Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture
Saudi Arabian government ministry responsible for the environment, water and agriculture sectors, formed under its current name by Royal Order in 2016 and tracing its history to 1953.
Industry: Government ministry (environment, water and agriculture) | Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Founded: 1953
About Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture
The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture is a Saudi Arabian government ministry responsible for the environment, water and agriculture sectors. It describes itself as the national entity that leads and sustains these three sectors through integrated policies, strategies and solutions that protect natural resources, pursue water and food security and support the national economy under Saudi Vision 2030. Wikipedia places its headquarters in Riyadh.
The ministry traces its history to a general directorate of agriculture under the Ministry of Finance, dated 1948 on the ministry's website and 1947 in other sources. It became the Ministry of Agriculture and Water in 1953. A desalination affairs agency created in 1970 became the Saline Water Conversion Corporation in 1974, and the General Organization for Grain Silos and Flour Mills was linked to the ministry in 1986. The water sector became an independent ministry in 2002, and in 2016 the sectors were merged under the current name by Royal Order No. 133/A.
The ministry states its vision as a sustainable environment and natural resources that achieve water security, contribute to food security and improve quality of life. Its strategic objectives include preserving natural resources, achieving water security, contributing to sustainable food security and increasing private sector participation.
Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadli has been minister since 2015, and the ministry says thirteen ministers have served since 1953. Saudipedia notes that he was previously chief executive of the food company Almarai. The ministry's website lists the National Transformation Program, Sustainable Development and Sector Strategy among its programmes and offers a unified e-services portal, Naama, covering environment, water, agriculture, livestock, land and fisheries.
Wikipedia records that the ministry's work has included hosting the UN Convention to Combat Desertification COP16 conference in Riyadh in December 2024 and taking part in adopting the first international Codex standard for fresh dates in November 2025. In June 2026 TechScoop reported that the agritech company Terraxy had moved through the ministry's regulatory sandbox, which is meant to validate emerging environmental technologies under real-world conditions.