RIYADH: Eng. Mansour bin Hilal Al-Mushaiti, vice minister of environment, water, and agriculture, said during the opening ceremony of the International Saudi Coffee Exhibition 2024 in Jazan on Friday that Saudi coffee had experienced a “significant improvement” in quality over the last decade.

Al-Mushaiti claimed that Saudi coffee was now classified as “the world’s finest.”

The vice minister said that the exhibition — which includes training courses for coffee farmers, workshops, and “meetings that combine culture and art” — will help farmers and coffee enthusiasts in the southwestern regions of Saudi Arabia achieve their aspirations.

According to Al-Mushaiti, there are 2,185 coffee farms in the Kingdom’s southwestern sector, where a total of approximately 391,160 seedlings have been planted. He added that more than 1,100 farmers have benefited from government initiatives in Jazan, with approximately 219,160 seedlings planted on their farms.

Up to the end of 2023, he continued, the Sustainable Rural Agricultural Development Program “Rural Saudi Arabia,” had provided business support worth more than SR155 million ($41.33 million). More than 3,000 people in the coffee sector were eligible to benefit from that support, according to the vice minister.

Al-Mushaiti also said that the ministry is working with the private sector to implement a number of new projects. He noted that up to the end of 2022, the Agricultural Development Fund had provided around SR1.9 billion to projects in the Jazan region, leading to 79 investment opportunities in the livestock, plant, and fisheries sectors, as well as coffee-cultivation projects.