Saudi Arabia Turns the Desert Into a Center of Agriculture and Achieves an Agricultural GDP of SR 100 billion ($27 billion)

 Saudi Arabia Turns the Desert Into a Center of Agriculture and Achieves an Agricultural GDP of SR 100 billion ($27 billion)

At the 43rd session of the General Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Eng. Mansour Al-Mushaiti, the deputy minister of environment, water, and agriculture for Saudi Arabia, emphasized the significance of the agricultural sector to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). The sector signaled a significant turning point in 2022 by contributing SR100 billion to the GDP.

Al-Mushaiti emphasized the amazing expansion and development of agricultural investments in Saudi Arabia, which has raised the value of domestic agricultural products. The deputy minister pointed out that the nation has attained significant levels of self-sufficiency in a variety of agricultural crops, particularly those utilizing new technologies. This success is owed to integrated water management techniques, which have successfully decreased agricultural water usage from 86 percent to less than 70 percent.

Saudi Arabia has put in place a number of policies, initiatives, and programs to encourage sustainable agricultural development, improve water resource management effectiveness, and protect natural and environmental resources. With loans that exceed 70% of the capital costs of agricultural projects, the Agricultural Development Fund has developed financing rules that favor contemporary technologies. Saudi Arabia's lending rate climbed dramatically from SR500 million in 2015 to SR7 billion in 2022.

Al-Mushaiti also underlined Saudi Arabia's continuous assistance to the FAO in achieving water and food security and battling hunger and poverty on a local, regional, and global scale. The FAO meeting, which began on July 1, is expected to end on July 7. QU Dongyu was chosen to serve a second term as the Director-General of the FAO, beginning on August 1, 2023, and ending on July 31, 2027, during this session.