The UAE – home to the world’s tallest building, the world’s fastest rollercoaster, and the world’s largest inflatable bouncy castle – is rarely shy on ambition.
Now, that eager eye is turning to agriculture as the country looks to transform its food production to grow half the food it consumes by 2051. That’s no small task for a small state that currently feeds its 10 million people with around 85% imports and only 5% of its land is suitable for arable production. So is it really achievable?
Money certainly won’t be much of an object. Billions of dollars have already been ploughed into many of the country’s agtech initiatives, with vertical farming one of the biggest benefactors. Since vertical farms were first introduced to the UAE in 2016, the country has gone on a streak of record-breaking attempts, with Dubai’s Bustanica site – a three-story factory producing around 1000 tonnes of leafy greens each year – the current record holder.
Soon, however, that title could change with the UAE-founded enterprise ReFarm announcing an even bigger facility – named the GigaFarm – at Cop28 in Dubai last year. The site intends to open in 2025 with plans to grow more than 3000 tonnes of produce each year and replace 1% of the country’s fresh produce imports.
“Vertical farming has shown promising results in the Emirati climate, aligning with the policy’s emphasis on water-efficient agriculture,” says Hadi Fathallah, a senior agriculture specialist at the World Bank.
Agtech projects are sweeping the country
However, these vertical farms are often just a part of some much larger agtech projects sweeping the country. Take the GigaFarm, which will be situated in Dubai’s Food Tech Valley, a “globally unique, first-of-its kind initiative uniting the complete food and agriculture ecosystem,” according to its website.
The Food Tech Valley is a government-led initiative intended to act as an innovation hub for food security by working with government and commercial partners like the World Food Programme, PepsiCo, and the Emirates Development Bank.
The 400 acres site is split into four main clusters – food production, logistics, a business park, and an innovation centre – and is expected to produce 300 new varieties of crops and generate more than 14,000 new jobs.
“Food Tech Valley is a transformative project designed to build a resilient food ecosystem, decarbonise food production and contribute to global food security,” says Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, CEO of Wasl, the Dubai-based property developer which funded the site in partnership with the UAE government.
Over in Abu Dhabi, a similar site is now up and running with a similarly enormous vertical farm. The AgTech Park ecosystem is a 500-acre agricultural venture that opened last year, and is planning to produce 40 kilotons of fresh fruits and vegetables a year, the equivalent of 6% of the UAE’s total consumption.
Innovation at a cost?
The idea of fields – and factories – blooming with tomatoes, apricots, and salads amid the harsh Arabian desert is an enticing image. But it is still unclear whether the UAE is really on a trajectory to achieve it.
For starters, vertical farms have not advanced beyond anything but leafy greens and while therefore not insignificant, that does mean that they are unlikely to have any dramatic impacts on the nation’s diet just yet.
But perhaps more importantly, there are doubts over the UAE’s true motivations with some commentators suggesting this is more about supporting national economic development than promoting food security.
“They are ultimately designed as a tool of economic boosterism—finding ways to stimulate local growth and enticing and retaining capital,” says Natalie Koch, a professor at Syracuse University in the US.
“This form of boosterism reflects the favoured development model in the Gulf today: prioritising high-tech industries that are seen to be key to future growth. Investing in agtech fits this model in a way that investing in traditional agriculture would not.”
Koch argues that while countries like the UAE say their focus on agtech is about supporting a local desire for entrepreneurship, in reality, it is more about creating new economic links with foreign firms and investors.
She points to Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Innovation Fund start-up incubator which has backed numerous big agtech projects over recent years, including large vertical farming projects from Pure Harvest and Alesca Life both run by Americans with backgrounds in Silicon Valley.
Local founders, meanwhile, are starting to see the money dry up. Agtech start-ups across the Middle East and North Africa cumulatively raised $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2024, down almost 26% on the same period a year before, according to UAE-based venture data compiler Magnitt.
Where start-ups can get investment, it is typically from government back entities like ADQ, the company behind Abu Dhabi’s AgTech Park, believes Alexander Kappes, CEO of Greener Crop Hydroponic Farm Management.
“We were shot down by all VCs due to a lack of interest and knowledge in agtech, as well as concerns about the market size and scalability,” he told Arabian Gulf Business Insight.
No plans to ease up
Despite the doubts, the UAE government shows no sign of slowing down. In October, it launched its latest plan: the “Plant the Emirates” national programme, which included the opening of a new National Agriculture Centre to focus on increasing agricultural production by one fifth over the next five years.
The programme’s full aims are far reaching, stretching to include goals to ensure the country’s restaurants make more use of local produce and residents are encouraged to grow crops at home.
Afterall, it is no doubt in the UAE’s own interests to boost its food security. The country’s supply has been knocked by both the Ukraine war and the conflict in Gaza in recent years, meaning that while the strategic direction was set before both conflicts broke out, they will only have served to reinforce its desire to insulate itself from fragile global supply chains.
Join agtech experts for World Agri-Tech Dubai, December 9-10 to forge new partnerships, drive forward industry projects and discover the latest innovations and market opportunities advancing food security and climate resilient farming in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
