(MENAFN- Asdaf News) Riyadh – Asdfanews.com:
An innovation challenge was established by the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) and UpLink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum (WEF), to crowdsource game-changing innovations to improve food security in nations affected by low rainfall, drought, and desertification.
The Food Ecosystems and Arid Climates Challenge is an international call for entries that include either low-tech or high-tech solutions from food entrepreneurs, start-ups, social enterprises, and small to medium-sized businesses.
The announcement was made at the Forum's 2023 Annual Meeting in Davos as part of Saudi Arabia's initiatives to create original solutions through cooperation and collaboration to the world's most pressing problems.
The winning cohort would be entitled to CHF100,000 to expand and launch their company in arid areas while increasing their visibility and access to networking possibilities.
Ibrahim noted that the Kingdom was fully committed to being a significant innovation accelerator and dedicating resources to empower and support entrepreneurs who are determined to tackle the challenge of food security, in this case, in regions with arid climates.
Today, 2.3 billion people lack access to enough food, and 828 million people experience hunger. Additionally, 700 million people are predicted to be displaced by drought by 2030, and 3.1 billion people worldwide cannot afford a decent food.
The challenge supported solutions with a significant economical, environmental, and educational impact to promote local food value chains in order to strengthen food security and increase the supply of wholesome foods in dry regions.
MEP established the Sustainable Development Steering Committee, which coordinates government efforts across the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda.
Since establishing the Sustainable Development Steering Committee (SDSC), a governance structure has been operationalized and chaired by Ibrahim and includes 20 senior stakeholders from various government entities to oversee Saudi Arabia's SDG Agenda.
Saudi Arabia participated in the Annual Meeting 2023 (AM23) of the World Economic Forum in Davos between 16-20 January to bridge global divides and facilitate near-term stability while driving multilateral reform and long-term transformation.
MENAFN21012023007116015312ID1105459190
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.