KSA-Based Arable Is Transforming Agriculture In The Kingdom

In a region defined by arid climates and scarce water resources, Saudi Arabia has long faced challenges creating sustainable agricultural practices. With an estimated 85.7 percent of its food and beverage trade dependent on imports, the Kingdom is highly vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, making food security a pressing concern. Enter Arable, a KSA-based agritech startup that is capitalizing on the resources that the Kingdom does have to build sustainable agricultural solutions.  

Arable was born of a partnership between Lawrence Ong and Christina Khalife, who came together in 2024 to launch an innovative hydroponic farming system specifically engineered to withstand Saudi Arabia’s harsh desert environment. In addition to addressing Saudi Arabia’s agricultural challenges, Arable also has an eye to positioning the Kingdom as the forefront exporter of high-quality fresh produce across the GCC region, and all indicators show that they might just be on the right track. In January, less than a year after setting up the company, Arable secured US$2.6 million in seed funding by undisclosed investors, with 90 percent of the investment coming from foreign backers. 

Saudi Arabia’s arid climate and limited water resources pose significant challenges to traditional farming, making sustainable food production a pressing concern. Conventional agricultural methods demand vast amounts of water, an increasingly scarce resource in the region, and crops often struggle to cope with the extreme, arid conditions of the Kingdom, where temperatures can soar up to 50°C. By using 90 percent less water than traditional methods and operating within climate-controlled environments, Arable’s hydroponic systems are thus designed to thrive in the Kingdom’s harsh desert conditions, ensuring year-round food production with maximum resource efficiency.  

Ong, who was formerly the chief operating officer (COO) of the Singapore-based tech startup MELD (a fintech blockchain company valued at US$100 million) brings strategic expertise and business acumen to the venture, while Khalife, with seven years of experience in hydroponic research and commercial projects, has designed farming systems capable of thriving in some of the world’s most challenging climates. Together, the duo came up with a formula that allows them to draw on local resources to build hydroponic farming systems that can be set up four times faster than their competitors. 

What’s more, Arable lines up with Saudi Vision 2030, a strategic framework that seeks to diversify the Kingdom’s economy away from oil, reduce dependency on imports, and ensure food security. “Arable aligns with Vision 2030 by addressing Saudi Arabia’s reliance on imports, with 90 percent of vegetables imported from abroad, including being flown in from Europe and the US, leading to high costs, carbon emissions, and supply chain risks,” Ong tells Inc. Arabia in an interview. “As global supply chains become more volatile, Arable provides a sustainable, local solution by producing fresh, high-quality vegetables within the Kingdom using hydroponic systems tailored to the Saudi climate.”

 Ong adds that rather than deploying traditional hydroponic systems, Arable has developed a system that is better suited to the region's climate. “When we arrived in Saudi Arabia, we noticed that hydroponics had been in the GCC for nearly a decade, but most facilities relied on Western or Dutch systems poorly suited to the Gulf’s extreme climate,” he points out. “For example, glass structures, designed to retain heat in Europe, are commonly used here, despite temperatures exceeding 45°C. Arable aims to address these gaps by creating hydroponic systems tailored to the local climate and economy, using locally sourced materials. Our goal is to grow fresh, high-quality fruits and vegetables in arid central regions at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems built for milder climates.” 

Besides using 90 percent less water than traditional agriculture, Ong also notes that Arable’s hydroponic systems are climate-controlled, and are optimized for year-round production in the harsh desert environment of Saudi Arabia. But what truly sets Arable apart is its pairing of innovative hydroponic technology with horizontal farming systems. “Unlike vertical farms, which were designed for countries with high land costs and limited natural sunlight, Arable’s horizontal system leverages Saudi Arabia’s abundant sunlight and vast empty land,” Ong explains. “Vertical farms often rely heavily on artificial lighting, and are better suited to urban areas with space constraints, whereas our horizontal farms are more energy-efficient and cost-effective in the Saudi context.”  

Arable’s innovation goes beyond just technology, though. In fact, the company is set on building a business that optimizes efficiency, whether that be costs or resources, in every aspect of its operation, with the aim of contributing to the resilience of the Kingdom’s food ecosystem. In order to do that, Ong shares that the Arable team designs and builds their own facilities, which allows the company to deploy its systems faster, and thereby reduces the need for expensive imports. “Unlike imported systems that rely on expensive materials and foreign contractors, we build our systems in-house, using cheap, locally sourced materials and designs specifically suited for the region,” Ong says. “This approach significantly lowers setup and operating costs.” 

Since its founding, Arable has built strategic partnerships with organizations like the KSA Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA). It has also collaborated with platforms like Sunbulah, a leading Saudi manufacturer of frozen foods, dairy products, and natural honey, to gain access to vital financial support and connections to local suppliers, which ultimately help the company to scale more efficiently. “These partnerships enable us to align with national priorities, enhance food security, and deliver innovative solutions tailored to the region’s needs, making them an essential part of our growth strategy,” Ong adds. 

Although it currently operates exclusively in Saudi Arabia, Ong believes that Arable’s location strategically positions the company to distribute across the entire GCC region in the future. “This central location enables us to efficiently serve neighboring countries like the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain as we scale,” Ong says. “While our immediate focus is on meeting Saudi demand, our systems are designed to be highly replicable, allowing for future expansion both across the GCC and into other arid regions globally.” In fact, Ong believes the company’s solutions have the potential to be implemented not just in the Middle East, but across North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southwestern United States, Central Asia, and parts of Australia.  

While the company’s immediate focus is on scaling its production of hydroponic fruits and vegetables in Saudi Arabia, Ong tells us that he has ambitious plans for the future. “For example, the leafy green (lettuce) market in Saudi Arabia alone is valued at $1.5 billion annually, and this doesn’t even account for the rest of the GCC,” Ong reveals. “Meeting a significant portion of regional demand will be our primary goal before diversifying. Once we achieve this, we plan to explore other food production systems that can be optimized, such as meat and fish production, fungus, or grains, to further enhance food security and sustainability in the region.” 

At the end of the day though, Ong says that Arable is an enterprise that’s focused on impact. “We’re not just building a business,” he says. “We’re creating a model for sustainable, local food production that can be replicated in regions facing similar challenges.” 

Pictured on image: Lawrence Ong and Christina Khalife. Image via Arable.