UAE launches latest installment of Global FoodTech Challenge at CGI 2024

During the UN General Assembly (UNGA) this year, the latest installment of the FoodTech Challenge competition was launched at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2024 Annual Meeting held in New York

In response to growing global food security challenges, the FoodTech Challenge identifies and supports leading early-stage, tech-driven solutions poised to transform food systems in harsh environments. Offering its biggest cash prize to date, FoodTech Challenge 3.0 is expanding its focus to three key areas: food and water, food and energy, and food loss and waste. 

Through a shared US$2mn cash prize, as well as go-to-market support and access to a robust network of partners, four winning start-ups will undertake new projects and partnerships to demonstrate, refine, and expand their leading tech solutions in the UAE. From this base, the teams can then scale their solutions to underserved markets in the Global South and contribute to a more food-secure future for all. Developing new ways to nourish a rapidly growing population with finite resources and such a challenging climate as that of the UAE, will provide solutions that are replicable across much of the world. 

In just two editions, the competition has garnered over 1,100 applications from start-ups across 98 countries. 

"After the historic COP28 Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, and the announcement of the partnership between the UAE and the Gates Foundation on agriculture innovation, the critical role of agriculture and food production in the wider climate crisis is increasingly coming into focus," said head of the International Affairs Office at the Presidential Court and co-chair of the FoodTech Challenge, Mariam Almheiri. "With the rising demands for food, water, and energy in the face of climate change, we need bold action, innovative thinking, and a transformative approach to our food systems."