Agriculture

Climate change to hit water-scarce Arab world hard

Climate change is likely to hit the water-starved Arab world harder than many other parts of the globe and threatens to slash agricultural output in the area, U.N. and Arab League officials said. Arab governments have shown more awareness of the issue but need to cooperate further to improve research and policies, they said. "Climate change will be critical for the Arab world because this region in particular already suffers from poverty, widespread aridity, water scarcity and social marginalization," said Sima Bahous, Deputy Secretary General for Social Development in the Arab League. Fifteen per cent of people in the Arab world already have limited or no access to potable water, the officials said, speaking at the launch in Cairo of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) report on climate change.

Dubai Pharos sets up US$350m agricultural fund

Dubai-based Pharos Financial Advisors has established a US$350 million (EUR 234 million) private equity agricultural fund targeting investments in arable farm projects in eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, news site Arabian Business writes. Peter Halloran, chief executive of Russian investment company Pharos Group, which is the parent of Pharos Financial Advisors, said the expected annualized return on the fund's investments would be 25 per cent. Pharos said it would team up for the fund with Miro Asset Management, a unit of Dubai-based investment company Miro Holdings International, which would control land purchases and farm management activities.

Wheat import to total 3 million tons by 2016

Saudi Arabia, which began phasing out wheat cultivation last year, is going to import 3 million tons of wheat a year by 2016, a top official said recently. Waleed Al-Khariji, Managing Director of the Grain Silos and Flour Mills Organization (GSFMO), said the Kingdom had imported 2.2 million tons of wheat since it started the phase out program, to be run over eight years, in September 2008. "By 2016, we will import 3 million tons of wheat per year," Al-Khariji said at a meeting with US Wheat Associates. The United States exports about 26 million tons of wheat most of which is hard wheat, a popular buy for GSFMO this year. Saudi Arabia announced in January 2008 that it would abandon a 30-year program to grow wheat in a bid to conserve the Kingdom's scarce water resources. The Kingdom aims to rely entirely on imports by 2016.

Saudi farms turn soil for seeds of change

A 36,000-hectare corner of northwestern Saudi Arabia is being cultivated by the Tabuk Agricultural Development Company (Tadco). For a quarter of a century Tadco, one of the country's leading agricultural companies, has been plying its trade in the kingdom's northwest, where the climate is less harsh than other parts of the desert nation and the soil enriched by the volcanic mountains and hills surrounding the lowlands. The water comes not from rain - there is hardly any - but is pumped up from aquifers and piped to sprinklers. Now, however, Tadco is having to adjust to a new environment. With a view to protecting its finite water resources, the kingdom announced last year that it would phase out domestic wheat production by 2016, with farmers having to reduce their production by 12.5 per cent annually from the 2.5m tons produced in 2008. Shortly after that decision was taken, the world food crisis peaked, sending the kingdom's inflation soaring and triggering concerns about food security. The result was the conception of the highly ambitious "King Abdullah initiative" under which the government hopes to secure sources of wheat, rice, soya beans, corn and alfalfa by investment in overseas agricultural projects. The plan is for the private sector to take the lead with support from the government, which has launched an US$800m company to back the initiative.

New agricultural company inks financial consultancy deal in Saudi Arabia

The newly formed International Agriculture and Food Investment Company (Agroinvest) has concluded a financial consultancy deal with TeamOne Company. Osama M. Al- Kurdi, who heads the launch team of Agroinvest, represented the company in signing the consultancy services agreement with the office of Abdullah Baeshen, chairman of Teamone Company for specialized financial services. Under the deal, TeamOne will carry out all the financial procedures and works required for the formation of Agroinvest. It will also undertake all the financial services in accordance with the rules and regulations set by the Capital Market Authority. The Saudi authorities announced launching the SR 2 billion agricultural investment firm as part of a major initiative launched by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to ensure food security.