The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is facing a severe gap between freshwater supply and demand of about 25 billion cubic meters annually, and this gap is projected to grow by 50 % by 2050, which threatens the region's food security, agricultural sector, and socioeconomic stability. The present annual per capita renewable freshwater share is about 450 m³ (far below the 1,000 m³ stress global threshold), with agriculture accounting for about 85 % of withdrawals. Meanwhile, the region’s annual agrifood exports exceed USD 50 billion (e.g. wheat, olives, citrus). Desalination has emerged as a strategic solution for freshwater supply. At present, MENA represents about 53% of global capacity (over 21,000 plants) led by the GCC region. Saudi Arabia and the UAE alone produce more than 20 million cubic meters daily, and the regional capacity is expected to double by 2030. Morocco aims to reach 1.7 billion m³ annually by 2030, including using new solar‑powered plants. Egypt plans to increase its desalination capacity from 860,00 m³/day at present to another 3.0 million m³/day by 2030. Jordan’s Aqaba–Amman project (about 0.85 m m³/day) will provide about 25 % of national water from 2026 onward. These developments underscore desalination’s advantages including climate invariance, growing cost-competitiveness (down from USD 5/m³ in the 1980s to ~USD 0.4–0.5/m³ at present), and synergies with renewable energy. However, desalination has some disadvantages, including high energy demand, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, brine water discharge to environment, and high capital and operation costs. Due to technological improvement, the costs are declining, but they remain high for agricultural applications. Economic modelling shows that cost-effective agricultural deployment depends on co-locating desalination with renewable power supply (solar PV/thermal), integrating innovation with irrigation, and utilizing farm-sector pricing reforms; yet, farmers often cannot return their full costs, and subsidies remain politically sensitive. Opportunities lie in leveraging declining renewable power costs, modular and solar-driven RO systems, nexus-based planning, and expanding regional financing via green bonds, PPPs, and climate funds. Key challenges include limited technical capacity, low water tariffs, governance fragmentation, and cross-border allocation tensions. It is recommended to expand renewable‑powered desalination coupled with brine water mining in targeted agricultural zones; increase water-use efficiency (e.g., drip irrigation, non‑revenue water reductions to <10 %); rationalize subsidies and tariff structures protecting vulnerable consumers; strengthen institutional frameworks with local authority over water allocation; enhance regional collaboration on data sharing, environmental monitoring, and brine valorisation and management. Only through integrated, climate-smart water–energy–food (WEF) policies can MENA sustain agricultural productivity, secure export revenues, and bridge projected food and water deficits while meeting decarbonization and environmental sustainability imperatives. Financial incentives can also significantly improve the use of desalinated water in agriculture across the MENA region by reducing operational costs, encouraging investment in energy-efficient technologies, and supporting farmers through subsidies, low-interest loans, and tax breaks. These incentives can make desalinated water economically viable, promoting sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural production in water-scarce areas.