Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016) xxx, xxx–xxx

King Saud University

Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences

www.ksu.edu.sa
www.sciencedirect.com

REVIEW ARTICLE

Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia through innovation: Potential role of
agricultural extension
Sajid Fiaz a,c,1,*, Mehmood Ali Noor b,c,1, Fahad Owis Aldosri c

a
State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou 310006, China
b
Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology and Ecology, Ministry of
Agriculture, Beijing 100081, China
c
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Society, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Received 18 June 2016; accepted 18 September 2016

KEYWORDS Abstract In the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, food security will be a matter of concern for
Saudi Arabia; policy makers. In desert countries the food commodities are mostly imported from other countries
Food security; as their local production is not enough to meet the domestic needs and Saudi Arabia has no excep-
Innovative technologies; tion. Most of the cereals and red meat are imported. Major limiting factors in agriculture produc-
Extension services; tion are land and water, such that by 2050, Saudi Arabia is expected to import all of its domestic
Awareness; needs. Meanwhile, there are many land and water saving technologies which have the potential to
Energy need strategies help produce enough to meet the domestic energy requirements. Promotion of traditional crops,
hydroponics and greenhouse farming, seawater harvesting, investing in bio-salinity research and
rainwater harvesting are among those technologies. Therefore, role of extension agent is critical
to promote the innovative technologies as well as creating awareness among farming community
to implement the guidelines to meet the country dietary needs. This paper suggests substitute exper-
tise and methodologies that can be engaged by Saudi Arabia under prevalent situation, which can
be helpful to expand national food fabrication to achieve food security in the Kingdom. Efficient
role of agriculture extension is need of the hour that should be exploited and utilized in a precise
and efficient manner. All the possible strategies related to agricultural extension for prevailing agri-
cultural challenges in the Kingdom are discussed in detail.
Ó 2016 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is
an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

* Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology, China National Rice Research Institute, Hangzhou 310006, China.
E-mail address: fiazsajid05@yahoo.com (S. Fiaz).
1
These authors have equal contribution in the paper.
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.

Production and hosting by Elsevier

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
1658-077X Ó 2016 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
2 S. Fiaz et al.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
2. Saudi Arabia’s present and future needs to boost domestic production without utilizing desert agriculture . . . . . . . . . 00
3. Water and land saving technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.1. Promoting conventional crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.2. Hydroponics and greenhouse farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.3. Investment in biosalinity research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.4. Seawater greenhouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
3.5. Rainwater harvesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4. Food security overview in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.1. Determining Kingdom’s domestic energy requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.2. Body weight and population size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
4.3. Current per capita energy requirement and domestic agriculture production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
5. Saudi Arabia’s future investment opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
5.1. Saudi Arabian agriculture development fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
5.2. Investment in abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
5.3. New wheat silo projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
6. Possible role of agricultural extension department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
6.1. Sustainable agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
6.2. Capacity building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
6.3. Potential role in food security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
7. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00

1. Introduction production could only be gained by addressing the agricultural

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) covers approximately an
area of 2,149,690 square kilometers (World Bank, 2015), home
of 30.77 million people (Ministry of Economy and Planning,
2014). It covers the predominant (80%) area of the Arabian
region (Al-Hamzi, 1997), which makes it the largest country
of the Gulf region. It has shared borders with Qatar, United
Arab Emirates and Bahrain in east; with Iraq, Kuwait and
Jordan in the north; with sultanate of Oman and Yemen in
south; and has 1750 km Red Sea shoreline in west (FAO,
2009). The environmental conditions are not favorable for
farming due to harsh and extreme temperature. Many agricul-
tural programs were started at different times to ensure food
security and rural development (Bailey and Willoughby,
2013). Introduction of recent agricultural expertise, farmer
responsive plans, feasible credit scheme, free land distribution
and effective extension programs improved the yield of cereals,
fruits, vegetables and animal related products. These effective
programs not only enabled the Kingdom to fulfill the domestic
needs, but made it capable to export the surplus (FAO, 2007;
FAO, 2009). By giving due consideration to existing water
resources the Kingdom decided rollback policy because pro-
duction through unjust use of nonrenewable natural resources
was not a feasible practice (Al-Subaiee et al., 2005). Hence, the
impact of the agricultural sector on Gross Domestic Produc-
tion (GDP) decreased over the period from 5.2% to 4.7%,
and its contribution to the non-oil economy from 7.6% to
6.2%, while the volume of production remained stable, due
to the improvement in productivity, the rate of which averaged
5% per annum over the period (Ministry of Agriculture, 2008).
Agriculture is the base on which the economic strength of a
country relies. If the agricultural practices are not enough to
become self-sufficient in food production, the strength of the
country will be at risk. Therefore, self-sufficiency in food
problems and keeping the farmers aware of modern agricul-
tural technologies, necessary for improving productivity, by
the effective use of extension services. Agricultural extension
is considered as a service to spread/extend information based
on research, to the rural people to develop their living standard
(IFPRI, 2010). Hence, it includes components such as technol-
ogy transfer, wider rural development objectives and non-
formal education (Birner et al., 2009; CTA, 2012). In this arti-
cle, an effort has been made to identify problems and devise a
solution to assist policy makers and farmers through the chan-
nel of agriculture extension.
The General objective of the present study was to examine
the present situation of food security in regard to agricultural
production and consumption. Specific objectives are to iden-
tify and analyze (1) the modern resource efficient agricultural
technologies, (2) their possible contribution in achieving food
security with available resources, and (3) the potential contri-
bution of agricultural extension and education for sustainable
farming in the Kingdom.
2. Saudi Arabia’s present and future needs to boost domestic
production without utilizing desert agriculture
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s present and future needs to
expand domestic production without utilizing desert agricul-
ture are limited by land and water scarcity. The available water
resources of any country are key elements in agricultural pro-
duction. Saudi Arabia fall in the category of countries which
will face acute water shortage by 2050, as depicted in Fig. 1.
In Fig. 1, green color depicts the countries having surplus
water (>1300 cubic meter), and orange and red color shows
countries facing challenge of freshwater shortage (<1300
cubic meter) per capita per year. The kingdom has 3850 cubic
meters per year available groundwater, whereas, the surface

Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
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Saudi food security through innovation 3

Figure 1 Countries around the world facing water surplusage and deficit. Source:Falkenmark et al. (2009).

water is 1300 cubic meters per year, which is variable and

depends on annual rainfall. The kingdom’s estimated total Table 1 Sustainable water yields and water demand of KSA
renewable water resources are about 500 km3, 340 km3 of in the year 2010.
which is economically feasible to extract. The kingdom con- Sustainable water yields Capacity (million m3/year)
sumes 24 billion cubic meter water per year, and agriculture
Groundwater 3850
is the leading sector with 88% usage, municipal sector 9%
Surface water 1300a
usage (Al-Hussayen, 2007), and industrial sector accounts Total conventional Sources 5150
3% usage of total water consumption. On an average, the Treated wastewater 240
municipal sector consumes about 260 liters water per capita Desalinated water 1050
per day (World Bank, 2010). The major water demand of Total non-conventional sources 1290
about 65% for municipal and industrial sector is used to be Total water yields 6440
supplied with groundwater while the 35% leftover is met by Water demand per sector
desalination water treatment plants. The available data of Agriculture 15,000
1999–2004 show an increasing trend in rural to urban Industrial 800
migration coupled with 3% population growth which had Domestic 2063
increased 4.3% municipal water consumption (Ministry of Total water demand 17,863
Economy and Planning, 2005). The available water resources 2010 Water demand vs. supply gap 11,423
shows that Saudi Arabia will not be able to meet the domestic a
Depends on annual rainfall pattern.
food demands making it a food importing country. To irrigate
municipal parks and street landscape the treated wastewater is boost agricultural production from the same crop land under
abundantly used. On country basis survey during 2010, cultivation, which is 1.8% of total area of the Kingdom. These
approximately 240 million cubic meters per year wastewater water and land saving technologies include the following.
after treatment was used for landscape and crop irrigation
(MWE, 2012). The data in Table 1 show the sustainable yield 3.1. Promoting conventional crops
of water from non-conventional and conventional sources and,
water demand of major water consuming sectors. The gap
Promotion of conventional crops (wheat, barley, sorghum and
between supply and demand is about 11.5 billion cubic meters
millet, etc.) which are best suited to the arid climate conditions
per year, which was overcome by overexploitation of
helps to achieve food security (FAO, 2008). Dates are one of
groundwater.
the best productions of Saudi Arabia; therefore, it is need of
hour to explore more avenues of research (Mbaga, 2013).
3. Water and land saving technologies Table 2 describes the availability of different food products
in the Kingdom. As mentioned, cereal production in Saudi
Water and land saving technologies (conventional and non- Arabia escalated at maximum position ever recorded,
conventional) are technologies which are utilized to produce 1,570,944 tonnes from an area of 286,932 hectares. Wheat pro-
the same yield, without mounting pressure on nonrenewable duction gradually decreased as shown in Table 2. Wheat is the
resources. These innovative technologies have potential to staple food and its import puts a lot of pressure on Kingdom

Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
4 S. Fiaz et al.

Table 2 Production of cereals in different years from total estimated area under cultivation. Source: Ministry of Agriculture (2013).
Estimated area under all 2010 2011 2012 2013
crops (ha) 806,682 787,739 745,637 694,549
Estimated area and cereals Area Production Area Production Area Production Area Production
production (ha) (tonnes) (ha) (tonnes) (ha) (tonnes) (ha) (tonnes)
Total 286,932 1,570,944 260,312 1,418,160 212,156 1,088,349 166,005 885,012
Wheat 219,505 1,349,389 192,818 1,184,454 144,169 854,256 102,613 660,145
Barley 2366 16,391 2270 15,516 2044 13,647 1502 11,267
Sorghum 43,899 114,022 44,399 117,091 45,438 118,393 42,101 110,229
Maize 14,951 79,384 15,302 91,747 15,528 93,377 15,626 95,356
Millet 3448 5969 3086 5208 2844 4924 2632 4486
Other cereals 2763 5789 2437 4150 2133 3702 1531 3459

expenditure (Mousa, 2014). So, there is a need to focus on agri- has taken the initiative by establishing Emirates Hydroponic
cultural research and extension activities to reduce the import Farm in 2005, which had started to produce for domestic needs
burden. and regional demands. The produced food items such as let-
tuce, strawberries, cucumber and capsicums that are started
3.2. Hydroponics and greenhouse farming to sell out online are having similar price to those of the super-
markets. Organic mushrooms were grown by Emirates Mush-
Hydroponics and greenhouse technologies require nutrient room a private company having production of 8000 kg per
rich water for plant growth instead of soil (Bridgewood, week from ten specially designed rooms. In Baniyas, largest
2003). Hydroponics help to produce high quality vegetables aquaponic center of world launched by Abu Dhabi, the project
and fruits in controlled environmental conditions around the was started by growing lettuces and expanded for vegetable
year. This technology is environmentally safe, high producing production. In Aquaponics, the vegetable uses nutrient
and reduces the pressure on land and water. The average veg- enriched water with fish that are living in, as depicted in Fig. 2.
etable yield in the field is about 5 tons per acre, but the hydro-
ponic technique in the greenhouse makes the yield increase up 3.3. Investment in biosalinity research
to 200 tons for each acre planted. Vegetable production under
green house technology in Saudi Arabia for the years 2010–13, Nearly 97.5% of global water is salty (Taha and Ismail, 2011),
showed a significant increase in area under production as well suggesting that investment in biosalinity research is a useful
as in total production, over time, especially for tomato and tool in the arena of research. The plants face soil salinity as
cucumber crops (Table 3). It has been reported that hydro-
ponic green fodder production technique requires only about
2–10% of the water needed to produce the same amount of
crop in soil culture (Brandlay and Marulanda, 2000). More-
over, only 3–5% of water is needed to produce the same
amount of fodder in comparison with that produced under
field conditions (Ghazi and Al-Karaki, 2011). Hydroponic sys-
tem, therefore, is a potential technique for food production
with less water consumption where water is the main limiting
factor for agriculture production.
These technologies have also been implemented in other
parts of Arab region e.g. Al Sulaiteen Agricultural and Indus-
trial Complex, Qatar: a modern greenhouse farm in the middle
of a vast desert. This farm produces cucumber, tomato, green
beans, cherry, vegetables and many fruits. United Arab Emi-
rates had also made an investment in hydroponics that are Figure 2 Thematic aquaponic structure derived from Salam
playing a key role in their local markets. Similarly, Abu Dhabi et al. (2014).

Table 3 Vegetables production in green house farming. Source: Ministry of Agriculture, 2013.
Area and production of vegetables 2010 2011 2012 2013
in green house
Area Production Area Production Area Production Area Production
(ha) (tonnes) (ha) (tonnes) (ha) (tonnes) (ha) (tonnes)
7829 602,549 7994 624,791 8198 654,973 7928 669,998
Tomato 3848 300,433 3842 305,849 4027 322,954 3947 320,215
Cucumber 2641 212,495 2654 217,004 2664 229,967 2605 236,087
Squash crop 193 14,431 201 16,276 197 15,433 189 15,309
Other vegetables 1147 75,190 1297 85,662 1310 86,619 1187 98,387

Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
Saudi food security through innovation
a major barrier for spreading into their natural habitat. Arid
and semi-arid regions are increasingly facing this problem
(Shanon, 1986). The earth’s 40% area came under arid and
semi-arid regions (Fisher and Turner, 1978). Biosalinity is
the practice and study in which saline (salty) water is utilized
for irrigating crops. Freshwater resources are very scarce in
Saudi Arabia and country has no surface water bodies of
any kind excluding the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, which
cannot be utilized in agriculture except after going through
an expensive desalination process (Al-Zahrani and Baig,
2011). In Saudi Arabia, the abundant quantities of available
water are either brackish 500–30,000 ppm or saline 30,000–
50,000 ppm (SWCC, 2010). Saline water utilization in tradi-
tional farming practices results in soil salinity and many crop
plants become unable to grow.
Biosalinity research embraces studies of physiological and
biochemical mechanism in plants for salt tolerance, selection
and breeding for salt tolerance, use of saline irrigation water
to increase desirable traits or to control the ripening process
in fruits. The objective of biosalinity research is to deal with
issues related to the interaction among salinity and soil prop-
erties than introduction or development of salt tolerant vari-
eties, which sustain and remain economically productive.
This type of research is needed for Saudi Arabia, which helps
to maximize the agriculture production by utilizing the avail-
able saline water. There are some studies conducted on bios-
alinity in Saudi Arabia (e.g. Qados, 2011) but more deeper
and applied research is required.
3.4. Seawater greenhouses
The seawater greenhouse technology can be utilized in desert
regions of the world, which possess a huge quantity of seawa-
ter. The salt water is used to grow food crops through building
these greenhouses near coastal areas (Reuters, 2007). It
requires low cost as they are not expensive like desalinization
plants (see Fig. 3).
Seawater is evaporated which makes the air saturated, con-
densed for freshwater that is used for watering the plants. This
technology has the potential to be utilized in far flung and arid
coastal areas because the process in the seawater greenhouse
creates temperate conditions by making use of seawater and
sunlight, which produce cooler air and water for cultivation
Figure 3 Seawater greenhouse imaginary layout. Source:http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009–07/8-farming.
Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
5
of plants (Kabeel and Almagar, 2013). The favorable geo-
graphical and climatic conditions, such as access to cool sea-
water and low relative humidity are frequently found at a
depth in the sea. The KSA coastline along Red Sea has many
locations having the same properties (Paton and Davies, 2006).
The seawater greenhouses get water from sea and building cost
is more or less than $5 for a square foot.
The air inside the greenhouse is humidified through vapors
that are produced from honeycomb like structure on the front
wall, from where water trickles down. The air becomes warmer
as it moves in the greenhouse and absorbs more moisture, and
the second evaporator makes the air supersaturated. From
there, air goes down into the condenser, and the freshwater
produced is stored in the underground tanks that are later
on utilized for watering plants.
3.5. Rainwater harvesting
The Arab region of the world is facing severe shortage of
water. Main factors contributing their part in water scarcity
are rapid population growth, improper distribution of water
resources, increase in demand of water, hydro-political condi-
tion, deteriorating water quality, low rainfall, high rate of
evaporation and aridity. The crisis of water is rapidly growing
as per capita water availability is decreasing. The continuous
increase in freshwater demand in the Arab world is putting
pressure on scarce water resources, especially groundwater
which will not sustain under the prevailing circumstances.
There is a dire need to manage the potential of available water
resources by more effective and efficient means. The region
gets 2238 billion cubic meters per year rainfall, which, con-
tribute only 200 billion m3 to renew ground and surface water
resources. Ultimately, water harvesting is the only solution to
cater water shortage as different water harvesting techniques
are widely employed by the people of this region since a long
time ago. The annual average rainfall ranges between 70 and
130 mm except some locations of Oman, Yemen and Saudi
Arabia. Water harvesting employs the strategy of capture,
diverting and storage of rain water for multiple use (Abdo
and Eldaw, 2004). Three common landscape elements must
be considered in rain water harvesting: soil condition or land-
scape runoff, variation in elevation that creates flow in water
and enough deep soil horizon for collection of rain water. It
6 S. Fiaz et al.
Table 4 Types of dams and their water storage capacity in the kingdom. Source: extracted from achievement of Custodian of two
Holy Mosques in water sector by Alhamid (2004).
Dam type Constructed dam
No. % Storage capacity %
Embankment dam
Earth fill 87 40.47
Rock fill 39 18.14
Concrete dam
Gravity 84 39.07
Buttress 2 0.93
Arch 1 0.465
Underground 2 0.93
Total 215 100
comprises of all methods through which rainfall and runoff are
effectively managed for lateral use. The Ministry of Agricul-
ture and Water had given this issue a great importance. The
collective number of different constructed dams reached at
215 at the end of 2003 from which majority is embankment
dams 58.5% and remaining are concrete. The collective storage
capacity of dams touched 833 million m3 (Table 4). The largest
dam with 103 m height and 325 million m3 storage is a King
Fahad’s dam located in Wadi Bishah of Kingdom. From pre-
vious decade to present, three times more water quantity from
1400 to 3000 million m3 has been increased.
Similarly, in arid parts of Tunisia much funding had been
allocated to store and utilize precious rainwater (100–
230 mm/year) for domestic, agriculture production and envi-
ronmental needs.
4. Food security overview in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
According to FAO, food security can be defined as ‘‘a situa-
tion that exists when all people, at all times, have physical,
social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for
an active and healthy life” (FAO, 2010).
4.1. Determining Kingdom’s domestic energy requirements
Protein and energy needs are defined as the amount required to
sustain health, growth and suitable level of physical activity.
These requirements are interrelated, if the dietary needs are
fulfilled by conventional way to combat food security issues.
Meanwhile, alteration in food consumption behavior affects
metabolic activity and body size. The Saudi population energy
requirements were estimated by body weight, population struc-
ture, Basal metabolic rate (BMR) calculation and pattern of
physical activity. The estimated per capita energy requirement
was 2100 calories per day (Table 5). These findings can be used
in monitoring food balance sheets, national food policies and
different economic index.
4.2. Body weight and population size
The calculated population of KSA is approximately 30 million,
of which approximately 20 million are Saudi nationals and
remaining are foreigners (Ministry of economy and planning,
2014). The United Nations Organization (UNO) estimates
Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
Under construction dam
% No. Storage capacity %
141,895 17.04 10 93,435
42,228 5.07 2 20,000
455,785 56.05 5 668,335
53,130 6.379
86,000 10.33
4280 5.139
832,838 100 17 781,770
for population projection (1950–2015) were based on demo-
graphic information i.e. urbanization, mortality, fertility, pop-
ulation growth and across the boundary migration. Energy
and protein requirements are directly related with body weight.
The data on height and weight of Saudi Arabia residents were
gathered by Food Policy and Nutrition Division of FAO that
can be utilized for future energy requirements.
4.3. Current per capita energy requirement and domestic
agriculture production
The available information on human dietary needs is recom-
mended by national and international organizations, with reg-
ular interval on a scientific basis. Human dietary needs differ
from one place to another and information about these needs
is a prerequisite for future planning. The planning is based on
individual consumption behavior, national nutritional needs,
food supply pattern, standard food assistance plans, nutri-
tional awareness programs and innovation in the food indus-
try. The estimated per capita energy requirement ranges
between 1870 kcal and 2290 kcal per day. The men (65 kg)
and women (56 kg) of Saudi Arabia involved in light, moder-
ate and heavy physical work were estimated as having
2595 kcal and 2050 kcal, 2975 kcal and 2150 kcal and
3515 kcal and 2400 kcal per day respectively (data not shown).
The per capita availability of energy (Table 5) shows that there
is a vast difference between available and required energy per
capita, which means, people living in the kingdom are not food
secure that is an alarming situation. To overcome the food
security issues there is a dire need of multipronged approach
for a country which is difficult to sustain on imported food.
5. Saudi Arabia’s future investment opportunities
5.1. Saudi Arabian agriculture development fund
The Saudi Arabian Agricultural Bank was established by
Royal Decree No. (58) and the date of 13/8/1962 to be a credit
institution-governmental organizations specialized in various
fields of agricultural activity financing in all regions of the
Kingdom, to assist in developing the agricultural sector and
increase in production efficiency by using the best of modern
scientific and technical methods. So it provided interest-free
soft loans to farmers to secure the necessary activity such as
machinery, pumps, agricultural machinery and equipment, cat-
Saudi food security through innovation 7

Table 5 Per capita availability of different agricultural products for year 2013. Source: Ministry of Agriculture, 2013.
Crop type Crop name Local Net import Per person Per day/per person Available Sufficiency
production (tons) availability (kg) availability (kg) calories ratio (%)
(tons)
Cereals Wheat 660,000 2,117,052 22 0.060 203 23.8
Barley 11,000 10,446,332 0.37 0.001 4 0.1
Sorghum 110,000 2,241 3.67 0.010 34 98.0
Millet 4,000 9,384 0.133 0.000364 1.37 29.9
Other 98,000 3,465,113 3.27 0.0089 2.8
cereals
Vegetables Potatoes 390,000 1,807 13 0.035 27 99.5
Tomatoes 544,000 128,874 18.13 0.50 90 80.8
Dry onion 112,000 280,205 3.73 0.010 17 28.6
Carrot 56,000 25,575 1.87 0.005 2.05 68.6
Other 1,627,000 119,544 54.23 0.149 85.34
vegetables
Fruits Dates 1,095,000 95,435 36.5 0.1 282 109.5
Citrus 99,000 540,125 3.3 0.009 15 15.5
Grapes 134,000 36,822 4.47 0.012 8 78.4
Other fruits 360,000 979,084 12 0.032 26.9
Animal Fish 90,000 152,691 3 0.008 16.28 37.1
products Poultry 604,000 809,460 20.13 0.055 63 42.7
Eggs 24,000 44,465 0.8 0.002 3 122.7
Fresh Milk 1,943,000 213,209 64.77 0.177 109.74 112.3
Red Meat 174,000 355,341 5.8 0.015 46.9 32.9
Total Meat 868,000 1,317,492 28.93 0.079 198 39.7
Total 300.103 1.2683 1150.92
Data for the nutritional values of cereals (Wheat, Barley, Sorghum, Millet), vegetables (Potatoes, Tomatoes, Dry onion, Carrot), fruits (Dates,
Citrus, Grapes) and animal products (Fish, Poultry, Eggs, Fresh milk, Red meat, total Meat) were accessed from various online sources and
calculations were computed accordingly.

tle, poultry, sheep, bees and equipment for Fish breeding and
other breeding. On 26 January, 2009, the bank was approved
by the Council of Ministers, after consideration of the Shura
Council resolution No. (106/71) dated 8 April, 2008 on agricul-
tural development fund systems attached to the resolution.
Among the most prominent features of system, the funds of
20 billion riyals were increased with more amount by the deci-
sion of Council Ministers, took account of water conservation
and rationalization of agricultural uses and preservation of the
environment, the fund aims to support agricultural develop-
ment and sustainability by providing soft loans and credit
facilities necessarily.
5.2. Investment in abroad
In January 2009, King Abdullah announced the establishment
of an ‘‘Initiative for Saudi Agricultural Investment” aimed
both at cutting down Saudi agricultural production and invest-
ing in countries that had agricultural potential but with little
financial means. The government announced an aid package
worth $800 million for companies that invested in agriculture
outside Saudi Arabia, pledging further support for the
purchase of tractors and chemicals, the establishment of irriga-
tion systems, and more in these countries.
5.3. New wheat silo projects
Over the past few years, several new wheat silo projects have
been initiated. By December 2015, these storage facilities were
slated to yield additional wheat storage capacity of about 3.7
million tons (MT) on top of current GSFMO silos that have
a combined storage capacity of 2.8 MT. Saudi Grain Silos
and Flour Mills Organization (GSFMO) also signed contracts
to build five additional storage projects in Mecca, Jazan, Hasa,
and Qassim with a combined storage capacity of 790,000 MT,
which were to be operational by the end of 2014. Storage silos
may not be cheaper to build and manage, but they are still
much less expensive than growing cereal in such a harsh cli-
mate. Annual storage costs for wheat in Saudi Arabia are
about $70 million, a minute figure in comparison with the cost
of production subsidies, estimated at around $5 billion a year
in 1984–2001 (Mousa, 2014).
6. Possible role of agricultural extension department
6.1. Sustainable agriculture
Agricultural extension is a formal and non-formal educational
function that applies to disseminate information and advice
with the intention of promoting knowledge, attitudes, skills
and aspirations (Anderson and Feder, 2004). Nowadays,
extension activities solely depend on extension agents, as farm-
ers are the recipient and information is transferred through
one way process. To achieve sustainable agriculture develop-
ment there is a dire need of effective extension coordination,
efficient extension services and professional extension agents
(Shalaby et al., 2010; Dragic et al., 2009). The Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia has very limited cultivated land and freshwater

Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
8 S. Fiaz et al.

resources, so there is a need to create awareness among both
the farmers and extension agents about the concepts and prac-
tices of sustainable agriculture and innovative technologies as
discussed earlier in the above sections.
Environmental protection and resource conservation have
been the highlighted objectives of National Development
Strategies in the KSA. In this context, extension education is
considered as vital in country’s development plans, which pro-
vides a number of services to the target communities by under-
taking multiple activities for the betterment of farming and
rural community. This sector is expected to update the farm-
er’s indigenous knowledge regarding conventional crop, land
and water management, value addition of farm production,
packaging and storage and further to create awareness about
the marketing of agricultural commodities (Adejoh and
Adah, 2012; Al-Zoubi, 1997). Besides that, an extension agent
has to advocate the state policies regarding sustainable and
profitable agriculture to combat food security, and facilitation
of farmers in obtaining farm machinery, inputs and credit
loans (Al-Shayaa et al., 2012). Prosperous agriculture in the
Kingdom will definitely require the educated farming commu-
nity with updated knowledge (Fiaz et al., 2016) and facilitation
in the inputs required for whole farming process, comprising
fixed and variable inputs as well as soft interest-free loans
(Muddassir et al., 2016).
execution; further providing resource funds for research and
its implication as outreach at the farmer’s doorstep (Royal
Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Ottawa, Canada, 2010). At present
situation, there is a need to create the awareness about the sus-
tainable as well as conservation agricultural techniques to the
farming community of the Kingdom, for efficient use of natu-
ral resources. Here comes the significance of the extension
department in the Kingdom to initiate this awareness among
community, which requires to evaluate the existing knowledge
level of farmers about advancements in agriculture and their
adoption level (El-Hag, 2008). There is very less reported stud-
ies which do evaluations like these, as by Al-Subaiee et al.
(2005) and Al-Subaiee (2006). Among the awareness level, a
package of advanced and improved agricultural technologies
(land preparation, cultural, protection, post harvesting, value
addition and marketing facilities) should be devised prior to
disseminate this information among the farmers by capacity
building. This requires the efficient infrastructure of extension
and outreach departments of the Kingdom, with agents having
good command on the communication skills as well as
sufficient knowledge about site specific production
technologies of the intended crop species to be discussed
(Swanson, 2006).
6.3. Potential role in food security

6.2. Capacity building Main issues the Kingdom is facing now are the limiting water
(freshwater) and land resources, and prerequisites of agricul-
In Saudi Arabian agriculture system, Ministry of Agriculture is ture (Fig. 4). According to an estimate by UNDP, 89% of
the prime body responsible for the policy making and its freshwater is spent in agriculture sector, while 57% is from

Figure 4 Constraints to the food security of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
Saudi food security through innovation
non-renewable aquifers (UNDP, 2010). Therefore, it is
required to devise/introduce the resource use efficient tech-
niques, plant germplasm and equipment that can help the
Kingdom in a better and prosperous way. The agricultural
extension department can play a significant role in ensuring
the food security of kingdom by educating the farmers about
judicious use of farm inputs and further cultural practices.
The horizontal rise in agricultural production is almost impos-
sible because of the rapidly increasing world population (Noor
et al., 2016; Sahara Forest Project, 2012). Similarly, establish-
ment of model plots is a way to depict the integrated applica-
tion of all agronomic and protection measures as a component
of sustainable and precision agriculture. Other tasks which can
be performed by the extension department includes, possible
engagement and cooperation of stakeholders from the agricul-
ture sector, to launch the development and non-profit projects
empowering the rural community by capacity building and
small and medium home based industry in the villages of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By this deep interaction, extension
agents can better realize the reality and grass root problems of
farming community and will be in a position to provide feed-
back to the policy institutions, research and university author-
ities to provide the immediate solution for reported
drawbacks. Furthermore, a better feedback from the extension
agents can help the agronomists to develop the site specific
production technologies comprising a complete package of
cultural and chemical control of the specific climatic/agro-
nomic region of Saudi Arabia.
Better contribution of the extension department in food
security requires a set of reforms comprising a nationwide pol-
icy planning that can be implemented. Another positive
approach is to integrate the food security problems into agri-
cultural research. Moreover, the behavior and attitude of
extension agents toward the farmers must be encouraging
and exclusive of personal biases and status values. Similarly,
one of the food security challenges is to facilitate the process
in seeking access to capital through various credit schemes.
7. Conclusion
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had experienced remarkable
social and economic development in the last few years. The
available food supply from domestic production with limited
land and water resources is far less than the domestic daily
requirements, seriously limiting the agricultural production.
A sustainable increase in agricultural production can be
achieved by the improvement in land and water productivity.
There is a vast gap between demand and production of agricul-
tural products which must be filled through the adoption of
traditional and modern technologies i.e. land and water saving
approaches and greenhouse farming, seawater harvesting and
introduction of hydroponics and Aquaponics. If same trend
remains active then the country will suffer from a serious set-
back as it is heading to become a major food importing coun-
try which will create a huge burden on the national treasurer.
The need of hour is to become food secure country by utilizing
some of the major techniques discussed above. To minimize
the economic and social cost of diet related products, it
requires to formulate the national policy integrated with all
the possible solutions of food supply and nutritional status.
Efficient role of agriculture extension is the need of the hour
Please cite this article in press as: Fiaz, S. et al., Achieving food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through innovation: Potential role of agricultural extension.
Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2016.09.001
9
that should be exploited and utilized in a precise and efficient
manner. Target assignments for agents include evaluation of
farmer’s existing knowledge, creating awareness and motiva-
tion, capacity building and education, site specific technology
transfer and awareness about judicious use of inputs especially
freshwaters. Ultimately, feedback of ground realities from the
extension department will help the policy makers to plan the
agricultural policies for the Kingdom accordingly. Finally,
we can conclude with four potential agricultural extension cat-
egories, namely, informal education, technology transfer, advi-
sory services, and facilitation extension, which can be
implemented and practiced in a dynamic way to achieve the
set goals regarding sustainable agriculture and food security
in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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