CIHEAM Press Review

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has gathered momentum in its commitment to sustainability by identifying and supporting top innovators of climate-smart agriculture solutions. Called the Smarter Climate Farmers Challenge, the initiative was launched by the Kingdom in partnership with Uplink, the open innovation platform of the World Economic Forum. Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim announced the challenge during the WEF’s 14th annual meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China. “In our pursuit of sustainable agriculture, we introduce the Smarter Climate Farmers Challenge.

WWF reports that a food systems approach is necessary to address biodiversity loss and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

A Norwegian NGO has launched a joint training program to train female engineering graduates in the field of sustainable agriculture, with the aim of both encouraging Jordanian women to join the workforce and fight desertification.

A new report from the agribusi­ness task force of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), a net­work of promi­nent food busi­ness chief exec­u­tives, has urged gov­ern­ments and food pro­duc­ers to work together toward more sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture to pre­vent fur­ther fuel­ing of cli­mate change.

Like the rest of the world, Morocco is grappling with climate change and scientists in the country are exploring ways to develop more resilient and sustainable agriculture. 



Research and development has become a top priority for many African universities. In Morocco, the Secretary General of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University says the innovative being done should enable Africa to become a food secure continent in the future.