Take part in a transformative journey: Apply Now for the MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Programme - Cohort 2024/25
Programme Journey
Programme benefits
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 $20,000 grants
Eligibility Criteria
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
Solutions
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 excluded are: Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Sudan, and Syria.
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
Does it sound like your research profile?
MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Solutions
Solutions can be process driven or technological, across these examples of regenerative agriculture themes and topic examples:
- Healthy soil regeneration
- Diversified crops
- Organic & Bio Fertilisers
- Develop biodiversity
- Sustainable food security
- Use fewer chemicals
- Enhances water security
- Use organic waste
- Integrate livestock & agroforestry: Silvopasture
- Reinforce carbon capture
- Enhance rural & social welfare
- Reduces desertification & salinity
- Reduction of synthetic pesticides for disease control
- Technological solutions
Programme Achievements - Cohort 2023/24
20
20 semi-finalist projects were selected by 12 expert judges
12 Mentors
30 hours of mentorship
17 Speakers
Over 20 hours of specialised workshops and subject matter talks
158
Registrations Received
53
Validated Applications From 18 Countries From The MENA region
19
Academic Regional Institutions Supported the Program
43% - 57%
43% of applications were from women and 57% were from men
Cohort 2023/24 Winners
The winners of the Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme will receive a range of awards and further supporting benefits, including financial grants of USD 10,000 each, incubation opportunities, and access to a supportive stakeholder community, to help them scale their solutions on regional farmland, developing proof of concepts and expanding across different crops and farming conditions. These resources will empower the winners to further develop and scale their innovative solutions, drive real-world impact, and contribute to the overall sustainability & food security efforts in the MENAT region.
Affordable Nanotech for Arid Environments
KAUST University, Saudi Arabia
Minimizing Chemical Footprint
Revolutionizing agriculture, MePhSIN, a groundbreaking nano-platform, encapsulates plant growth regulators, unlocking a new era of enhanced crop resilience, doubling wheat production by 2050, and overcoming challenges in global food security.
Researcher(s):
Katya Michelle Aguilar Perez, Valeriia Nikolaeva,
Viiktoria Zheltova, Khozama Al Mohawes
Cyanoboost: Transition to regenerative farming with biofertilizers
Heliopolis University, Egypt
Biofertilizers
“Cyanoboost” is a bio-fertilizer product that enhance the whole plant growth performance, improve the extracted essential oils, and increase the diversity of the rhizospheric microbiome in medicinal plants.
Researcher(s)
Doaa Ibrahim, Eman Nour El-deen Hamed
The Waste Lab - From Food Waste Rescue to Compost Production to Soil Building in the UAE and the Region
Individual, UAE
Organic fertilizers
The Waste Lab’s solution is to create an opportunity for every food scrap to become a solution for rather than a burden on our society and environment by combining nature-based principles, data-driven operations, local production and application of compost, and community engagement.
Researcher(s)
Lara Hussein, Ceylan Uren, Nick Little, Sara Al Darras
MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme Mentors 2023/24
MOHAMED AISSAOUI
CEO and Founder at My Farm Dubai
MEHDI YANN ECHCHADLY
Senior Manager & VP Sustainable Finance at HSBC
LOLA FERNANDEZ
Senior Associate at VentureSouq
HUSSEIN AL HUSSEIN
Farm to Plate
DANIELE CESANO
CEO and Cofounder at LandPrint
CHRISTINE GOULD
Founder at Thought for Food
TAMER EL-RAGHY
Managing Director at Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF)
MARIAM KAMEL
Manager at AUC Angels
EWA KAROLEWSKA
Senior Project Manager on Startup Support at EIT
FADI MUJAHID
CEO and Cofounder at Green Mawared
THERA ROHLING
Program Director at Sustainable Urban Delta
MILES THORNHILL
Head of Technology and New Economy at HSBC
MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme Judges 2023/24
DR MOHAMMAD AL-OUN
Food Security and Sustainable
Agriculture Consultant
DR ABDOUL AZIZ NIANE
Food Security and Sustainable
Regional Coordinator Arabian Peninsula Regional Program (APRP)
THOMAZ DOMINGUES
Senior Manager - Strategy and Industry Development at In5
MIRA EL GHAZIRI
Managing Director at HealthyPath and MENA Ambassador, Thought for Food
KARIMA EL HAKIM
Country Director at Plug and Play
HECTOR H. HERNANDEZ
Partner - Regenerative Agriculture at Amaly Legacy
KEVIN HOLLIDAY
Managing Director at C3
DR. CHRISTOPH MANDL
Head of Corporate Venturing at EIT Food
DR. DINA NAJJAR
Senior Gender Scientist at ICARDA
DAVID RAMOS
Acting Head of Sustainability MENAT at HSBC
SIMON SHARP
Partner and Venture Capitalist at Global Ventures
NEAL SPACKMAN
CEO and Co-Founder at Regenerative Resources
Regenerative Agriculture Venture Related News
MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Success Stories
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Want to support Initiative become a Mentor or Judge
Judge responsibilities here
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.
Mentor responsibilities here
Solutions in the domain of regenerative agriculture