Agritech
Presentation
This regional innovation hub, whose feasibility study financed by the French Development Agency is underway, and with which the Region and Wilaya of Fez-Meknes are associated, will aim to contribute to the emergence of potential, insufficiently exploited, of the Fès-Meknes region in its traditional activities (notably agri-food) and the development of territorial growth relays creating wealth and jobs, in particular through the intersection of research, innovation and entrepreneurial development in the aforementioned sectors, taken individually or in synergy.
Despite the region's positioning as the leading agri-food region in the Kingdom, analysis of the regional agricultural sector reveals a multitude of constraints and defects that hinder its development:
- The fragmentation of agricultural property, which often prevents it from being profitable
- The irregularity of rainfall and the reduction in groundwater, which has a negative impact on the cultivated area and annual production
- Soil erosion, desertification and the depletion of the land in minerals, which leads to a reduction in arable land and a deterioration of pastures.
Finally, the low yields, linked in particular to the persistence of traditional cultivation methods by small farmers and the absence of use of modern technologies, except for large agricultural structures, which are approaching international standards in this area. good agricultural practices.
To provide solutions to these challenges, it is now customary to refer to a “green revolution 2.0”. The first green revolution was that of intensive agriculture, with the use of new varieties of seeds, fertilizers, irrigation techniques, and insecticides.
The green revolution 2.0 relies on the considerable technological advances made since then, combined with new “ways of doing things” and uses, favoring the sharing economy and the pooling of material, intellectual and human resources to bring about new modes of production and living.
Objectives of Agritech start-ups:
- Increase crop productivity,
- Optimize the use of inputs (water, fertilizers, phytosanitary products, etc.),
- Preserve the environment (reduce soil depletion and the unreasonable use of increasingly scarce water resources),
- Promote the sharing and dissemination of good agricultural practices (collaborative platforms, mobile solutions, etc.)
- Facilitate access to new markets (electronic marketplaces, networking platforms, etc.).
Objective
Develop an innovation hub in the Fez-Meknes region, particularly in agricultural and agri-food activities with a territorial approach to identify, structure and promote promising sectors and to create an integrated and efficient economic ecosystem. The objective is to aim for more inclusive growth and territorial growth relays that create wealth and jobs, in particular through the intersection of research, innovation and entrepreneurial development in several sectors (agriculture, agro-industry, digital technologies, energy efficiency, etc.) taken individually or in synergy.
Missions and Support
Create startups whose objective is to contribute to:
- increase crop productivity;
- optimize the use of inputs (water, fertilizers, phytosanitary products, etc.);
- preserve the environment (reduce soil exhaustion and the unreasonable use of increasingly scarce water resources);
- encourage the sharing and dissemination of good agricultural practices (collaborative platforms, mobile solutions, etc.);
- facilitate access to new markets (electronic marketplaces, networking platforms, etc.).
Partners
French Development Agency (AFD)
Wilaya Region Fez Meknes
Responsible
Name: Professor Tijani Bounahmidi
Email: t.bounahmidi@ueuromed.org