaDoha.
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Inawezekana hiki ndicho wengi mnachojua kuhusu Doha.
03:01
So what's the populationidadi ya watu todayleo?
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Idadi ya watu ikoje leo?
03:02
It's 1.7 millionmilioni people.
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ni watu milioni moja na laki saba.
03:04
That is in lesschini than 60 yearsmiaka.
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Hiyo ni katika kipindi kisichozidi miaka 60.
03:07
The averagewastani growthukuaji of our economyuchumi is about 15 percentasilimia for the pastzilizopita fivetano yearsmiaka.
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Wastani wa ukuaji w uchumi wetu ni asilimia 15 katika miaka mitano iliyopita.
03:13
LifespanLifespan has increasedimeongezeka to 78.
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Tegemeo la kuishi limeongezeka hadi miaka 78.
03:16
WaterMaji consumptionmatumizi has increasedimeongezeka to 430 literslita.
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Matumizi ya maji yameongezeka hadi lita 430.
03:21
And this is amongstmiongoni mwa the highestjuu worldwideduniani kote.
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Na hii ndo takwimu kubwa duniani.
03:24
From havingkuwa na no watermaji whatsoeverchochote
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Kutoka kutokuwa na maji
03:26
to consumingkuteketeza watermaji to the highestjuu degreeshahada, higherjuu than any other nationtaifa.
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mpaka kutumia maji katika kiwango kikubwa duniani,kikubwa kuliko taifa lolote.
03:32
I don't know if this was a reactionmajibu to lackukosefu of watermaji.
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Sijui kama hii ni matokeo ya ukosefu wa maji.
03:35
But what is interestingkuvutia about the storyhadithi that I've just said?
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Lakini ni kipi kinachonifurahisha kwenye hadithi niliyosimulia?
03:42
The interestingkuvutia partsehemu is that we continueendelea to growkukua
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Kinachofurahisha ni kwamba tunaendelea kukua
03:45
15 percentasilimia everykila yearmwaka for the pastzilizopita fivetano yearsmiaka withoutbila watermaji.
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asilimia 15 kila mwaka kwa miaka mitano bila maji.
03:51
Now that is historickihistoria. It's never happenedkilichotokea before in historyhistoria.
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Sasa hiyo ni historia.Haijawahi tokea kabla ya historia.
03:56
CitiesMiji were totallykabisa wipedkufutwa out because of the lackukosefu of watermaji.
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Miji yote iliharibika kwa sababu ya ukoseu wa maji.
04:00
This is historyhistoria beingkuwa madealifanya in this regionkanda.
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Hii ni historia iliyotengenezwa katika eneo hili.
04:03
Not only citiesmiji that we're buildingkujenga,
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Sio miji tu ndo tunajenga,
04:05
but citiesmiji with dreamsndoto and people who are wishingwanaotaka to be scientistswanasayansi, doctorsmadaktari.
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lakini miji yenye maono na watu ambao wanatamani kuwa wanasayansi,madaktari.
04:10
BuildKujenga a nicenzuri home, bringkuleta the architectmbunifu, designkubuni my housenyumba.
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Kujenga nyumba nzuri,kuwaleta wasanifu majengo,kutengeneza nyumba yangu.
04:13
These people are adamant12Wakaifanya that this is a livablelivable spacenafasi when it wasn'thaikuwa.
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Hawa watu wanaamini kwamba sehemu hii unaweza kuishi wakati ilipokuwa haiwezekani.
04:19
But of coursebila shaka, with the use of technologyteknolojia.
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Lakini kwa sababu ya teknolojia.
04:21
So BrazilBrazili has 1,782 millimetersmilimita perkwa kila yearmwaka of precipitationprecipitation of rainmvua.
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Brazil ina kiasi cha mvua kwa milimita 1782 kwa mwaka.
04:28
QatarKhatari has 74, and we have that growthukuaji ratekiwango.
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Quatar ina 74,na tuna ukuaji kiasi hicho.
04:31
The questionswali is how.
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Swali ni kivipi?
04:33
How could we survivekuishi that?
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Tunawezaje kuendela hivi?
04:36
We have no watermaji whatsoeverchochote.
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Hatuna maji kabisa.
04:38
SimplyTu because of this giganticgigantic, mammothmammoth machinemashine calledaitwaye desalinationkusafisha maji chumvi.
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kwa sababu ya mashine kubwa ya kutoa chumvi kwenye maji.
04:44
EnergyNishati is the keyufunguo factorsababu here. It changediliyopita everything.
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Nishati ni kitu kikubwa hapa.Imebadilisha kila kitu.
04:48
It is that thing that we pumppampu out of the groundardhi, we burnchoma tonstani of,
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Ni ambacho kinakitoa toka ardhini,tunaunguza tani na tani,
04:53
probablylabda mostwengi of you used it comingkuja to DohaDoha.
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wengi wenu mmekitumia kuja Doha.
04:56
So that is our lakeZiwa, if you can see it.
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Hilo ni ziwa letu,kama unaweza kuona.
04:59
That is our riverMto.
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Huo ni mto wetu.
05:01
That is how you all happenkutokea to use and enjoykufurahia watermaji.
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Hivyo ndivyo inavotokea mpaka kutumia na kufaidi maji.
05:06
This is the bestbora technologyteknolojia that this regionkanda could ever have: desalinationkusafisha maji chumvi.
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Hii ni teknolojia nzuri sana ambayo eneo hili linayo,kuondoa chumvi katika maji
05:13
So what are the riskshatari?
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Je,hatari ni zipi?
05:15
Do you worrywasiwasi much?
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Unaogopa sana?
05:16
I would say, perhapslabda if you look at the globalkimataifa factsukweli,
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Naweza kusema,ukiangalia ukweli kiujumla,
05:20
you will realizekutambua, of coursebila shaka I have to worrywasiwasi.
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utagundua,unatakiwa kuwa na mashaka.
05:23
There is growingkukua demandmahitaji, growingkukua populationidadi ya watu.
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Kuna hitaji la kukua,ukuaji wa idadi ya watu.
05:25
We'veTumekuwa turnedakageuka sevensaba billionbilioni only a fewwachache monthsmiezi agoiliyopita.
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Tumekuwa bilioni saba miezi michache iliyopita.
05:29
And so that numbernambari alsopia demandsmadai foodchakula.
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Na hiyo idadi pia inahitaji chakula.
05:32
And there's predictionsutabiri that we'llvizuri be ninetisa billionbilioni by 2050.
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Na kuna makisio kwamba tutakuwa bilioni tisa kwa mwaka 2050.
05:35
So a countrynchi that has no watermaji
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Kwa hiyo nchi ambayo haina maji
05:38
has to worrywasiwasi about what happenshutokea beyondzaidi its bordersmipaka.
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inakuwa na wasiwasi kipi kitachotokea nje ya mipaka yake.
05:42
There's alsopia changingkubadilisha dietsmlo.
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Kuna kubadilisha ulaji.
05:44
By elevatingtulilenga kuinua to a higherjuu socio-economickijamii na kiuchumi levelngazi,
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Kwa kuongezeka katika hali ya juu ya maisha,
05:48
they alsopia changemabadiliko theirwao dietchakula.
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pia wanabadilisha ulaji wao.
05:50
They startkuanza eatingkula more meatnyama and so on and so forthnje.
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Wanaanza kula kula sana nyama na vinginevyo.
05:53
On the other handmkono, there is decliningkupungua kwa yieldsmazao
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Kwa upande mwingine,uzalishaji unaporomoka
05:56
because of climatehali ya hewa changemabadiliko and because of other factorssababu.
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kwa sababu ya mabadiliko ya tabia ya nchi na sababu nyinginezo.
05:59
And so someonemtu has to really realizekutambua when the crisismgogoro is going to happenkutokea.
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Na inatakiwa mtu atambue lini hili tatizo litakuja kutokea.
06:04
This is the situationhali in QatarKhatari, for those who don't know.
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Hii ni hali hapa Quatar,kwa wale wasiojua.
06:07
We only have two dayssiku of watermaji reservehifadhi.
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Tuna siku mbili tu za utunzaji maji.
06:11
We importkuagiza 90 percentasilimia of our foodchakula,
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Tunaagiza asilimia 90 ya chakula chetu,
06:13
and we only cultivateKuza lesschini than one percentasilimia of our landardhi.
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na tunalima chini ya asilimia moja ya ardhi yetu.
06:17
The limitedmdogo numbernambari of farmerswakulima that we have
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Idadi ndogo ya wakulima ambayo tunayo
06:19
have been pushedkusukuma out of theirwao farmingkilimo practicesmazoea
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wameondolewa katika taratibu zao za ulimaji
06:23
as a resultmatokeo of openkufungua marketsoko policysera and bringingkuleta the bigkubwa competitionsmashindano, etcna kadhalika., etcna kadhalika.
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kwa sababu ya soko huria na ushindani, n.k.
06:28
So we alsopia faceuso riskshatari.
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Kwa hiyo tunakumbana na hatari
06:32
These riskshatari directlymoja kwa moja affectkuathiri the sustainabilityuendelevu of this nationtaifa and its continuitymwendelezo.
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Hatari hizi zimeathiri uendeleaji wa taifa hili
06:39
The questionswali is, is there a solutionsuluhisho?
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Swali ni kwamba,je kuna suluhisho?
06:41
Is there a sustainableendelevu solutionsuluhisho?
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Kuna ufumbuzi wa uhakika?
06:43
IndeedKweli there is.
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Kiukweli upo.
06:45
This slideslide sumskiasi up thousandsmaelfu of pageskurasa of technicalkiufundi documentsnyaraka
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Hii inaonesha nyaraka zipatazo 1000 za kiufundi
06:50
that we'vetumekuwa been workingkufanya kazi on over the pastzilizopita two yearsmiaka.
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ambazo tulikuwa tunafanyia kazi katika miaka miwili iliyopita.
06:52
Let's startkuanza with the watermaji.
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Tuanze na maji.
06:54
So we know very well -- I showedilionyesha you earliermapema -- that we need this energynishati.
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Tunajua fika...niliwaonyesha mapema..kwamba tunahitaji hii nishati.
06:57
So if we're going to need energynishati, what sortfanya of energynishati?
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Kwa hiyo kama tutahitaji nishati,ni aina ipi?
07:00
A depletabledepletable energynishati? FossilKisukuku fuelmafuta?
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nishati inayoisha?mafuta ghafi?
07:03
Or should we use something elsemwingine?
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Au tutumie kitu kingine?
07:05
Do we have the comparativekulinganisha advantagefaida to use anothermwingine sortfanya of energynishati?
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Tunayo faida ya kulinganisha kutumia aina nyingine ya nishati?
07:09
I guessnadhani mostwengi of you by now realizekutambua that we do: 300 dayssiku of sunjua.
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Nahisi wote mnafahamu kwamba tuna siku 300 za jua.
07:13
And so we will use that renewableinabadilishwa energynishati to producekuzalisha the watermaji that we need.
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Kwa tunaweza tumia hii nishati kutupa maji tunayohitaji.
07:18
And we will probablylabda put 1,800 megawattsmegawati of solarjua systemsmifumo
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Kwa hiyo tunaweza kuweka 1800 megawati za umeme jua
07:23
to producekuzalisha 3.5 millionmilioni cubicza ujazo metersmita of watermaji.
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kuzalisha milioni 3.5 za ujazo za maji.
07:26
And that is a lot of watermaji.
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Na hayo ni maji mengi.
07:28
That watermaji will go then to the farmerswakulima,
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Hayo maji yataenda kwa wakulima,
07:30
and the farmerswakulima will be ableinaweza to watermaji theirwao plantsmimea,
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na wakulima wataweza kumwagilia mazao yao,
07:33
and they will be ableinaweza then to supplyusambazaji societyjamii with foodchakula.
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wataweza kuihudumia jamii kwa chakula
07:37
But in orderamri to sustainendelea the horizontalusawa linemstari --
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Lakini kwa ajili ya kuhimili upande huu
07:39
because these are the projectsmiradi, these are the systemsmifumo that we will deliverkutoa --
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kwa sababu hii ni mipango,hii ni mipango tunayotekeleza
07:42
we need to alsopia developkuendeleza the verticalwima linemstari:
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pia tunatakiwa tuendeleze upande mwingine
07:45
systemmfumo sustenanceriziki, high-levelngazi ya juu educationelimu, researchutafiti and developmentmaendeleo,
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kusimamia mifumo,elimu ya hali ya juu,tafiti na maendeleo,
07:50
industriesviwanda, technologiesteknolojia, to producekuzalisha these technologiesteknolojia for applicationprogramu, and finallyhatimaye marketsmasoko.
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vinwanda,teknolojia,kutengeneza teknolojia kwa matumizi,na mwisho masoko.
07:55
But what gelsgels all of it, what enablesinawezesha it, is legislationsheria, policiessera, regulationskanuni.
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Lakini kipi kinarahisha na kuwezesha,ni sheria,sera,utaratibu.
08:01
WithoutBila it we can't do anything.
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Bila hivi hatuwezi kufanya chochote.
08:03
So that's what we are planningkupanga to do.
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Kwa hiyo hiki ndicho tunachopanga kufanya.
08:05
WithinNdani ya two yearsmiaka we should hopefullykwa matumaini be donekufanyika with this planMpango
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Ndani ya miaka miwili tunaweza kuwa tumekamilisha mipango hii
08:09
and takingkuchukua it to implementationutekelezaji.
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na kuongelea kuitekeleza.
08:11
Our objectivelengo is to be a millenniumMilenia cityjiji, just like manywengi millenniumMilenia citiesmiji around:
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Lengo letu kuu ni kuwa jiji la kimilenia,kama majiji mengine ya kimilenia
08:17
IstanbulIstanbul, RomeRoma, LondonLondon, ParisParis, DamascusDameski, CairoCairo.
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Instanbul,Rome,London,Paris,Damascus,Cairo.
08:24
We are only 60 yearsmiaka oldzamani, but we want to livekuishi forevermilele
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Tuna miaka 60 tu,lakini tunataka kuishi milele
08:28
as a cityjiji, to livekuishi in peaceamani.
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kama jiji,kuishi kwa amani.
08:33
Thank you very much.
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Asante sana.
08:35
(ApplauseMakofi)
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(makofi)
Translated by Nelson Simfukwe
Reviewed by Joachim Mangilima

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fahad Al-Attiya - Food security expert
Fahad Al-Attiya's job is to maintain food security in Qatar, a country that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food.

Why you should listen

Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya has his work cut out for him: His home, Qatar, has found itself a newly oil-rich country with an economy growing at an average rate of 15 percent a year, with a rapidly expanding population. That burst in population has been accompanied by a huge surge in water consumption. So what's so strange about that? -- Qatar has virtually no water. In comparison to Brazil's annual 1782 mm of rain, Qatar's annual rainfall is 74 mm.

Al-Attiya is the Chairman of Qatar’s National Food Security Programme, and he is tasked with making food secure -- and keeping it that way -- in a place that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food. He hopes that his program's innovations in sustainable agriculture, especially in arid regions, can help other countries deal with dwindling food supplies due to extreme climate change.

More profile about the speaker
Fahad Al-Attiya | Speaker | TED.com