RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s food security drive has received a boost after the Kingdom’s Agricultural Development Fund signed financing contracts worth an accumulated SR1.54 billion ($409 million) to propel the import of some agricultural products. 

Targeted products include maize, soybeans, and barley. 

The financing contracts included Al Ghadeer Feed Factory Co., Nadec Co., Al Nafeh Food Co., Al Bawardi Holding Group, National Poultry Co., Fakih Poultry Co., and Almarai Co. 

In addition to this, the fund also signed a financing contract with the Central Agricultural Cooperative Society. 

The signing of these contracts come in line with the programs and initiatives of the Agricultural Development Fund to boost food security, compensate for any potential shortages in the supply of agricultural commodities and products, and ensure stability in terms of food supply chains. 

The Saudi Agriculture Development Fund has approved a number of loans with an accumulated worth of over SR861 million to finance working capital, according to the Saudi Press Agency.  

The loans will also be utilized in importing some agricultural products targeting the food sector specifically.   

The move comes in accordance with attempts to keep pace with current international developments, the Saudi Press Agency reported, citing general manager of the Fund Munir bin Fahd Al-Sahli. 

The fund has financed 467,000 loans, with a total value of SR55 billion, since its inception in 1962 until the end of 2021. 

The figures were revealed within the Agricultural Exhibition Forum sessions on the sidelines of the Saudi Agriculture Exhibition 2022 and the Saudi Agri-Business Forum, under the title “Securing the Kingdom's diversified food needs in various sub-sectors.” 

The services are represented in financing specialized projects such as poultry, greenhouses, fish farming, and food manufacturing industries, the ADF advisor Alaa Siddiq explained.  

Development loans target farmers, livestock breeders, beekeepers and fishermen, in addition to financing external agricultural investment projects, Siddiq said.