Private sector involvement and financial innovations to impact food security

The Middle East and North Africa Regional Innovation Hub (MENA RIH) was launched and is run by Berytech, Chemonics Egypt, cewas, and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), as part of the Water and Energy for Food Grand Challenge (WE4F), a joint international initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, SIDA, the US Agency for International Development, and the European Union. The Hub supports mid-to-late-stage enterprises to scale groundbreaking innovations impacting food security in an environmentally sustainable way, using less water and more sustainable energy to produce more food, protect biodiversity and mitigate the effects of climate change, while providing opportunities to women, youth and the poor. WE4F, innovators from the MENA region, can access financial and technical support, and investment matching necessary to make food production and farming sustainable, productive and bountiful. Supported projects must fulfil strict environmental, social and governance criteria, and have positive effects on the environment, while striving for gender equality and inclusion, and ensuring secure access to food for all.

FAO, CIHEAM, PRIMA Foundation and UfM. 2023. Sustainable agrifood systems in the Mediterranean – Levers for transformation. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8220en

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