About the MENA Regenerative Agriculture Initiative

The MENA Regenerative Agriculture Initiative is a regional platform accelerating the transition towards resilient, regenerative and sustainable food systems across the Middle East and North Africa.

Launched by Goumbook in December 2023, it brings together farmers, researchers, innovators, businesses, financial institutions and policymakers to advance regenerative agriculture solutions and practices adapted to the environmental and agricultural realities of arid and semi-arid regions.

Mobilising MENA stakeholders to tackle food systems challenges

Our Ambition

To position MENA as a centre of excellence for climate-resilient regenerative agriculture, building the enabling ecosystem needed to move from promising practices to systemic transformation across the region – restoring soil and ecosystems, strengthening climate resilience, supporting farmers and local food production, and creating new economic opportunities.

Our Approach

The Initiative takes an integrated, ecosystem-based approach, connecting stakeholders, knowledge and solutions across five interconnected pillars to accelerate this transition.

Awareness & Education — building knowledge, understanding and engagement around regenerative agriculture and its relevance to the region’s environmental, agricultural and food-system challenges.

Advocacy — convening stakeholders, fostering dialogue and advancing regenerative agriculture within regional food-system, climate and sustainability agendas to help create an enabling environment for change.

Innovation & Research — identifying and accelerating science-backed research and innovation adapted to arid and semi-arid environments, and creating pathways from research to implementation, market adoption and scale.

Implementation & Capacity Building — turning knowledge into practice through farmer capacity building, technical partnerships, demonstration sites and field-based programmes that test, adapt and showcase regenerative approaches under MENA conditions.

Finance & Market Transformation — developing the financial and market mechanisms needed to scale regenerative agriculture — from transition finance and investment to insurance, ecosystem services, carbon markets and stronger market opportunities for producers.

Why Regenerative Agriculture?

Principles of Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative agriculture is a series of holistic practices designed to create net positive beneficial impacts on ecosystem services.

This includes:

Improving net carbon sequestration,
Improving watershed and soil health and;
Promoting habitat rich in biodiversity while contributing to food security.

These principles are also reflected in the 2024–25 MENA Venture Programme winners, who are pioneering solutions in soil regeneration, water resilience, and food security.

By necessity, these practices must provide net beneficial economic, environmental and social impacts for farmers and local communities if they are to be sustainable long term.

Advisory Committee

Sheikh Dr Majid Al Qassimi
Founding Partner at
Soma Mater

Dr Mohammad Al-Oun
Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture Consultant

Yazen Al Kodmani
Partner at 3Y Agtech & Deputy GM at Emirates Bio Farm

Tatiana Antonelli Abella
Founder & Managing Director at Goumbook

Dominique Ghazar
Senior Sustainability and Inclusion Manager at HSBC

Christine Gould
Founder at GIGA

Dr Christoph Mandl
Head of Corporate Venturing at
European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Food

Dr Roula Majdalani
Climate Change Advisor at
ICARDA - CGIAR

David Ramos
Senior Manager, Sustainability - MENAT - HSBC

Dr Lucy Wallace
Founder
Liminal Thinking

Testimonials

“This initiative stands as a cornerstone in our efforts to promote regenerative agriculture research and practices in the Middle East, fortify food and water security, and contribute to the mitigation and adaptation of climate change!”

“The Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme represents a convergence of scientific inquiry and practical application, aimed at enhancing soil vitality, conserving water, and securing food resources in a climate-impacted world. It's a visionary approach that seeks to not only mitigate environmental challenges but to regenerate the very foundation of our ecosystems. Our support signifies a deep investment in not just the present, but also in a thriving, sustainable legacy for our communities and the environment that sustains us all.”

“Regenerative agriculture offers one of the greatest opportunities to improve human and climate health. The Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme offers researchers the opportunity to gain support from the most experienced, expert mentors and business leaders across the world and the MENAT region specifically. We are convinced that the challenges faced by our world today will not be solved without the disruptive innovations of great entrepreneurs and fast-moving startups. More than ever, they are an essential component of the future solutions and we are very proud to support those changemakers in the early stages of their future growth.”