How circular farming can build food security in arid lands

Tanmiah Food Company has implemented a circular farming system in Saudi Arabia that integrates wastewater treatment, afforestation, and sustainable feed production. By recycling approximately 680 million litres of wastewater annually to irrigate Moringa trees, the company combats desertification, sequesters carbon, and reduces reliance on imported animal feed. This waste-to-value model, supported by agri-tech partnerships, serves as a scalable blueprint for other water-stressed regions to transition livestock farming into a regenerative system.

• Tanmiah Food Company utilizes onsite wastewater treatment plants to recycle approximately 680 million litres of water annually from poultry farms and processing plants for agricultural irrigation, which reduces the need for groundwater and desalination.
• The 'One Million Trees Initiative' focuses on planting Moringa oleifera, a drought-tolerant tree that provides nutrient-rich animal feed, sequesters CO2, and can reduce methane emissions when used in cattle feed. As of Q1 2025, over 550,000 trees have been planted, sequestering about 114,800 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions.
• The initiative aims to increase food security by reducing Saudi Arabia's dependence on imported animal feed, which accounted for more than 90% of feed ingredients as of 2024, supporting a goal of 90% food self-sufficiency in the poultry sector by 2030.
• Tanmiah collaborated with agri-tech partners in 2024 to optimize Moringa cultivation: Desert Control used liquid natural clay for water retention, Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI) implemented subsurface irrigation, and Terraxy piloted soil microbiome enhancement.

APA

Nejaim, Z. H. S. (2025). How circular farming can build food security in arid lands. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/circular-economy/how-circular-farming-can-build-food-security-in-arid-lands/

Chicago

Nejaim, Zulfiqar Hamadani, Shahad. How circular farming can build food security in arid lands. World Economic Forum, 2025. https://www.weforum.org/stories/circular-economy/how-circular-farming-can-build-food-security-in-arid-lands/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nejaim |first1=Zulfiqar Hamadani, Shahad |title=How circular farming can build food security in arid lands |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=25 June 2025 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/circular-economy/how-circular-farming-can-build-food-security-in-arid-lands/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nejaim2025how, author = {Nejaim, Zulfiqar Hamadani, Shahad}, title = {{How circular farming can build food security in arid lands}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/circular-economy/how-circular-farming-can-build-food-security-in-arid-lands/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }