Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme
Transformative journey to develop entrepreneurship skills in the domain of research-based regenerative agriculture solutions.
MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme
The inaugural year of MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme has come to an end and what a transformative journey it has been!
The Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme aims to empower and upskill researchers, students and entrepreneurs who are addressing fundamental agricultural challenges in the MENAT region while focusing on early-stage research and nature-based solutions integrating regenerative agriculture practices.
Interested in joining as a researcher or innovator? Submit your expression of interest today, and we will notify you when the next intake begins.
For those wishing to contribute as a judge, mentor partner or subject matter expert, we invite you to also connect with us.
Goumbook’s MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Programme aims to initiate a regionally-relevant regenerative agriculture movement, positioning regenerative agriculture as a critical response to both climate resilience and the unique agricultural challenges faced in this arid, saline, desert, and water-scarce region.
The programme aims to empower and upskill researchers and innovators who are addressing fundamental agricultural challenges in the MENAT region by focusing on innovative solutions related to food security, soil health, climate change mitigation and adaptation, carbon sequestration, salinity, water scarcity, desertification, biodiversity loss, and rural social welfare. These solutions , both process & technological based innovations, must be accessible to small and medium farm holders and provide net beneficial economic, environmental, and social impacts to ensure long-term sustainability.
Key objectives include:
- Creating a regenerative agriculture movement in the MENAT region.
- Defining regenerative agriculture and its nuances for the MENAT region.
- Facilitating knowledge exchange in research, science, and data-backed solutions.
- Building capacity for academia and researchers in entrepreneurship and business skills, bridging the gap between academia, research, and the private sector.
- Transforming research solutions into long-term, accessible, scalable, and sustainable impact solutions.
- Developing a cross-sectoral network of change-makers and advocating for positive change through regenerative agriculture.
Be a part of this transformative journey that empowers you to drive sustainable change in the agricultural industry.
To register your interest in applying to the next year intake into the programme as a researcher/innovator, submit your interest here.
Benefits to joining Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme include;
Upskilling: Support in validating your solution, develop business skills to evolve your research into an impact-driven proof of concept
Acceleration: Access potential funding & incubation
Community: Access to online digital community platform
Courses: Free access to a range of online self-paced courses
Exposure: Regional exposure & networking across the programme
Mentorship: Specialist training & world-class mentorship
Talks: Expert talks on innovation & trends
Grant: Top 3 finalists win one of three $10,000 grants and be matched with farmers to further develop proof of concept
Solutions can be process driven or technological, across these examples of regenerative agriculture themes and topic examples:
Healthy Soil Regeneration | Keep permanent & diversified soil cover, with minimum soil disturbance. Minimum tillage, Develop intercropping, cover crops, diversified crop rotation, mulching & crop residue cover, agroforestry , protect and nurture the microbiome. |
Diversified crops & seeds | Crop Rotations and diversified seeds. Development of salinity and climate tolerant crop and fodder varieties |
Use organic fertilizers | Develop the use of organic fertilizers instead of synthetic, integrated pest control and bio controls. |
Develop natural habitats | Increase natural habitats within the farmland and at landscape level, develop agroforestry |
Use less chemicals | Continuously reduce the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides & fertilisers. Integrated soil and water management. Integrated pest management and biodiversity for natural controls. |
Protect watersheds | Ensure regeneration of the water cycle in water stressed areas, Irrigation efficiencies and technology. Integrated soil and water management |
Use Organic Waste | Optimize organic waste management & maximise the value of compost, mulching |
Integrate livestocks | Optimize pasture management, grazing & maximise the value of manure; circular flow of energy & nutrients from barn to soil and silvopastoral systems |
Reinforce Carbon sinking | Less energy intensive (vs. vertical farming) and less CO2 released (vs. traditional & organic farming) as no tilling and plowing are applied, absorbing CO2 (vs. traditional and vertical farming)- greater sequestration potential of the soil. |
Ensure Social benefits | Long term viability and livelihood benefits for farmers. Attract a younger generation of farmers into farming as a livelihood, integrate design thinking, innovation and scalable tech to small farmers. |
Reduces desertification | Green buffers and hedgerows |
Technological Solutions | Agricultural Robotics & AI, Smart Irrigation Systems, Biological Pest Control & Fertilization, Sensors & IoT, Precision Agriculture, Carbon Credits, Big Data, Predictive Modelling, Blockchain |
We seek impactful research, science and nature-based solutions that meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Profile: Researchers and innovators looking to scale and develop their research to a proof of concept stage and funding by enhancing their skills in business and entrepreneurship.
- Domain: Solutions in the domain of regenerative agriculture
- Solution is rooted in research, science or nature based innovative solutions. Solutions can be process or technological innovations.
- Regional Applicability: Solutions must be applicable and valid to agriculture challenges, opportunities and conditions within the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT) region. Countries include: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Qatar, Bahrain, and/or Kuwait.
- Solution Relevance: Applications must address the food system challenges specific to the MENAT region, including:
- Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
- Restoring Soil Health
- Combating Desertification
- Carbon Farming and Sequestration
- Increasing Biodiversity
- Improving Food and Water Security
- Supporting Farmers
For more information on solution categories, please refer to the tab “solution categories”.
We encourage applications that align with these criteria to join us in driving impactful change through regenerative agriculture in the MENAT region.
MENAT 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.
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.
The founding regenerative agriculture practices include:
- Minimizing soil disturbance no tilling practices,
- Maximize crop diversity
- Maintain crop and ground cover through keeping the soil covered and rotating crops
- Maintain living roots year long so we don’t disturb the wonderful ecosystem below the ground
- Integrate rotational animal livestock grazing and
- Integrating agroforestry
Additional topics include:
- Circularity and usage of farming residue including composting and;
- Avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticide usage
Learn More About The Programme
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
GIOVANNI ANGIOLINI
Director MEA for Sustainable Urban Delta
TATIANA ANTONELLI ABELLA
Founder & Managing Director at
Goumbook
DOMINIQUE GHAZAR
Senior Sustainability and Inclusion Manager at HSBC
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
Acting Head of Sustainability MENAT at HSBC
EMAN WAHBY
MENA Engagement Lead at
The Climate Champions Team
Partners
Knowledge and Impact Partners
Supporting Partners
Platform Partners
Proud Members of
Message from Sheikh Dr. Majid Al Qassimi
Testimonials
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals:
MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Related News
