Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates are the preferred locations for real estate investments and a thriving industry that stems from oil. However, in Abu Dhabi, agricultural activity is also crucial and, despite being a desert region, projects have been developed that make this sector a booming opportunity.
In these areas, 80% of agricultural products are imported and managed through an organization called the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which represents six countries: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. The truth is that, in order to achieve greater food autonomy, strategic national plans started to be defined in countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The role of Al Ain for the agriculture of Abu Dhabi.
In the United Arab Emirates, agriculture is a concern and also the focus of growing investment. The territory has developed in this regard a national strategic plan known as “UAE Centennial 2071,” which has currently allowed the creation of greenhouses to develop agriculture in the territory. In this aspect, Al Ain (part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi) holds crucial importance for the execution of some key projects for this activity.
In this site, the Al Dahra BayWa greenhouse was inaugurated in 2019, where around 3,000 tons of tomatoes are produced. This plan was driven by the German company from Munich, BayWa AG, and the Al Dahra company, which involved an investment of 40 million euros.
Advanced projects in Abu Dhabi.
Pure Harvest is another of the developments in Al Ain for agricultural activity in Abu Dhabi, which has the collaboration of the Dutch company CerthonTM Greenhouse Solutions. This greenhouse is equipped with a state-of-the-art system that controls indoor temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels through a computerized climate management mechanism to care for its productions in hostile climatic conditions.
In this way, Pure Harvest became a pioneer in its field and allowed the United Arab Emirates to produce commercially viable quantities of fresh tomatoes in a place where climatic conditions are extreme, thanks to this innovative greenhouse technology within these cubicles. Thus, some sites in the Emirates also achieved economic freedom and avoided dependence on oil.
Greenhouses in Abu Dhabi with Spanish connections
Outside Al Ain, in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, there is another project with Spanish influences known as The Farmhouse. This company is the work of Integra, which assists the Emirates in developing the technology needed to improve land and water management and boost the agricultural sector. This push speaks to the territory’s need to establish itself as a pioneer in the region while promoting investment in other territories such as Namibia, South Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, and Egypt.
In this context, it is important to highlight the influence of climate change on these activities that help diversify the economy in a country where oil is the main industry. The high temperatures experienced in the Arabian Gulf lead the country to evaluate innovations that can completely combine ways of life and facilitate the growth of these vital agricultural sectors for the functioning of the territory.
