Nov 20, 2020
Image sourced from Wamda
Written By: Dhwani Laddha
Editor’s note: The following information is derived from Wamda’s online panel discussion “The Future of Agritech in MENA”.
The race to solving food security in the MENA region has been a strenuous and challenging endeavor. The lack of arable land and freshwater sources has been a constant yet growing threat to this mission. With an increasing amount of immigrant populations flowing into the region, there are more and more mouths to feed. While over 80% of food is imported into these countries, there is rising interest in controlled environment agriculture as a means to tackle this burgeoning concern.
Wamda’s online panel discussion “The Future of Agritech in MENA”, brought together investors, retailers, startups, and AgTech experts to investigate the recent rise of startups in the sector, and dive deeper into the role of regional governments, as well as the local infrastructure, resources, and talent for agritech. The online session started with a brief overview of the sector, ''Agritech - where are we now?'', with Yasin Aboudaoud, CDO & MP of Brinc.io IoT accelerator, and Wamda’s Editorial Director, and session moderator, Triska Hamid. Joining the panel are Salvatore Lavallo, acting head of FDI Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Miguel Angel Povedsano - CCO of Majid Al Futtaim Retail, Omar Al Jundi - CEO & founder of Badia Farms, Sky Kurtz - CEO & founder of Pure Harvest.
To help contextualize the region, there have been over 33 investment rounds in Agritech in MENA since 2014. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been consistently leading these investment rounds, with increased focus on alternative proteins, drone-aided agriculture, bio-innovations, and agritech systems.
Event Highlights:
Sky Kurtz reflected on the incredibly brutal process of investment and business establishment in the UAE as cause to “90% of funding going to tech startups and e-commerce. He claims that there is more foreign investment coming in to support home-grown businesses rather than local and regional investment. Here, educating the public and investors on the value CEA brings to food security is essential in shifting mindsets and behavior.
Omar Al Jundi paid gratitude to the UAE Government for their progressive leadership in establishing a singular license for establishing CEA farms. However, he also addressed the lack of infrastructural support, mentioning action items like subsidizing solar technology, reducing rent and the cost of power, and protecting local farmers against international competition by putting in place an additional tax on certain imported foods. As put by Sky Kurtz, “food is something that will always involve Government intervention”, whether this be for better or worse.
Salavtore Lavallo dreams of establishing the UAE as the “hub for desert and arid climate agriculture, exporting technologies to the rest of the world”. Considering that there are 25,000 farms in Abu Dhabi alone, and that the political will and support is so strong, this mission is highly reachable.
Miguel Angel Povedsano claimed affordability and competitiveness of price to be the limiting factors of the industry. There is a consistent growth in consumer adoption of CEA-produce, but this isn’t reflected in the high prices.
Miguel additionally reflected on the Covid-19 pandemic and how it forced populations to seek out such local solutions to the disrupted supply chains. “20% of produce was procured locally in 2020 in comparison to 10% in 2019”.
As a group, the panelists concluded that consumers need to look at quality over price, whilst the Government needs to establish stronger barriers to global exporters entering the market and creating price competitiveness.
Such invigorating panels are getting us excited for Agritecture Xchange’s 3-day virtual conference. Join us for this conference connecting key innovations in the field of AgTech to the future health of our cities.