Managed-environment and water-efficient methods are serving to reshape meals manufacturing
Jumana Khamis
DUBAI: Excessive warmth is turning into a defining problem for international meals manufacturing, with the Center East among the many most uncovered areas.
A joint report by the Meals and Agriculture Group and the World Meteorological Group warns that rising temperatures are now not a seasonal problem however a structural risk to meals methods, placing the livelihoods of greater than 1.23 billion individuals in danger.
The report describes warmth as a “risk multiplier,” intensifying drought, water shortage and crop losses whereas growing strain on farmers and rural employees.
The agricultural influence is already seen. In response to the FAO-WMO report, crop productiveness declines sharply as soon as temperatures exceed round 30°C, whereas warmth stress is lowering the variety of hours farm employees can safely function open air.
In some instances, circumstances have gotten unsafe for work for big elements of the yr, elevating questions not solely about yields however concerning the long-term viability of farming in high-temperature areas.
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For Saudi Arabia, the place summer season temperatures repeatedly exceed 45°C and water sources are extraordinarily restricted, these pressures are notably acute.
The Kingdom has lengthy confronted the constraints of arid agriculture, however rising warmth is accelerating the shift towards climate-resilient farming, improved water effectivity and controlled-environment manufacturing.
Rising temperatures are now not a seasonal problem however a structural risk to meals methods. (Provided)
“Saudi Arabia is warming faster than most countries globally, including others in the MENA region,” stated Yoshihide Wada, a professor of water sources and local weather change at King Abdullah College of Science and Expertise.
He famous that elements of the Kingdom are already experiencing 1.5°C to 2°C of warming in comparison with pre-industrial ranges.
In response to KAUST’s Local weather Futures Report, yields of key crops — together with wheat, barley, dates and greens — are projected to say no by greater than 10 p.c as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns shift.
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In Qassim, one in every of Saudi Arabia’s primary agricultural areas, crop water demand is anticipated to rise by round 10 p.c this century, including strain to a system already closely depending on irrigation.
Greater than 90 p.c of Saudi crops depend on groundwater, a lot of it non-renewable, that means lowered availability interprets instantly into decrease productiveness.
Saudi Arabia is more and more counting on desalination to fulfill water demand, with capability doubling over the previous decade to about 2.2 billion cubic meters per yr, in line with KAUST analysis.
Crop water demand is anticipated to rise by round 10 p.c this century in Qassim. (Provided)
Nevertheless, desalination is energy-intensive and already accounts for practically 20 p.c of the Kingdom’s emissions, including financial and environmental strain.
Wada’s analysis additionally highlights rising prices throughout the agricultural system as warmth will increase each irrigation demand and vitality use.
Beneath a 2-4°C warming situation, agricultural water necessities may rise by 5 to fifteen p.c merely to take care of present output ranges.
With out vital adaptation, KAUST projections recommend that warmth and water stress may constrain the long-term sustainability of meals manufacturing within the Kingdom.
Yara Elborolosy, a researcher at KAUST, stated rising temperatures are growing demand throughout sectors concurrently.
“Heat stress increases water demand across all sectors simultaneously, causing the need for more cooling, more irrigation, and more industrial use.”
This creates competing strain on restricted water sources, complicating long-term planning as agriculture, vitality and concrete methods draw from the identical provide.
Saudi Arabia’s heavy reliance on meals imports provides additional vulnerability.
“Saudi Arabia imports more than 80 percent of its food supply,” Elborolosy stated.
She added that this publicity leaves the nation weak to international shocks, noting that wheat costs surged by greater than 50 p.c throughout the Russia-Ukraine battle, highlighting the hyperlink between local weather stress and geopolitical disruption.
Throughout the MENA area, related patterns are rising as warmth, drought and water shortage more and more pressure agriculture and meals methods.
In Morocco, the FAO-WMO report notes that repeated droughts and excessive warmth have considerably lowered output, with cereal yields falling by greater than 40 p.c in some latest seasons.
The nation has additionally endured six consecutive years of drought, with falling rainfall and depleted reservoirs additional constraining manufacturing.
In Iraq, rising temperatures are accelerating water loss from already strained river methods. FAO knowledge cited within the report reveals declining crop yields and shrinking arable land, notably in central and southern areas. Practically 40 p.c of land is affected by desertification, in line with UN estimates.
At UNS Farms’ facility in Al Ain, AI-powered greenhouse methods regulate temperature, shading and airflow. (Provided)
In Syria, the place agriculture has been weakened by greater than a decade of battle, local weather stress is deepening present vulnerabilities, with wheat manufacturing falling to a few of its lowest ranges in a long time throughout latest droughts.
In Yemen and Sudan, each already going through extreme meals insecurity, excessive warmth is worsening circumstances by lowering yields, growing water shortage and additional straining fragile meals methods. Greater than 17 million individuals in Yemen and practically 25 million in Sudan are at present meals insecure, in line with UN and FAO-linked assessments.
Throughout these international locations, the problem is now not simply lowered productiveness however whether or not meals might be produced in any respect.
In response, Saudi Arabia is steadily shifting from water-intensive open-field farming to controlled-environment agriculture and high-tech methods, together with hydroponics, greenhouse farming and seawater-based options.
Throughout the area, related methods are rising as a method to stabilize manufacturing beneath excessive warmth.
Mehlam Murtaza, director of UNS Vertical Farms, stated controlled-environment agriculture is turning into an integral part of meals methods quite than a alternative for conventional farming.
At UNS Farms’ facility in Al Ain within the UAE, AI-powered greenhouse methods regulate temperature, shading and airflow to allow year-round manufacturing regardless of excessive exterior warmth.
Managed-environment agriculture requires vital funding, technical experience and dependable infrastructure. (Provided)
He stated the method shifts farming from reacting to local weather circumstances to engineering round them, making certain extra constant yields.
Water effectivity is central to the mannequin. By means of hydroponics and closed-loop irrigation, the ability reduces water use by as much as 90 p.c in contrast with standard farming, a key benefit in a water-scarce area.
Nevertheless, scaling such methods throughout MENA stays troublesome, particularly in lower-income and conflict-affected international locations.
“The model is scalable in principle, but implementation in more vulnerable markets comes with challenges,” he added.
He famous that controlled-environment agriculture requires vital funding, technical experience and dependable infrastructure, with broader adoption depending on sustained funding and institutional help.
As excessive warmth intensifies, the central query will not be whether or not meals methods will probably be affected, however how far they will adapt earlier than pressure turns into breakdown.
