Starting in the 1970s, Qatar had almost entirely based its economic growth on resource exploitation of the hydrocarbon sector, with agriculture being considered only as a ‘’hobby’’, rather than an important economic activity. The real driver of change affecting Qatar’s agricultural sector is the issue of food security, after the 2017 embargo (imposed by neighboring countries that made Qatar’s government critically aware that it cannot rely on other countries to secure its food basket), and thus highlighted the need to produce in the country.

The factor that has most hindered the development of productive agricultural and horticultural systems in the past has been the availability of land, with suitable soils. This is a consequence of Qatar’s harsh climate; it is in a hot arid zone characterized by sparse precipitation; high summer temperatures; together with high humidity in the late summer months that makes working outside very difficult; very high solar radiation; strong winds; and limited freshwater availability for irrigation causing dependency on desalinated abstracted groundwater, and/or (more recently) on desalinated sea-water.