Page 20 - Vol.39-No.9 issue

IRRIGATION

“GIGAFARM” CAPABLE OF REPLACING 1% OF UAE FOOD

IMPORTS SET FOR CONSTRUCTION IN DUBAI FOOD TECH VALLEY

Food Tech Valley has signed an agree- and nutrients to crops in arid regions.
ment at COP28 with ReFarmTM to HE Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi was
start construction on a 900,000 sq. ". appointed the UAE Minister of State for
game-changing “GigaFarm”. The innova- Foreign Trade, said: “The United Arab
tive waste-to-value farm will be capable Emirates’ economic growth strategy has
of recycling more than 50,000 tonnes of placed a strong emphasis on diversification
food waste and growing two billion plants and sustainability, which includes devel-
each year. oping new knowledge and capabilities in
high-impact industries.
to grow fresh produce since water will be
“Rethinking our food production systems
is a clear priority, and the decision of Re- recovered as a by-product from the or-
Farm to launch a facility in Dubai’s Food ganic-waste-to-value technology and fed
Tech Valley is a significant step forwards into the vertical farm which is up to 98%
for the development of a technologically more water e#cient than growing in a field.”
advanced, low-carbon agricultural sector. Oliver Christof, CEO at Christof Glob-
ReFarm’s mission to make farming autono- al Impact (CGI), commented: “What has
mous, self-su#cient and sustainable is very been achieved over the past 36 months on
much in line with our goal to use innovative the ground in the UAE is a gamechanger
techniques to meet our food needs.” for the sustainable food industry. A key
ReFarmTM was established in the UAE by factor for success has been the open
SSK Enterprise and Christof Global Impact HE Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Group mindset by the UAE leadership in relation
(CGI) as a group of companies with focus on CEO, Wasl said: “The UAE has the ambition to future technologies and a strong focus
projects with circularity and clean technolo- and vision to lead the conversation on food on circularity, which allowed us to bring
gies. The brand chose vertical farming tech- security and take the actions necessary together various groups, including local
nology developed by infrastructure supplier to achieve resilient communities. This pro- stakeholders, alongside our technologies,
Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) and is ject reflects our proactive action-oriented making the project appealing to local as
set to start construction in mid-2024 at approach to the monumental challenge of well as institutional investors, while saving
Dubai’s Food Tech Valley, a master devel- food insecurity facing the world. This is one massive amounts of CO2."
opment launched by His Highness Sheikh of many transformative projects which is
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and be- set to be part of Food Tech Valley which David Farquhar, CEO of IGS, said:
ing led by major Dubai property developer, will have a significant impact on the UAE’s “This is so much more than just anoth-
Wasl. ReFarmTM has engaged its lead bank food security, maximising the use of pre- er announcement about plans to build a
to arrange support from UK Export Finance cious resources and decarbonising the food large-scale vertical farm - albeit that with a
within the UK Government’s Department supply chain. We look forward to working growing area of more than 87,000 square
for Business & Trade. with our partners to make it a success.” metres it will be very large! This site takes
the concept of vertical farming as just one
In a global first, six complementary tech- Saeed Al Marri, Chairman at SSK En- building block in a system that brings to-
nologies will be collocated on the Dubai terprises, commented: “Our circular ap- gether technologies to solve multiple chal-
Food Tech Valley site as part of a closed- proach contributes to wider ambitions of lenges simultaneously, all in one of the most
loop circular waste-to-value system, estab- food security and landscape regeneration, extreme environments on the planet.
lishing a self-contained ecosystem designed with the vertical farming towers capable
to maximise resource e#ciency and prevent of growing more than 250 varieties of “We are delighted to have been selected
any waste going to landfill. plants, seedlings and saplings, from sal- by ReFarmTM as their vertical farm technol-
ads, herbs and leafy greens, through to ogy partner for this venture as they work
Capable of growing more than 3 million fruiting crops and tree seedlings including to restore the balance and ensure that the
kilos of produce annually, the site will sup- native species such as Ghaf, Moringa and UAE is driving an innovative approach to
port the UAE’s move towards decarbonising even Mangroves. Additionally, no mains or combatting food insecurity. This project is
food production, replacing 1% of the coun- groundwater connection will be required a very exciting step forward for IGS, and
try’s fresh produce imports. Construction we are confident this innovative model has
is due to begin in mid-2024, with the site applications in many geographies across
expected to be fully operational by 2026. the globe.”
Food waste will be recycled on-site by UK Minister of State for Climate, Envi-
black soldier fly larvae, with by-products ronment and Energy, Lord Benyon, said:
including organic compost used in tradi- “Agri-tech and innovation are key to driv-
tional agricultural practices, animal feed for ing a resilient, prosperous and sustainable
replacing unsustainable fish meal and soy agriculture sector that puts food on tables
oil, and water for use in the vertical farming around the world while minimising waste.
towers. The technologies on site will also It is excellent to see a British company de-
recover up to 90% of ammonia sulphate ploying vertical farming technology on this
from wastewater for use in plant fertilisers, vast scale. I hope this UK-UAE partnership
and produce organic biodegradable poly- will continue to build our shared ambitions
mers designed to gradually release water for global food security.”

18 Vol. 39 No. 9