Saudi-US Partnership to Build Vertical Farms in MENA Region

Saudi-US Partnership to Build Vertical Farms in MENA Region

The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced a joint venture agreement with AeroFarms, a US-based commercial market leader in vertical farming, to establish a company in Riyadh to build and operate indoor vertical farms in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The agreement seeks to optimize the utilization of natural resources, including water and agricultural lands, through the implementation of indoor vertical farming, with no need for arable land, resulting in significantly higher yields and using up to 95% less water compared to traditional field farming.

The partnership is expected to contribute to the provision of high-quality local crops throughout the year through AeroFarms’ smart farming technology, as it aims to establish and operate many farms in the region over the next few years.

The PIF expected that the first farm in Saudi Arabia would have an annual production capacity of 1.1 million kilograms of agricultural crops, which would make it the largest of its kind in the MENA region.

Promising sectors

The agreement comes in line with PIF’s strategy that focuses on developing and empowering promising sectors, including food and agriculture, as well as localizing new agricultural technologies and developing food industries, in partnership with the local private sector.