Oman has started work on a $4.2 billion agriculture development in the Batinah region which could provide food for 25,000 people — part of wider efforts to reduce the country’s dependence on imports, according to officials quoted by AGBI.

Food security is a perennial issue for Gulf countries, where the harsh climate and limited water resources make growing crops difficult and expensive. Oman is aiming to produce 80% of the food it consumes by 2040. In pursuit of that, the government has set up a string of cloud seeding stations, mostly in Batinah and other areas in the north of the country, which it claims have contributed to a 14% increase in rainfall. The agriculture ministry has also invested more than 800 million rials ($2 billion) in around 400 food security projects in recent years, helping to expand arable land by 50,000 square kilometers; it will commit a further 200 million rials this year.