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The Al-Attiyah Foundation’s latest sustainability research paper warns that the race to protect food production in fragile environments in the Mena region is accelerating and the window for meaningful action is narrowing.The report, “Sustainable Agriculture in Arid Countries”, paints a sobering picture.Mena holds just 1% of the world’s freshwater yet supports 6% of the global population.For many farmers, this scarcity is no longer an abstract statistic. It is the reason crops yield less, reservoirs dry earlier each year, and groundwater wells sink deeper into deficit. Climate driven droughts have already reduced harvests by 10-30%, threatening both food security and household incomes across the region.Across the Middle East and North Africa, farmers, families and entire communities now stand at a defining crossroads.In the world’s driest region, where every drop of water carries the weight of a livelihood, rising temperatures, deepening droughts and shrinking freshwater reserves are reshaping daily life.“Amid these challenges, there are signs of hope”, Al-Attiyah Foundation noted.Countries such as Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing heavily in technologies that give farmers a fighting chance.Precision irrigation, solar powered desalination, climate-smart greenhouses and digital farming tools are helping communities make the most of the water they have.Qatar’s ‘HAIAT’ precision agriculture project, for example, uses satellite data and artificial intelligence to guide farmers on exactly when and how much to irrigate. These innovations show what is possible when science and sustainability work hand in hand.However, many farmers in the region remain in the margins.High upfront costs keep modern irrigation and protected farming systems out of reach for smallholders, the very people who grow a significant share of the region’s food. Despite carrying the greatest climate burden, they receive less than one percent of global climate finance.The report calls for new financial lifelines such as blended finance, concessional loans and climate insurance that can help farmers stay afloat when droughts strike. A recent $7.9mn drought insurance payout in Syria, which supported one hundred and twenty thousand people, shows how powerful these tools can be when designed well.Al-Attiyah Foundation concluded that the region was entering a race for resilience. The countries that will thrive are those that scale water efficient technologies, strengthen governance and unlock climate finance not only for major producers but for the countless small farmers whose resilience keeps food on tables across the region.

The agricultural sector has incurred staggering losses due to the methodical Israeli targeting and deliberate destruction of a massive portion of Gaza's agricultural capabilities, spokesperson for Gaza's Ministry of Agriculture Muhammad Abu Odeh told Qatar News Agency Monday.He stressed that the devastation was ubiquitous, affecting all of Gaza's agricultural sector and spaces, as well as water wells, livestock, fisheries, dairy and poultry farms, and greenhouses.Abu Odeh revealed that $2.8bn represents the total preliminary losses of the agricultural sector in Gaza throughout two years of Israeli aggression and the deliberate and systematic targeting of all components of agriculture in the enclave.He further explained that 94% of agricultural lands in the Strip were destroyed by the occupation out of a total of 178,000 dunums, and that 1,223 agricultural wells were rendered inoperative.Abu Odeh stated that 93,000 dunums of vegetable-cultivated lands have shrunk to only 4,000 dunums, while approximately 85% of agricultural greenhouses, which used to produce vegetables for the residents of the enclave, were destroyed.This led to a decline in vegetable production from about 405,000 tons annually to around 28,000 tons only, insufficient to meet the population's needs in the Gaza Strip amid the war and famine endured by the population, Abu Odeh said.He noted that 100% of the fisheries sector was affected due to the targeting by the Israeli occupation of fishing areas, followed by the destruction of fishermen’s equipment and boats, in addition to the detention or killing of anyone attempting to venture out to sea to practice their profession, amid the prohibition on fishermen from operating in the Gaza Sea throughout the period of onslaught.Over a season has passed during the two-year-long war since the seasonal agricultural crops were planted, which incurred massive losses due to the deceleration of production caused by Israel's methodical and intentional razing and decimation, especially of the varieties known in Gaza.The Gaza Strip is mired in unemployment following two years of the war of extermination that plagued all elements of life, with the unemployment rate in Palestine surging during the offensive in the West Bank and the Gaza enclave to reach 50%, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in a report.The report added that the rate stands at 34% in the West Bank and 80% in the Gaza Strip, while the number of unemployed in Palestine has reached approximately 550,000.The ceasefire deal between the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation took effect last week following the Israeli occupation army's pullback from sites and populated areas in the enclave.This was marked by the return of displaced people to the northern Strip as part of the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war on Gaza.