DANA Global signs partnership to bring desert tech to Morocco

DANA Global (‘DANA’), an Abu Dhabi-based desert tech venture builder and investment platform, announces a collaboration with Agadir Horticultural Complex (‘CHA’) to establish a regional innovation hub for resilient and eco-efficient agriculture.

Over 700 people attended the official opening and partnership signing ceremony for the new project in Agadir, Morocco. Morocco’s Minister of Agriculture, Mohamed Sadiki, the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Piet Adema, and Dr Farid Lekjaa, Director of the Agadir Horticultural Complex were among those in attendance. DANA was accompanied by a delegation of UAE and Israeli investors, academics, consultants, and startup founders.

The Agadir region is at the heart of Morocco’s agricultural industry, accounting for 9% of national GDP and handling 90% of the country’s fresh produce market – and is ideal for scaling up DANA’s solutions. The region is also critical to the Moroccan government’s ‘Génération Green’ strategy for increasing the country’s food output.

Shirley Shahar, Co-Founder of DANA Global, commented: “Our partnership with the Agadir Horticultural Centre aims to bring a new innovation hub and centre of excellence to Morocco, and is a huge step for DANA. Two years ago, we decided to establish our base in Abu Dhabi – which has led the way in progressive food security and sustainability policy, and acted as a hub for scaling solutions to the entire MENA region. Complementing our recent partnership with Silal, ADQ’s agrifood arm, we want to contribute to a new R&D hub for agrifood solutions hosted by our partners from CHA and the Institute Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II. 

“This new project is a milestone in DANA’s efforts to scale up sustainable desert tech solution to the region’s largest markets. Agadir specifically harbours huge potential for rapid adoption. The UAE and Morocco are ideal partners to jointly tackle food security, and DANA is proud to play a role in strengthening this cooperation.”

Morocco and the UAE have a long history of trust and shared values, which provides a solid foundation for collaboration on the critical issue of food security. Over the last four decades, the UAE has invested more than $20 billion in Moroccan growth sectors.

The new hub’s strategic goal is to increase R&D in agrifood and smart water solutions, addressing Agadir’s farmers’ technological needs to improve food security, food quality, and sustainability. Despite its location between two large bodies of water, Morocco’s water production infrastructure only produces 20% of its water, wasting enormous potential. To meet rising domestic demand, this capacity will need to expand quickly.

DANA and CHA will directly contribute to a resilient and eco-efficient agrifood infrastructure in MENA, establishing Agadir as a major export market to supply Gulf states with import needs, such as the UAE.

DANA will run an incubation and acceleration program, bringing expertise from the region’s leading agritech ecosystems. The venture builder collaborates with the Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, an Agadir-based university specializing in agricultural research.

The project’s solutions will benefit Agadir residents and contribute to the development of Morocco’s desert tech ecosystem, bringing high-skilled employment opportunities to the rapidly developing economy, guided by the values of sustainability, women’s empowerment, and regional collaboration.