RIYADH: Investing in the restoration of arid and degraded lands is a highly profitable economic investment. Every dollar spent yields direct and indirect economic benefits ranging from $7 to $30.
This highlights the significance of Saudi Arabia’s success in rehabilitating the first million hectares of its degraded arid lands, as announced at the end of March, according to the Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN program in the Kingdom, Nizar Haddad, in an exclusive interview with Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper.
Haddad described the Saudi announcement as an exceptional achievement, accomplished at a rate of 548 hectares per day over five years in the heart of one of the harshest desert environments, at a time when the planet is losing 100 million hectares of its healthy land annually.
The discussion touched upon the modern agricultural experience through the “Saudi Countryside” program, where the coffee, rose, and beekeeping sectors have achieved tangible successes.
These successes include a 100 percent increase in the productivity of model farms and an improvement in the quality of essential oils and organic honey.
