Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme
Transformative journey to develop entrepreneurship skills in the domain of research-based regenerative agriculture solutions.
The Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme aims to empower and upskill researchers and students who are addressing fundamental agricultural challenges of the MENAT region.
We are looking at solutions related to hunger & nutrition, climate change mitigation & adaptation, carbon sequestration, soil health, salinity, water scarcity, desertification, biodiversity loss & 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.
By joining our Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme, you’ll gain access to a transformative journey that empowers you to drive sustainable change in the agricultural industry.
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 |
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
By creating the Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme, Goumbook and its partners aim to:
Support Knowledge based Economy rooted in Research and Innovation
- Promote the importance of research based, data centric, science rooted innovative solutions in regenerative agriculture
- Empower and upskill current or post PhD students and researchers in regenerative agriculture solutions
- Bridge the gap between research and development, data and business for long term sustainable impact solutions
- Develop participants entrepreneurial skills to create data backed proof of concepts
Promote Regenerative Agriculture Movement
- Promoting a regenerative agriculture movement across the MENAT region
- Positioning regenerative agriculture as a solution to climate change and regional agricultural challenges in an arid, water scarce, saline and desert- based region.
- Supporting accessible and scalable agriculture solutions and methods with an emphasis on conservation and regeneration
- Give the opportunity to current and post PhD students and researchers to make a proof of concept with local farmer
This call for applications is open to to all aspiring, current or post PhD students and researchers working on production methods and innovations in the domain of regenerative agriculture, with research backed- science and data based solution concepts to apply across the regenerative agriculture themes for the benefit of agricultural conditions applicable in the Middle east, North Africa and Turkey regions area.
We are looking for impactful research and science based solutions and that adhere to the following eligibility criteria:
- Candidates who would like to further develop skills in business and entrepreneurship, are open to collaborate with industry and looking to scale and develop their research into application through to proof of concept stage and funding.
- Solutions that are applicable in the MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA AND TURKEY region. Applications that are valid to the conditions and to be implemented for the benefit of any of these countries; KSA, UAE, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, Qatar, Bahrain and/or Kuwait
- Relevant applications solutions that help address one or more of the most recent food system challenges relevant to the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey regions;
- Supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation;
- Restoring soil health and fighting desertification;
- Carbon farming and sequestration;
- Increasing biodiversity;
- Improving food and water security challenges and/or;
- Supporting farmers with greater economic, financial and social benefits
Qualification criteria:
- You are working on a solution in the domain of regenerative agriculture
- Your solution is ideally research-based, data centric or rooted in science
- Your solution must be applicable in the Middle East, North Africa regions or Turkey
- You have successfully completed a minimum viable produce or conducted experiments
- You are open to collaborate with others within the industry and looking to scale your solution
- You are looking to develop your skills in business and entrepreneurship to turn your research into a proof of concept
- You are open to your solutions being implemented in farming in either of these countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, Turkey, Qatar & Egypt
- You have acquired the needed approvals from the institution you are part of, to participate
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
Advisory Committee
SHEIKH DR MAJID AL QASSIMI
Founding Partner at
Soma Mater
YAZEN AL KODMANI
Partner at 3Y Agtech & Deputy GM at Emirates Bio Farm
GIOVANNI ANGIOLINI
Director of Marketing & Business Development MEA&APAC at Priva/Sustainable Urban Delta
TATIANA ANTONELLI ABELLA
Founder & Managing Director at
Goumbook
DOMINIQUE GHAZAR
Senior Sustainability and Inclusion Manager at HSBC
JOHN E. KATSOS
Associate Professor of Business Law, Ethics, & Social Responsibility at
American University of Sharjah & Research Affiliate at Queen's University Belfast
MAJA KENT
Climate Change & Food Security Non-Resident Research Fellow at
Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy
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
Knowledge and Impact Partners
Supporting Partners
Platform Partners
Proud Members of
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals:
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