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Food security

People, Person, Man, cart

Top 10 agtech innovators shaping the Mena market

Lush plains criss-crossed by fresh water lakes and grasslands where hippos and elephants roamed. This was the Arabian peninsula in prehistoric times, according to archaeologists who have uncovered traces of fertile landscapes beneath the desert sands. Today the terrain looks very different, as the region’s governments race to confront food scarcity on a warming planet. […]

The cluster project aims to see Saudi Arabia improve its food security

Saudi opening food clusters to boost homegrown supplies

Saudi Arabia is planning to launch a number of food clusters in an effort to boost its homegrown food manufacturing sector. Abdulrahman Alromaizan, investment development director at the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon), told delegates during a panel at the Gulfood event in Dubai this week that the semi-government entity was addressing the need to […]

The Russia-Ukraine war continues near the frontline town of Bakhmut on February 21

One year on, what the war in Ukraine means for the Middle East

A year since Russia invaded Ukraine, the war’s impacts are reverberating across the Middle East and North Africa.  While some Gulf oil producers have prospered during the conflict, it has heaped suffering on some of the most fragile and volatile economies in the region.  “It has contributed to the difficulties in Egypt and the worsening […]

A hatchery worker in El Menoufia governorate, Egypt. Food security is a pressing concern for Gulf nations

Ukraine poultry giant signs deal to boost Saudi food security

A Ukrainian poultry business and a Saudi food group have signed an agreement that aims to improve the kingdom’s food security. MHP, one of Europe’s largest exporters of chicken, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Tanmiah Food Company.  The agreement is the first step in establishing a joint venture between Tanmiah’s subsidiary, Desert […]

Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the Abu Dhabi fund, visits an agricultural business in KIZAD

Abu Dhabi and World Bank unit to invest $1.5bn in emerging markets

Abu Dhabi and a World Bank subsidiary have agreed to invest up to $1.5 billion in sustainable private sector-led projects in emerging markets. Under the memorandum of co-operation, which was signed at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Tuesday, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the World Bank’s IFC (International Finance Corporation) will […]

DP World Africa

Partnerships will unlock Africa potential, says DP World CEO

More partnerships are required to break down barriers to private sector investment in Africa, according to the CEO and chairman of Dubai trade enabler DP World. Speaking at the second Dakar African Infrastructure Financing Summit in Senegal, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem urged more collaboration to address the challenges slowing the continent’s development. He said that […]

Agtech

Farming tech startup moves HQ from Europe to UAE

A Finnish tech startup is swapping the green countryside of Northern Europe for the Arabian desert as it looks to grow its urban farming business. iFarm was invited in November to join the incentive programme of Abu Dhabi’s Hub71, the technology project led by Mubadala Investment Company and backed by the Government of Abu Dhabi.  […]

People, Person, Human
  • Analysis

Tech and startups will drive future UAE and India trade growth

Growing opportunities in manufacturing, agtech, food processing, healthtech and fintech will support future growth in bilateral trade between the UAE and India. While petroleum products and jewellery remain the most exported goods from India to Dubai as trade is set to touch $88 billion for the current fiscal year, the relationship is changing, with officials […]

Nitish Mittal and Turki Al Shaikh, founders of social investing platform InvestSky, aim to use VC funding to make investing more inclusive across the GCC

New investor app taps Gulf’s appetite for stocks and shares

InvestSky, a social investing platform, has raised $3.4 million in a pre-seed funding round led by venture capital fund Emkan Capital.  The Dubai startup aims to use the cash to make investing more inclusive for a “new generation of investors in the GCC”, it said.  InvestSky’s commission-free platform is aimed at retail investors – non-professional […]

OCP, Morocco's state-owned fertiliser producer, runs a mine and factory at Boucraa, site of one of the largest phosphate deposits in the world

Export deal with India tipped to boost Morocco’s fertiliser industry

Morocco is set to sign a long-term agreement with India to export rock phosphate, a key ingredient in fertiliser. The North African country is already one of the largest producers of phosphates and fertilisers, but the India deal is expected to lead to other agreements with governments around the world, according to an industry analyst. […]

Maersk to operate cold storage facility in King Abdulaziz Port

Denmark-based AP Moller-Maersk (Maersk) has signed an agreement with Refad Real Estate to operate a new cold storage facility at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, the company said in a statement. Maersk will begin operations at the facility in March 2023, it added. The deal is expected to strengthen the Kingdom’s food security and […]

Morocco food

Abu Dhabi’s Dana turns focus on Moroccan agtech solutions

Dana Global, a desert tech venture builder and investment platform based in Abu Dhabi, is partnering with Agadir Horticultural Complex to help transform agriculture in Morocco. The Agadir region forms the heart of Morocco’s agricultural industry and provides 9 percent of national GDP while processing 90 percent of the country’s fresh produce market. The region […]

Food security

$5.5m initiative for food security in Mediterranean countries

A new $5.5 million package of technical assistance to improve food security in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and the West Bank and Gaza has been agreed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. The joint initiative, which will be launched in January, is […]

Aerofarms

Abu Dhabi backs women-led food security startups in Mena

Dana Global, an Abu Dhabi-based venture builder and investment platform that supports women-led startups in agricultural technology (agtech) and water solutions, has announced a new partnership to tackle the food security situation in the Middle East and North Africa. Its agreement with Silal, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s $110 billion state holding company ADQ, focused […]

An Emirati farmer inspects a passionfruit on his Dubai farm. Gulf governments want to grow more food locally

GMG-Silal deal aims to dish up customers for 1,100 UAE farms

More locally grown food is set to be sold in UAE supermarkets under a link-up between retailer GMG and agri-food business Silal, a subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund ADQ. Under the deal, which was signed at last week’s Abu Dhabi International Food Exhibition, up to 1,100 UAE farms contracted to Silal will be supported to […]

Slattery

Irish aviation tycoon to help grow Gulf agtech startup

Irish entrepreneur Dómhnal Slattery, best known for scaling companies in the aviation sector, has been appointed a special adviser to one of the Gulf’s biggest startups, and is open to more potential investments in the region. Pure Harvest Smart Farms, the agtech startup based in Abu Dhabi, in July raised $180 million in funding from […]

A vertical farm in Sharjah. Similar facilities are being developed around the Gulf

Gulf reaches for vertical farming to bolster food security

A joint venture has been set up to develop a network of indoor vertical farms across Saudi Arabia as GCC governments seek to reduce their reliance on imported food. Mowreq Specialised Agriculture Co and biotech firm YesHealth Group have founded Vertical Farms Company, which will begin by building the kingdom’s largest indoor vertical farm in Riyadh.  The […]

Vertical saffron farm spices up UAE’s agtech sector

Agtech company Veggitech opened the first vertical saffron farm in Sharjah this summer, with the harvest of the expensive spice, known as red gold, peaking at the end of November.  The UAE saffron farm is the largest in the Middle East and North African region, spanning only 165 square metres but equivalent to 3.5 hectares […]