The Agadir Horticultural Complex (‘CHA’) and DANA Global, an Abu Dhabi-based desert tech startup builder and investment platform, will work together to construct an innovation hub for resilient and environmentally friendly agriculture. Over 700 people showed up for the new project’s ceremonial opening and partnership signing event. Over the previous forty years, the UAE has spent more than $20 billion on Morocco’s growing industries. Morocco’s water infrastructure barely generates 20% of the country’s water, wasting a tremendous opportunity. The top agritech ecosystems in the area will contribute their technological know-how to DANA’s incubation and acceleration program.
The Agadir region, which processes 90% of the country’s market for fresh produce and serves as the center of Morocco’s agricultural industry, is considered the ideal location to scale up DANA’s solutions as per the company’s press release. It contributes 9% to the country’s GDP. Additionally, the area is essential to the government’s “Génération Green” plan to enhance food production.
DANA Global Co-Founder Shirley Shahar stated: “Our relationship with the Agadir Horticultural Centre is a big milestone for DANA and intends to build a new innovation hub and center of excellence in Morocco. We chose Abu Dhabi to be our home base two years ago because it has pioneered progressive food security and sustainability policies and served as a platform for scaling up solutions across the broader MENA region. We aim to contribute to a new R&D center for agrifood solutions sponsored by our colleagues from CHA and the Institute Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II as a follow-up to our previous relationship with Silal, ADQ’s agrifood division.”
The strategic objective of the new hub per DANA Global’s comments is to advance research and development in agrifood and smart water solutions, addressing the technical requirements of Agadir’s farmers to enhance food security, food quality, and sustainability. Although Morocco is situated between two big bodies of water, the country’s water production infrastructure barely generates 20% of its water, missing out on significant potential. This capacity will need to develop quickly to keep up with rising domestic demand.
Image provided by DANA Global
