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Abu Dhabi is shaping a self-sufficient and food-secure future

A pioneering technology from HyveGeo is transforming Abu Dhabi’s desert into one of the emirate’s best solutions to combat food insecurity.

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NEED TO KNOW:

  • HyveGeo is turning an agricultural waste product into a fertile blend of biochar and soil to revive Abu Dhabi’s desert.

  • It is contributing to the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051, which aims to reduce the country’s reliance on food imports by 60%.

  • HyveGeo could help other countries grow more food to support a global population projected to reach 10 billion by 2050.

  • Hub71 in Abu Dhabi serves as a launchpad for innovators, like HyveGeo, aiming to scale globally.

In HyveGeo’s lab in Abu Dhabi, scientists are engineering what they call “black gold.” This precious material, called biochar, can help transform barren land into fertile soil for growing crops.

In the United Arab Emirates, which imports the majority of its food, this groundbreaking climate technology is aiming to help reduce the country’s reliance on global supply chains by regenerating parts of its desert, which makes up 80% of the land.

On a global scale, it could offer an innovative solution to the world’s growing need to produce more food, preserve water, and sequester carbon, especially in other arid environments.

“The ultimate vision for HyveGeo is to turn three main strategic priorities – food security, water security, and climate change – into something that's repeatable, something that's bankable, and a solution for a worldwide problem, not just for the UAE,” says Abdulaziz Bin Redha, CEO and co-founder of HyveGeo. “We take it here from the UAE to the world.”

HyveGeo is just one of several startups in Abu Dhabi’s global technology ecosystem, Hub71, which serves as a launchpad for innovators and investors aiming to scale transformative businesses globally. 

Supported by the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), the company is working towards the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051, which aims to reduce the country’s reliance on food imports by 60% and become a global leader in innovation-driven food security by 2051.

From barren land to food-producing oasis

Biochar is a highly porous material that acts like a sponge, trapping moisture and soluble nutrients to create a fertile mixture designed to boost plant growth.

“When you put [the biochar] in the topsoil of desert sand, it retains water and creates the habitat for a soil microbiome – useful bacteria with nutrients that plants need,” explains Bin Redha, adding that the team has already had success with crops like lettuce, corn, and green beans.

“We don't need decades to do this. We can transform parcels of desert land bit by bit with our technology, and you can see the results immediately.”

The charcoal-like material is created using waste from the emirate’s date palm industry – the dried leaves, fibers, and date pits that would usually be burned or sent to landfill. The UAE has around 40 million date palm trees that generate approximately 500,000 tons of waste each year.

“We shred that date palm waste and we feed it into our pyrolysis unit, which is like a massive oven that heats it up to very high temperatures with very low oxygen, so it doesn't burn the material,” explains Bin Redha. “What comes out the other end is this carbonated material, which is the biochar.

“One person's waste is my feedstock,” he says. And the possible solution to Abu Dhabi’s food-abundant future – something which has never been more critical to find.

As the global population is projected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, the pressure is mounting to find ways to produce more food. At the same time, increasing levels of land degradation, often caused by over-cultivation and compounded by climate change, are making it more difficult to grow, especially in countries with arid climates.

HyveGeo’s climate technology not only has the potential to boost the world’s food security, but also to reduce water usage and remove harmful carbon emissions from the atmosphere. Biochar’s porous structure increases soil water retention, reducing the need for frequent watering by up to 50%, and securely locks away carbon for over 100 years. HyveGeo personally aims to remove one million tons of CO2 by 2035.

From Abu Dhabi to the world

HyveGeo was named one of four winners at this year’s FoodTech Challenge, in partnership with the UAE Presidential Court and Tamkeen, winning part of a $2 million prize. For Bin Redha and his team, this boosts the company’s ambitions to restore 10,000 hectares of degraded land in the UAE, while supporting other countries to do the same.

“If we can help a farmer somewhere in East Africa or South America from the innovation and technology that we've created here in the UAE, then that is success for us,” says Bin Redha.

And being part of an expansive network of changemakers in Abu Dhabi is helping HyveGeo to achieve this mission faster. “People come here, they feel that entrepreneurial spirit, they understand that actually the impossible could become possible here,” says Bin Redha.

“You have the government, large corporations, and investors, along with research institutions, all coming together and working fast to back the city’s problem solvers. It forms a great launchpad for innovations to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues quickly.”
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