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Integrated programmes for economic inclusion

Saudi Arabia: Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program (REEF)

The Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Programme (REEF) is a government-led initiative to enhance food security, promote sustainable agriculture, and improve the livelihoods of rural populations in line with Saudi Vision 2030. The financial assistance is provided through the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) and the Agricultural Development Fund. It entails granting smallholders access to loans, credit facilities, and market opportunities, thereby enabling them to acquire productive assets.

Additionally, the programme also includes mechanization, terracing, water harvesting, and capacity building. It targets eight priority sectors: Rain-fed cereals agriculture; Coffee production and processing; Subtropical fruits production; Rose and aromatics cultivation; Beekeeping and honey production; Small ruminant livestock production; Small scale fisheries and aquaculture; and Value addition of smallholdings and rural activities.

The programme employs several targeted approaches to address inequalities and reach specific sub-populations:

  • Women: Women comprise around 74% of all REEF beneficiaries. To increase rural women’s labour-market participation, the programme provides advisory services, technical training and business incubators for rural women entrepreneurs.
  • Youth: REEF provides specific support for youth, aiming to create decent work opportunities in rural areas and position agriculture as a viable modern career path.
  • Marginalized Regions: The programme gives special attention to drylands and marginalised rural areas, where there is a proportionately high population of smallholder farmers and producers dependent on agricultural livelihoods. These include the south-western regions of Jazan, Asir, Al-Baha, and Makkah—regions often characterised by rainfed agriculture, beekeeping, and rose farming that also exhibit a higher vulnerability to climate change, making the programme's focus on water harvesting particularly impactful. For livestock, the focus is on the northern rangelands of Arar and Hafr Al-Batin, where there are clusters of livestock herders engaging in traditional practices.
  • Smallholders and Cooperatives: The programme's primary beneficiaries are smallholder farmers, producers, and rural families—including small scale farmers and producers, beekeepers, livestock herders, fishers and rural women small business owners. It strengthens cooperative societies to act as local hubs for service delivery, training, and market access.

Within the framework of the Sustainable Rural Agricultural Development (SRAD) programme, the initiative fosters rural entrepreneurship through specialized training in sectors such as seaweed and fisheries ecosystem management. This investment not only benefits local communities but also contributes to broader global goals related to poverty alleviation, food security, biodiversity conservation, and climate action.

The programme reaches a total of  87,235 beneficiaries across the kingdom as of June 2025.

The total programme support for the period 2019–2024 amounts to SAR 2.4 billion (approximately USD 640 million).

The REEF programme utilizes a multi-level and multi-sectoral governance model:

  • International Level: FAO provides technical expertise, capacity building, and joint monitoring and evaluation support.
  • National Level: MEWA provides strategic direction, national funding, and alignment with Vision 2030.
  • Local Level: Implementation is decentralized, with local departments and cooperative societies managing stakeholder engagement and direct service delivery to beneficiaries.

The programme is supported by a robust MIS infrastructure. This includes the official REEF portal (https://reef.gov.sa) for programme information and beneficiary services; MEWA dashboards and regional data collection systems for internal management and monitoring; and FAO monitoring reports which provide external evaluation and impact assessment. Management is supplemented by regular workshops and forums for evaluation.

Official documents, Articles, success stories and news items via official channels have been published regularly. FAO has prepared Sector Reviews and Technical and Analytical Studies and Reports for all the 8 sectors covering changes for improving production, value addition, innovations and empowerment of the benefactors, especially women and youth in the rural areas.

Driving agrifood systems transformation through sustainable rural agricultural development – Practical examples from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Ghosh, K., AlMakrami, H. and Shami, S., 2025)

The programme has driven significant growth in the beekeeping sector, where the number of registered beekeepers tripled from 5,000 to 15,000, with women now comprising 36% of this workforce (up from zero). This expansion supported approximately 17,000 jobs and raised annual honey production to an estimated 4,582 tonnes, driven by a 50% adoption rate of modern hives that boosted yields from 2.5 kg to 7.5 kg per hive. In the coffee sector, interventions have improved quality—with 77% of samples grading as specialty coffee—and produced 5,900 somatic embryos via tissue culture, supporting a national target to increase production from 800 to 7,000 tonnes by 2030.

Broader agricultural initiatives have also yielded substantial results, including the distribution of 30,000 nursery plants (pomegranates, figs, grapes) to 1,000 farmers and a reduction in pomegranate loss from 30% to 10%, while improved irrigation techniques for sesame increased production by 50%. The fisheries sector has been strengthened to engage over 30,000 fisherfolk directly, contributing to wider employment. Furthermore, cooperative development has surged, with membership growing by 86% and the registration rate of specialised cooperatives rising significantly from an average of four to nineteen per year, indicating a robust strengthening of rural organizational capacity.

‘Reef Saudi’, a Successful Program Based on Rain-Fed Agriculture (SPA, 2024).

The programme has successfully modernised rainfed agriculture operations, achieving a reduction of up to 90% in harvesting costs for crops such as wheat and barley through the deployment of over 370 agricultural machines. This mechanisation initiative directly benefited 2,256 farmers, facilitating the harvesting of 7.8 million square metres and the preparation of an additional 1.3 million square metres of land. Since 2020, the programme has provided support to 3,605 farmers (2,078 men and 1,527 women) with a cumulative financial disbursement of SAR 41.86 million, resulting in a total crop production of 45,366 tonnes. Furthermore, strategic assessments have identified 334,534 hectares suitable for rainfed agriculture within the Kingdom, with 33,358 hectares targeted for investment in the initial phase to bolster food security and sustainable practices.

'Reef Saudi' Invests SAR140 Million in Honey Sector, Aims for Over 7,000-Ton Production by 2026 (SPA, 2024).

Since 2020, the programme has invested over SAR 140 million to bolster the honey sector, directly supporting 10,584 beneficiaries. To ensure product quality and bee health, the initiative has deployed three mobile laboratories and four mobile clinics for disease diagnosis and sample examination. Furthermore, the programme is implementing sustainability measures such as the preservation and breeding of native queen bees, with the strategic aim of increasing annual national honey production to 7,500 tonnes by 2026 to achieve self-sufficiency.

WARFA: Strengthening the role of women in sustainable rural agricultural development in Saudi Arabia (FAO, 2023).

Pre- and post-training evaluations demonstrated substantial capacity building, with all participants improving their knowledge, skills, and attitudes by 60 to 100 per cent across the core thematic areas. The most significant gains were recorded in Value Chain Development (VCD), Agribusiness, and Agricultural Marketing, where knowledge retention reached approximately 100 per cent. Notably, participants showed a marked increase in understanding complex concepts—rising from low baselines to 100 per cent—regarding the sustainability of gender-inclusive value chains, the utility of new economic technologies, and the economic role of productive families across diverse sectors such as coffee, honey, livestock, and agritourism. Furthermore, technical proficiency in business planning increased by 55 per cent.
  • Capacity Building at grassroots level: Critical to develop capacities on the ground for adoption of good practices, value addition and entrepreneurships for alleviation of prospects; The SRAD programme has conducted over 500 courses in local language for smallholders across the regions for increasing adoption and impact.
  • Mechanization as a Cost-Reduction Tool: Strategic investment in mechanization provides a direct and quantifiable impact, significantly reducing production costs (e.g., 90% in harvesting) and improving overall efficiency for smallholders.
  • Climate-Resilient Infrastructure is Critical: In arid and semi-arid regions, sustainable practices like rainwater harvesting and terracing are essential prerequisites for enhancing productivity and building resilience.
  • Direct technical support: Small herders of goat and sheep, and beekeepers, require direct and continuous support and extension to increase productivity and income.
  • Introducing digital services and innovations: Need to introduce digital technologies to reduce cost, better monitoring and increasing income opportunities.
  • Raising awareness of good practices: There is continuous need for raising awareness of innovations and technologies to small holders and farmers through networks, online and offline channels.
  • Gender-Inclusive Design Yields High Impact: Targeting women and youth is not just an equity goal but a key driver of rural development.
  • Local Institutions are Key to Delivery: Cooperative societies are crucial for effective service delivery, improving programme reach and sustainability.
  • Support Must be Holistic: Financial aid or mechanization alone is insufficient. Continuous technical support (e.g., improved crop varieties, agronomic practices, pests and disease management) and training are essential for maximizing yield, sustainability, and long-term impact.

In addition to local research centres (National Livestock and Fisheries Development Programme):

https://reef.gov.sa


SDG 1: No Poverty

  • Target 1.1 - By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day
    • Indicator 1.1.1 - Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
  • Target 1.2 - By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
    • Indicator 1.2.2 - Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
  • Target 1.3 - Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
    • Indicator 1.3.1 - Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable


SDG 2: Zero Hunger

  • Target 2.3 - By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
    • Indicator 2.3.1 - Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size
    • Indicator 2.3.2 - Average income of small-scale food producers
  • Target 2.4 - Ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices.
    • Indicator 2.4.1 - Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture.


SDG 5: Gender Equality

  • Target 5.c - Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.
    • Indicator 5.c.1 - Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment.


SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

  • Target 6.4 - By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
    • Indicator 6.4.1 - Change in water-use efficiency over time


SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth.

  • Target 8.3 - Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services
    • Indicator 8.3.1 - Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex
  • Target 8.5 - By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
    • Indicator 8.5.2 - Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
Support to livelihood diversification;
Training (vocational, life skills, cash for training, entrepreneurship);
Access to irrigation;
Climate resilient agricultural technologies;
Inclusive value addition and processing;
Pro-poor access to agricultural inputs, technology and knowledge;
Promote inclusive access to agricultural markets;
Integrated programmes for climate and shock resilience, including programmes related to anticipatory, adaptive and shock-responsive social protection;
Integrated programmes for economic inclusion;
Farmer registry

Related Policy Instruments

Integrated programmes for economic inclusion