How farming
got smart in Abu Dhabi
How will the world feed an extra two billion mouths by 2050? Some of the answers are emerging in Abu Dhabi’s burgeoning Agtech ecosystem.
Fifty miles from Abu Dhabi lies Agtech company Pure Harvest Smart Farms’ largest farm, Oasis. The climate-controlled greenhouse stretches out across 11 hectares, using world-class agronomical practices together with hydroponic irrigation to grow crops like tomatoes and strawberries year-round – while also being more than 30 times more productive than traditional field farming methods.
“This step-change in resource-use is crucial for feeding a growing global population,” says Sky Kurtz, Pure Harvest’s CEO. “By 2050, it’s believed there will be nine and a half billion people in the world. To feed all those people, we need 70% more calories.
“We’re not making more water. We’re not making more arable land… and compounding this challenge is climate change.”
It's a challenge faced by every nation on Earth. But with its combination of an extreme hot and humid climate, together with advanced technological infrastructure, Abu Dhabi has grown a thriving Agtech ecosystem that is already yielding agricultural innovations that promise to feed the future.
Smart farming
“We identify ourselves as a technology-enabled agribusiness,” says Kurtz. Pure Harvest harnesses a wide range of tech solutions and integrations to make agriculture smarter – radically reducing inputs, eschewing pesticides, and enabling agriculture (with continuous, year-round production) in a region that can be challenging for traditional methods.
In common with other Gulf nations, the UAE currently imports 80-90% of its food. Companies like Pure Harvest are, in many cases, introducing locally grown crops for the first time. Stimulating this upsurge in domestic food production is a key plank in the UAE’s National Food Strategy 2051, which aims to make the UAE the most food secure nation in the world by mid-century.
In support of this goal, the UAE capital has created a fertile environment for Agtech companies like Pure Harvest. “Perhaps surprisingly,” says Kurtz, “Abu Dhabi has significant natural advantages when it comes to farming, including an abundance of natural sunlight and land availability.” Combined with the Abu Dhabi government’s ambition and support, Kurtz says this made the emirate the natural choice for his company’s base.
“We’ve been supported all the way by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the free zone that we founded our company in,” he says. “That enabled us to secure international capital in a regulatory and legal framework that sophisticated institutional investors could understand.”
The combination of visible food security demands, natural attributes, policy stability, and government support has drawn innovative companies from across the world, seeding a thriving Agtech ecosystem.
CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms
CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms
Agtech ecosystem
Pure Harvest is one of many Agtech companies working in Abu Dhabi to revolutionize farming, pursuing a range of technological avenues.
For example, Platfarm gathers data from ground sensors, satellite imagery, and farm logs to feed its cloud-based, AI-powered analytics platform which helps farmers to optimize their activities – ultimately achieving greater yields with fewer resources.
Founded in Bahrain and headquartered in Egypt and Abu Dhabi, Platfarm was selected to join Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, in 2022. AgTech startups like Platfarm can benefit from Hub71’s extensive network of corporate, government and capital partners as well as Abu Dhabi’s business-friendly environment and favorable regulations.
Meanwhile a recent addition to the emirate’s vertical farming community comes from Italy’s ZERO Farms. In March 2023, it was announced as the first resident of ADQ’s AgTech Park – marking the operational phase of the vast, 200-hectare district within the KEZAD (Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi Group). The KEZAD is the UAE’s largest operator and developer of fully integrated and specialized economic zones including well-established ecosystems for food industries across the entire value chain.
CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms
CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms
The ZERO project in ADQ’s AgTech Park is retrofitted in a 1,000 sqm warehouse and will achieve an initial production volume of approximately 10 tons per year at the proof-of-concept stage. Once the pilot phase is completed, a 40,000 sqm commercial phase of the vertical farm is envisaged to be launched in Al Ain, alongside other projects featuring controlled-environment technologies.
Fully populated, AgTech Park is projected to produce 40,000 tonnes of fresh fruits and vegetables per annum. And it’s already filling up – the Netherlands’ Safe Haven Solutions announced its intentions to build a high-tech, semi-automated greenhouse by 2024.
These are just a few of the companies comprising Abu Dhabi’s Agtech ecosystem. With widespread endorsement from the government continuing, many more are sure to follow.
Cultivating innovation
Agtech companies coming to Abu Dhabi can access a range of support. One key avenue is ADIO’s Innovation Programme. The sizable fund of AED two billion ($545 million) offers “financial and non-financial incentives” to help innovative companies scale across high-growth sectors that include Agtech, in addition to financial services, healthcare and biopharma, ICT, and tourism.
Pure Harvest is an ADIO partner, alongside precision agriculturalists Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI) and Nanoracks – which is exploring agriculture in space.
ADQ is another major Agtech investor. The investment and holding company has an extensive food and agriculture portfolio in the emirate and beyond, including investments with Safe Haven Solutions and portfolio company Silal, which partners with food businesses across the supply chain – from small farmers to large retailers and logistics providers.
And Abu Dhabi is fostering intra-sector collaboration. Hub71 and the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) have partnered to accelerate the development of cutting-edge technologies in food safety, food security, and biosecurity. This partnership is aligned with the UAE's sustainability goals and will offer mentorship to startups while building a strong network of business, academia, and government entities – all contributing to innovative solutions in the AgriTech sector.
Future farming
Kurtz sees Abu Dhabi as a “frontier market,” a testing ground for future food production: if it works in Abu Dhabi, it will work anywhere. “We have decoupled the relationship of food production from climate,” says Kurtz. “I believe that’s needed to feed the future.”
This laboratory status – coupled with the emirate’s robust support – has made Abu Dhabi a tantalizing environment for Agtech innovators seeking to test and scale their solutions; one that may yet secure both the UAE’s future food supply, and the world’s.
CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms
CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms
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