Background:
Due to the recent deadlock in the Middle East, whereby Qatar was ostracised by many of its neighbouring Arab states notably Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. and Bahrain, the Sheikhdom of Qatar has run into various problems - a sudden food shortage, among others. Qatar heavily depends on imports mostly coming from these countries, and about a week ago, that was stopped, paving the way for a food crisis.
The need to import cows:
To quickly restore the supply of fresh milk and dairy products, an enterprising Qatari businessmen named Moutaz Al Khayyat has stepped up. He already had plans to get into the dairy business, and initially he was planning to get the cows from overseas delivered via ships, but due to the recently developed gravity of the situation, he has expedited his plans. Very soon, 4000 cows from Australia and the US will be flown to his newly established dairy farm near the capital Doha.
Mode of transportation:
This got me thinking, how on earth will 4000 cows be transported by air:
Well no, NOT like this :) Source
Or this. Source
This is also going to be tough! Source
As it turns out, the cows will be delivered via none other than the world's five-star airline, Qatar Airways. Feeling jealous? :P
It will take 60 flights to deliver the cows, at a cost of 8 million dollars, i.e. $2000 per cow. "This is the time to work for Qatar", the businessman said. Though he didn't clarify if he planned to fly the cows in Economy or Business class.
Thought we were flying First Class? :((( Source
One wonders how the massive transportation will be executed. It is definitely going to be messy and full of 'cowsh*t' :P But where there is a will, there is a way.
Well, that sounds more like it. Source
Or this one....perfect! Source
Potential difficulty:
However, this might present some interesting challenges, like the one in this news item.
Back in 2014, a Boeing 747 transporting almost 400 cows was forced to do an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport in London because of the fire alarm. After landing, the plane was inspected but there was no clue of any smoke. Instead, it turned out that the fire alarm was triggered by the massive amount of heat being released by the 400 cows :)
It would be interesting to see what other challenges they face and how they overcome those.
Money, Money, Money!
Money definitely makes the mare (or cows in their case) go. This is going to be the biggest cattle airlift in the human history, as Bloomberg puts it.
Obviously money is not a big problem for the world's richest nation by GDP per capita. Qatar is already spending $500 million per week to develop stadiums and metro for the 2022 football world cup.
Massive preparations for the world cup. Source
Food Security is an important part of Qatar's 'Vision 2030', and importing cows is one of the many steps towards that goal. Milk from these cows will meet almost one-third of the country's dairy needs. So this sounds like a project worth spending on. There is definitely going to be a lot of activity in Qatar, so all dairy products produced will find a good market.
The economics of the project:
Spending 8 million dollars just for transporting cows might sound overly lavish, but for the visionary Qatari businessman, it seems like a very safe investment. Perhaps its the right time to invest, even if it means investing a few extra millions.
After all that's the call for patriotism. But more than that, it will definitely give him the 'first movers advantage' in the Qatari market as he would have no local competitors. Most of the population would prefer to buy locally made products. And even if some buy imported items, meeting one-third of the total demand is a very safe target. Recovering this heavy investment from the business like this should not take more than a few years if not less, thanks to the lavish Qatari lifestyle and the uninterrupted supply of petrodollars.
Conclusion:
Sudden changes in geo-political situations may pose challenges to countries. Qatar is definitely fighting hard to stay on top of the situation and keep it's population safe from the heat of the situation. Given the ample resources the country is blessed with, if the problems being faced can be resolved quickly in the most unexpected of ways, why not?