Qoryooley is the centre of Qoryooley District in Lower Shabelle, less than 30 km inland from the coast at Merca. The town sits among farmland watered by canals drawn from the Shabelle River.

It serves as the market and service centre for the farming villages of the district.

Like much of the lower Shabelle valley, Qoryooley's farms have long depended on a network of canals and sluice gates. Much of that infrastructure has fallen into disrepair since the civil war, affecting the water that reaches the fields.

Life in town follows the farming calendar of planting and harvest, with the market as the place where farmers sell their produce.

Irrigated farming is the backbone of the economy, with cereals and vegetables grown along the canals. Water shortages in dry years and river floods in wet ones both shape the harvest.