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The glittering skyline of Doha, the capital of Qatar, has become famous in recent years. But as Fahad Al-Attiya points out in today’s talk, the ability for any city to grow in Qatar is surprising. After all, this is a country without any water.

Al-Attiya, the chair of Qatar’s National Food Security Programme, reveals that in the 1940s only about 11,000 people lived in Qatar — and there was no water or electricity. But in 1939, oil was discovered in the country and, after World War II, extraction of it began. Today, 1.7 million people live in Qatar and consume 430 liters of water per capita a year — one of the highest rates in the world.

But still, Qatar gets very little rainfall and no bodies of fresh water. Pointing at an image of desalination plant at work, Al-Attiya says, “That is our lake, that is our river … This is the best technology this region could have.”

Qatar has only two days worth of water reserve and imports 90 percent of its food, shares Al-Attiya. And this, of course, presents many risks. To hear how the nation is approaching these challenges — by putting to use the fact that they get 300 days of sunlight a year — listen to Al Attiya’s talk.

And below, six more talks on innovations for areas where water is a scarce resource.