Abu Dhabi’s renewable research hub Masdar City and venture builder DANA have teamed up to focus on food security and develop agritech in the United Arab Emirates.
Ensuring there is enough food to feed a growing global population is a major concern for governments around the world. In the arid Gulf states, food security poses its own set of unique challenges. From vertical farming to technology that turns saltwater into water fit for agriculture, the search is on for solutions. The regional agriculture market is projected to grow a compound annual growth rate of 5.7 percent through 2026.
“R&D has always been the catalyst for bringing innovative projects to life, driving essential reform, and delivering positive change across industries and society,” said Ahmed Baghoum, acting executive director, Masdar City.
Under the agreement, Masdar City and DANA, which supports women-led startups across the sectors of agritech, energy and water solutions, and circular economy, will build its first Abu Dhabi-based beta site in Masdar City. The beta site will test the feasibility of early stage agritech projects that can be developed and piloted in Abu Dhabi. The beta site will focus on local and regional startups with solutions between the ‘pre-seed’ and ‘Series A’ development phases upon completion.
Zada Haj, co-founder and CEO of DANA, said, “We witness the Abu Dhabi ecosystem’s potential on a daily basis, however the option for hands-on testing of the tech solutions in the field is often missing. For the agritech sector, a pivot is more than just a new line of code, so the product needs to be tested for its feasibility, accessibility, and affordability as early as possible.”
The beta facility will promote local innovation and provide a next-generation platform for startups to showcase the potential of their home-grown agrifood solutions ahead of market entry. It will also ensure companies from the UAE and wider MENA have the infrastructure and guidance required to overcome food security challenges and resource scarcity in desert locations. In doing so, several National Food Security Strategy 2051 priorities will be boosted, including enhancing local production, enabling sustainable food production through modern technologies, and diversifying food sources via partnerships development.
When completed, the site will consist of 1,700 square metres of greenhouses, net houses, and open field farming, displaying diverse approaches to the sustainable production of crops in the desert. Furthermore, the beta site will focus on developing solutions with potential to overcome water scarcity, irrigation, greenhouse cooling, and soil cultivation and regeneration challenges, as well as testing the resilience of new seed varieties.
