Minister of Agriculture Fahd Bin Abdul Rahman Balghunaim recently launched a national public awareness campaign on organic foods at its headquarters in Riyadh.

Saudi Minister of Agriculture Fahd Bin Abdul Rahman Balghunaim recently launched a national public awareness campaign on organic foods at its headquarters in Riyadh.

With the campaign, the ministry aims at raising awareness on the benefits of organic foods and agriculture among consumers and to promote the Saudi Organic Logo. The latter was introduced in 2011 and ensures that the labeled product meets the strict organic standards laid down in Saudi law.

Welcoming the launch of the campaign on organic products, Ayman Al-Ghamdi, director general of the Department of Organic Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, said the campaign targeted the Saudi society as a whole, including consumers as well as farmers, and mainly focuses on domestic organic foods produced by Saudi organic farms and enterprises.

Spreading awareness

“This is the second public awareness campaign; the first was implemented three years ago. It aims at spreading organic agriculture awareness, introducing organic products and its benefits to the Saudi society,” Al-Ghamdi said during the inauguration.

He announced that the campaign, held in partnership with Danube, Tamimi Markets, Saudi Organic Farming Association, and GIZ International Services, would continue for four weeks and had been divided into two parts.

The first part entails an organic festival, which takes place at 20 supermarket branches of Danube and Tamimi Markets throughout the country.

The promotional campaign will also take place in several selected malls in Jeddah and Riyadh, where information flyers will be handed out to the public and numerous lighting billboards have been rented.

Social media and other media outlets will constitute the second part of the campaign, Al-Ghamdi continued. He said a Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram account had been created for the occasion, where people can find all kinds of tips and information regarding organic foods and agriculture and on which the organic logo will be promoted.

Apart from Minister of Agriculture Fahd Bin Abdul Rahman Balghunaim and Ayman Al-Ghamdi, the press conference was attended by Khaled Al-Fuhaid, deputy minister for agricultural affairs; Abdul Aziz Al-Tamimi, owner of Tamimi Markets; and Ahmed bin Dawood, owner of Danube Markets.

 
[wpResize]