Water and Energy for Food: Regional Innovation Hub MENA
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is subject to many challenges including water scarcity, environmental degradation, unemployment, conflicts and increased migration. Tackling issues in the water-energy-food nexus is imperative to achieve political and social stability, gender equality and inclusion, food security, and sustainable development.
Although the region’s water-energy-food challenges are severe, they present an opportunity for local innovators to find solutions for the most pressing water and energy issues in food production and agriculture.
The MENA Regional Innovation Hub supports innovators that work in the region and produce more food while using less water and energy. Together with investors and partners, the Hub works to scale mid-to-later stage enterprises that have an environmental and social impact in the water-energy-food nexus.
Through Water and Energy for Food (WE4F), innovators from the MENA region can now access the financial support, technical support, and investment matching necessary to make food production and farming more sustainable, productive, and bountiful. Supported projects must fulfill strict environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, have positive effects on the environment, strive for gender equality and inclusion, and ensure secure access to food for all.
The Hub focuses on impact-oriented mid- to later-stage enterprises provides an opportunity to catalyze innovation and bring localized solutions to the region. It contributes to reducing barriers related to access to financing. Recognizing the often deficient support structures, unfavorable environments and the still relatively thin pipeline of investment ready for this kind of enterprises, the Hub must go beyond fund management from abroad and outsourcing technical assistance to selected vendors. Local networks, a thorough understanding of the WE4F market and challenges local enterprises face, the ability to provide continuous support and a long-term interest to build a strategically relevant regional initiative will be important to complement the core fund management functions of the Hub.
Youssef Brouziyne
Ireny Khella
https://we4f.org/mena
Water & Energy for Food Regional Hub for MENA (Proj-ID-064)