KAUST signed on Tuesday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Research and Development Center for Sustainable Agriculture (Estidamah), the region's leading center for sustainable agriculture. The signing, which took place at KAUST, will allow both organizations to share their world-class research facilities and personnel to strengthen their research at the international level. The cooperation will drive advances in research and, in particular, the training of students which will play a vital role in developing Saudi Arabia's national capacity in sustainable agriculture. The MoU aims to intensify existing collaboration between Estidamah and KAUST in research and education to reach the common goals of training young scientists and establishing sustainable planting systems for the Kingdom and the region, focusing on strategic crops. The MoU will allow KAUST students and researchers to perform their experiments in Estidamah facilities, developing and executing combined research projects and organizing joint scientific events. KAUST's Vice President for Research, Prof. Pierre Magistretti, who signed the MoU on behalf of KAUST said, "Since its foundation, KAUST has recognized food as a key research thrust for our faculty. Sustainable food security is one of the core global, regional and national challenges that KAUST has a mandate to solve using its unique mix of talent and resources. "Through this agreement with Estidamah, we are creating a greatly enhanced resource for training the next generation of Saudi Arabia's scientists in sustainable agriculture. The novel research supported by this collaboration will have an impact on Saudi Arabia's agriculture sector and beyond." Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Saghir, general director of Estidamah, stressed the importance of cooperation between research organizations to develop sustainable agriculture and to contribute to the Kingdom's agricultural sector via advanced research and innovation. Sustainable agriculture is essential for meeting Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goal of food security alongside ecological balance. The KAUST and Estidamah agreement will contribute to Saudi Arabia's efforts in promoting sustainable agricultural development and contribute to achieving food security at national, regional and global level, with the conservation of natural and environmental resources.
