In late 2021, Qatar signed an agreement with the World Food Program to donate $90 million toward addressing food security concerns in Yemen. This initiative is part of Qatar’s broader efforts in recent years to enhance global food security, as Qatar’s own food security challenges have become more acute due to its arid climate conditions. Like some of its neighbors, Qatar has taken on board the need to view and tackle the problem from a range of nationalistic, regional, and international approaches that rely on importing expertise and sustainable agriculture practices, investment abroad, and participation in global efforts to address food security.

Situated in one of the hottest and driest regions in the world on the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar has an average annual rainfall of only 3 inches and summer temperatures that can exceed 50 degrees Celsius, or 122 degrees Fahrenheit. According to World Bank figures, only 1.8% of Qatar’s land was arable in 2021, compared to a global average of 14.3% based on data collected from 192 countries.

These harsh climate conditions and limited arable land have led Qatar to rely heavily on food imports to meet its domestic needs. In 2015, approximately 90% of Qatar’s food consumption depended on imports. Qatar’s diplomatic crisis with its neighbors that began in 2017 further exposed this dependence, revealing the country’s vulnerability to external shocks and geopolitical tensions. Shortly after the crisis started, residents in Qatar flocked to grocery stores to stockpile food items, leading to an unprecedented food crisis.

The diplomatic crisis led Qatar to prioritize local food production by strengthening partnerships and boosting investments in domestic food and agricultural business projects. Despite notable progress, the country’s ambitious food security goals remain vulnerable to environmental challenges.

Partnerships and Investments

Ramping up local food production is at the heart of Qatar’s 2018-23 and 2023-30 food security strategies. Since the launch of the initial strategy in the months after the regional diplomatic crisis began, Qatar has made significant progress in local food production, substantially increasing production of essential food items, particularly milk and chicken, between 2017 and 2022. The agriculture market size in Qatar is currently estimated at $170.95 million and is projected to grow to $223.10 million by 2029 – a 30.5% increase in just five years. Qatar has also become a regional leader in the Global Food Security Index, an annual evaluation that assesses food security across 113 countries.

Partnering with foreign entities in the food and agribusiness sectors to leverage their expertise has been crucial for expanding local food output in Qatar. For example, in 2021, iFarm, a Finnish ag-tech company, partnered with Al Sadarah Group, owner of Qatar-based indoor farming company Agrico Organic Farm, to create an extensive indoor farm that utilizes advanced vertical farming technology to ensure a continuous supply of fresh produce throughout the year in Qatar. Funded by a National Priorities Research Program grant from the Qatar National Research Fund, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar launched a research project in August 2022 to enhance the efficiency of greenhouses in the country. Additionally, in January, Qatar’s Ministry of Municipality announced a partnership with various South Korean entities to establish “protected farms” and climate-smart agriculture to boost food productivity and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Besides working with foreign experts, the Qatari government has also invested in local companies involved in domestic food production. Hassad Food, which is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, the approximately $500 billion sovereign wealth fund, has invested in leading local food and agribusinesses, such as Baladna, which supplies 95% of Qatar’s fresh milk; the Arab Qatari Agricultural Production Company, which owns the largest vegetable farm in Qatar; the Arab Qatari Company for Poultry Production, the leading poultry producer in Qatar; and Aalaf Qatar, which owns three of the largest animal feed farms in the country.

Environmental Challenges

Despite Qatar’s demonstratable success in boosting local food output over a relatively short period, the country faces substantial environmental challenges as it moves forward with its ambitious plans. One major challenge is rising temperatures in the region. According to a 2023 GCC Statistical Center report, the average temperature in the Gulf Cooperation Council states has increased roughly 2.1 degrees Celsius over the past 21 years, compared to a global average of 1.13 degrees Celsius since the start of the 20th century. This suggests that countries in the region are warming up at twice the global rate. In fact, scientists have warned that many parts of the region could become completely uninhabitable by 2100 due to rising temperatures. Considering the unforgiving climate that Qatar already faces, the effects of rising temperatures will make it even more difficult for the country to ensure its food production benchmarks are sustainable in the long run.

The overexploitation of freshwater resources, primarily groundwater, presents yet another environmental challenge to Qatar’s local food production efforts. Extracted groundwater is the key water source for agriculture, which consumes over 90% of the country’s renewable freshwater resources. However, the rate at which groundwater is withdrawn annually in Qatar far exceeds the natural rate of recharge, posing a serious challenge to the country’s already water-stressed food and agribusiness sectors. This excessive extraction is also causing aquifer levels to drop, resulting in seawater intrusion and groundwater salinization, which harms plant growth.

Qatar has launched several initiatives in recent years to reduce freshwater usage in agriculture as part of its 2023-30 food security strategy. In November 2023, an official from the Ministry of Municipality stated that by 2030, Qatar aims to reduce the amount of water used per ton of crops produced by 40% through the implementation of more sustainable farming methods. The official further noted that Qatar plans to utilize treated sewage effluent technology for 100% of fodder irrigation by the same year, up from approximately 27% in 2019. While these initiatives are steps in the right direction to address the overuse of groundwater by the agriculture sector, it is unclear if they will sufficiently narrow the gap between the annual rate of groundwater withdrawal and natural recharge.

Qatar’s achievements in local food production underscore a robust response to food security challenges and serve as a model for other countries. Though it is not yet clear if they will be sufficient, such efforts are critical as environmental challenges, such as rising temperatures and water scarcity, pose serious threats to long-term food security in the region.