Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most water-stressed countries, is adopting several steps to ensure water security. In a recent development, the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia has allotted up to $104.7 billion for 3,300 development projects in the water sector.

The projects are slated to cover every phase of the supply chain, and about 2,000 of the projects, totaling over $55 billion, have been financed.

Among the measures are efficient water use in agriculture and increasing water supply by strengthening desalination and storage capacity. 

According to Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadhli, minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, these improvements coincide with the development of the agriculture sector, which is reflected in the increase in its contribution to the GDP by over $19 billion in 2021.

The minister also said that the agriculture sector had approved up to almost $24 billion to execute projects, programs, and incentives for farmers to boost the efficiency of the agriculture and food sector and continue its development.

In the eastern region, work is being done to put in place a desalinated water production system that will increase daily production by roughly 800,000 cubic meters.