Organic Farming in Saudi Arabia: Prospects and Challenges

Introduction

This paper explores the potential development of a full dissertation examining the environmental and socio-economic prospects and challenges of organic farming in Saudi Arabia. One must consider that the available land in this nation is slightly more than one-fifth the size of the United States and has a harsh climate of dry desert and extreme temperatures. The terrain is mostly uninhabited because a large portion of it is desert subject to frequent sand and dust storms. Only a small portion of the land is arable — just 1.67% available for permanent crops as of 2005 statistics. Special farming techniques will be required to work with this harsh terrain; however, it is possible, as evidenced by the fact that as of 2003, the nation had up to 16,200 square kilometers under full irrigation.

What type of farming could be useful here? Organic farming presents one promising answer. This technique has been practiced in the majority of countries around the world, with approximately 26 million hectares of cultivated organic land currently in use globally. There is also significant economic output being produced by the world's organic producers. The European Union and the United States are currently the leading markets; however, many new and developing nations have begun to show serious interest in participating in this growing international trend. Organic farming, as opposed to conventional farming, presents an opportunity for individual producers and agricultural business entities to increase their overall worth. Saudi Arabia's agri-food imports in 2004 were $1.7 billion higher than in 2003, and the country's top five imports account for 40% of total agricultural imports.

This proposal incorporates a review of existing resource-planning options and also looks forward to the possibilities of new design and implementation processes pertaining to organic farms. In an ever more competitive, technologically advanced, and profit-motivated global economy, all factions of the agricultural business community are engaged in a never-ending search for new and viable opportunities and solutions that can strategically reduce inherent problems in the farming sector. Nations are also trying to control operational costs associated with farming and thereby systematically increase food output, profitability, and revenues. Throughout history, agricultural entities have successfully reduced costs and increased yields through the implementation of new machinery, irrigation techniques, and field restructuring.

Today, however, water and land resources have become indispensable assets that can no longer be cut without creating severely adverse effects on farm productivity, quality, and efficiency. Groundwater supplies have been depleted and there are no perennial rivers or permanent water bodies in the region. Water resource management is a complex balancing act — the development of extensive seawater desalination facilities has provided new options for the nation, but coastal pollution from oil spills offsets some of those gains. Because of this, the overriding objective for most organic farming organizations and individuals has become a drive toward maximum efficiency. The core tenet guiding the environmental and socio-economic prospects of organic farming in Saudi Arabia is therefore to focus on the design, construction, and use of viable organic farm systems that can increase food crop output for all stakeholders involved.

The primary objective of this research is to provide a foundation for a complete dissertation on the development of new organic farming methodologies throughout Saudi Arabia — methodologies that could deliver more comprehensive and healthier food yields while reducing the nation's dependence on foreign food imports. This proposed research is new and differs from prior studies in the field. The potential significance of the dissertation lies in the vast promise organic farming holds for the region. The proposed organic farming systems and associated techniques would offer well-defined, well-structured frameworks for guiding project teams and other stakeholders through the full spectrum of a national organic farming process. The process would be built on organic farming design techniques that incorporate the missing elements of prior agricultural methodologies while building on previously successful efforts.

Statement of the Problem

There is a substantial procedural challenge in working with issues of this complexity. This dissertation aims to adopt a perspective broad enough to incorporate all necessary elements at the highest levels of integration, while simultaneously thinking in terms narrow enough to capture the minute details that affect the system as a whole. The dissertation must also provide future users with the knowledge needed to improve the system over time.

Any approach must therefore first achieve a broad understanding of the nation's existing agricultural demands by systematically gathering and thoroughly analyzing the appropriate data. In order to achieve the desired results relevant to implementing complete and reliable nationwide organic farming systems, close interaction will be required between research teams, farmers, and any other institutions considered essential to a successful outcome.

Unfortunately, there has been little to no prior research conducted on Saudi organic farming principles, potential processes, or supporting policies. This dissertation, if approved, would serve as a reliable first effort — a genuine pioneer in this field. It offers opportunities for new results in the Saudi agricultural context and in the broader holistic approach to organic farming. The foundation of a strong need for organic farming drives confidence in positive outcomes. Results will likely address an urgent need identified by the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture, the governmental structure, and the people of Saudi Arabia.

Organic farming as a practice was developed by experienced farmers and private gardeners in the early 1970s. Through trial and error, these farmers, gardeners, and later interested scientists worked individually and then as research teams to develop the holistic methods in use around the globe today. Conventional farming remains the norm for the majority of agricultural production worldwide; however, the organic approach continues to gain ground. Each farming approach has its own unique characteristics, but as science continues to investigate the benefits of each, the organic option is receiving increasingly robust support.

Literature Review and Justification

For example, Mae-Wan Ho of the Institute of Science in Society and scientists from the University of Michigan reported that organic agriculture has the capacity to provide enough food to support the entire world's food needs. They determined that, even using conservative estimates, no additional land area would need to be brought into production in order to feed the planet — provided that farmers switched to organic methods and that those switches generated sufficient biologically available nitrogen to replace the synthetic nitrogen fertilizers currently used globally (Wan Ho et al., 2008). Wan Ho's findings and other success stories from around the world provide legitimate evidence of the potential benefits organic farming could deliver to Saudi Arabia and represent strong grounds for a full dissertation study.

Conventional farming has become increasingly outdated. As Michelsen et al. (2001) observed, "Ecological and sustainable farming systems like organic agriculture systems could be understood as the request of a social movement, which regards itself as alternative to the established mainstream agriculture." The organic approach would greatly increase the output of the nation's premier export: the Saudi Arabian date palm.

Saudi Arabia has long been blessed with unique natural wealth from its date production. As one source notes, "Dates are an important food for travelers in deserts or in the mountains because they provide them with a complete nutritious meal" (PalmWonder, 2009). The nation's date production constitutes approximately 30% of the entire world's output, and according to Saudi Ministry of Agriculture statistics, Saudi Arabia produces approximately one million tons of dates annually out of the world's 3.1 million tons of total output. A full dissertation would systematically incorporate aggressive and holistic production and marketing plans proposing methods to reduce excessive yield waste, which remains a major problem today. Through organic farming and improved output distribution, date production could become more economical than existing processes while organic growing methods would make the procedure dramatically more ecologically friendly.

Consider the many existing uses of dates. They are easy to carry and require no cooking; they can be chopped and used in cakes, desserts, and savory dishes; they are processed into paste and date syrup called dibs; and recent innovations include chocolate-covered dates and date juice. Date palm leaves are used for making huts, mats, screens, baskets, brooms, large hats, and fans (PalmWonder, 2009). Global demand for organically produced fruits, vegetables, and their byproducts is being driven by the popularity of organic products in the United States and the European Union. If only 50% of Saudi Arabia's annual date production were exported as organic final product, a conservative price of $6.00 USD per kilogram would translate into $3 billion USD — constituting 8.4% of today's world organic market value, a figure roughly equivalent to Saudi Arabia's total agri-food imports.

Conclusion

Organic farming implementation encompasses a number of complex criteria. Through case research, this proposal has demonstrated that organic farming represents not only an environmentally sound approach but also a socio-economically promising one for Saudi Arabia. This research project could fundamentally be a major part of a development strategy to further amplify the organic farming system for Saudi Arabia as a whole — addressing food import dependency, creating employment, boosting date palm production, and positioning the nation competitively in the growing global organic market.