Saudi Arabia has announced the arrival of the first food crop harvested in Saudi-owned farms abroad, in a sign that the Kingdom is moving faster than expected to outsource agricultural production, reported the Financial Times Thursday. Rice, harvested in Ethiopia by a group of Saudi investors, comes as other countries are still in the early stages of investing in overseas farms. Some analysts argue that foreign investment in agriculture, even if earmarked for export, could ultimately help poor countries, providing them with employment, infrastructure, access to agricultural technology and export tax revenues. Riyadh has also provided the most detailed account to date of food-security plans known as the “King Abdullah initiative for Saudi agricultural investment abroad”. In a note posted on its foreign affairs website, Riyadh has disclosed that it will “provide credit facilities to Saudi investors in agriculture abroad”, with the focus on “countries with promising agricultural resources and having encouraging government.” Hail Agricultural Development, a Saudi company, said last month that it would invest in agricultural production in Sudan, with the government providing 60 per cent of the funding. The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank said this week that it was looking at investments to support agriculture, including the production of rice to be exported back to Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials have so far visited Turkey, Ukraine, Egypt, Sudan, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, South Africa and Ethiopia, while delegations from other countries, including Australia, have visited Riyadh to discuss possible investments.The investments “should be long-term through ownership or long-term contracts”, and Riyadh expects the “liberty of selecting the crops.”
