The political turmoil in a number of Arab countries has forced Saudi investors to increase their agricultural investment in Asian and European countries to ensure food security in the Kingdom which imports wheat and other agricultural products for human consumption.

The Saudi government has decided to invest in agricultural development abroad and strengthen Saudi Arabia’s position in this regard. Experts claim that the project, entitled the “King Abdullah Initiative for Saudi Agricultural Investment Abroad” will help secure greater international food security.

Dr. Riyadh Abu Mansour, an economic expert and CEO of Al-Belad Company for Investments said, “Several Saudi food firms have invested in Sudan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt but the volatile political situation in these countries has forced Saudi investors to look for other alternatives. Pakistan is one of these options especially as many Saudi agriculture investments have proven successful in that country during the last ten years.”

Speaking to Arab News he said, “However, 25 percent of Saudi agriculture firms have started investing in Australia to import wheat, while there are other local firms which are interested in investing in EU countries.”

Until six years ago, the Kingdom’s policy makers advocated self-sufficiency for its local wheat cultivation, as well as some other products such as milk, meat and eggs. However, as it became clear that the levels of subsidies required for farmers and limited water resources were making domestic wheat production unviable, the government decided to gradually wind down operations and opt instead to meet their wheat requirements through imports.

The Kingdom is expected to phase out domestic wheat production completely by 2016 as farmers are encouraged to shift their focus toward alternative crops. At the same time, wheat imports are increasing rapidly as the government looks to bridge the widening gap between falling domestic production and rising demand. Saudi Arabia is expected to import 1.96 million tons of wheat for human consumption for the period 2012 to 2014, according to estimates of the local office of the US Department of agriculture.

“Agriculture investments abroad depend on buying large areas of lands in countries which have natural resources to develop the agricultural industry, as the Kingdom lacks the important water resource.

Therefore, the best way to ensure food security is for Saudi investors to buy agriculture lands in these countries. However, the unstable security situation in some Arab countries has forced Saudi investors to look to other countries as food security represents a priority concern for the Kingdom,” Dr. Naser Al-Boqami told Arab News.

A number of Saudi companies earlier decided to invest in Sudan as is evident from the recent acquisition of agricultural lands covering an area of approximately 4,000 acres in Sudan’s northern region by four Saudi companies to raise various crops. The region has so far attracted 32 investment projects from the Arabian Gulf countries, covering an approximate area of 14 million acres, all located in the upper areas of the river Nile.