The problem
When the 2017 Gulf rift cut food supply lines, Qatar discovered how exposed an import-dependent desert state is: extreme heat, almost no rain, and thin soils mean conventional farming barely works, yet fresh produce must arrive daily.
How it works
Agrico farms in controlled environments instead of open fields — hydroponic and aquaponic greenhouses, LED plantation rooms, mushroom houses, an organic farm, and a shrimp farm, backed by an R&D arm working with QAFCO and Norway’s Yara. Its multi-year partnership with Finland’s iFarm added AI-managed vertical farming: drones with computer vision track each crop’s size, weight, and health and spot disease early — the first such farm in the GCC — starting with strawberries, leafy greens, and edible flowers.
Pain points
Water too scarce for flood irrigation, summers too hot for open fields, supply routes that can close overnight, and young Qataris with little connection to agriculture.
Business model
Two engines: selling its own organic harvest (vegetables, leafy greens, fruits, mushrooms, honey, eggs, shrimp) into supermarkets, restaurants, and cafes, and building farms for others — turnkey private and commercial projects plus greenhouses, equipment, raw materials, and growing services.
Challenges
Climate-controlled growing trades water savings for heavy electricity bills; imported systems and expertise keep capex high; and the whole model depends on shoppers continuing to pay organic prices against cheaper imports.
Funding
- Raised: privately held by Al Sadarah Group; financing undisclosed (MISSING).
- Valuation: MISSING.
Latest — November 2024
On 4 November 2024 Agrico officially opened its new urban farm at Qatar Foundation’s Green Island, a collaboration with QF aimed at inspiring students and young people to evolve local agricultural technology — managing director Nasser Ahmed al-Khalaf announced the launch as the next step after the iFarm vertical-farming build-out.