Israeli tech, irrigation companies collaborate with Arab countries against climate change

Israeli ag tech companies and four Arab neighbors – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – have combined forces to halt impending climate change that is estimated to make the Middle East uninhabitable, according to a Washington Post article.

For years, Israel has employed technology to alter the Negev Desert region, blanketing over half of the country with drip-irrigated farms that produce crops like cherry tomatoes, melons and dates.

Following several landmark agreements last year between Israel and its former foes, and coupled with the fact that the Middle East is warming at about double the global rate, Israel has started expanding its knowledge and technology in solar, energy and food tech.

Israeli company Netafim has extended its system to Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Through high-tech systems that use sensors that monitor conditions and changes in crop roots and surrounding atmosphere, ideal amounts and schedules of water are decided. This effort has increased greenhouse yields in the UAE.

“We need to put the same money, the same commitment that we used for war toward an ecosystem for peace and prosperity in the region,” says Alanoud Alhashmi, chief executive of the Futurist Company in the UAE. Alhashmi’s government-supported project-management firm has been working with Israeli companies and organizations since the normalization deals were signed. “It’s a matter of human existence.”

Additional Israeli-based projects intended to digitize farming will be developed, including Netafim’s initiative to design citrus hedges for robotic pickers.