WADI AD-DAWASIR: The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has signed an agreement to establish a coffee development city in the Baha region’s Mashuqa and Al-Qara governorates.

The city will be built in an area totaling 1,600,000 square meters and will have the operational capacity to provide 1,000 job opportunities and plant 300,000 coffee trees.

Fahd Al-Zahrani, the director of the ministry’s branch in Baha, said that the ministry has agreed with the Agricultural Society in Baljurashi to establish the city, which will include several essential facilities, such as an integrated coffee factory for sorting, processing, roasting, and packaging.

A training center will also be on the site, as well as a business center and a permanent exhibition. There will also be an area designated for housing and hospitality, as the ministry aims to make the city a tourist destination.

Al-Zahrani indicated that the ministry is seeking to support coffee cultivation projects through many programs and initiatives, including ones to rehabilitate agricultural terraces and rainwater reservations, which contributed to the recovery of 114 coffee farms in the Baha region.

Moreover, 17,000 seedlings have been distributed to farmers for free. The Sustainable Agricultural Rural Development Program provides material support to eight sectors, including coffee, to improve rural agriculture, raise living standards for farmers, and increase efficiency and productivity.

SPA