Masdar City showcases sustainable smart home farming solutions for increased food and water security during ADSW 2019

• Exhibition at Eco-Villa highlights Masdar’s support of the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy and Masdar’s wider focus on sustainability

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; January 17, 2019 – Masdar City in Abu Dhabi has unveiled a Smart Home Farming Showcase called ‘Bustani’ at its Eco-Villa prototype to demonstrate emerging farming solutions that will help UAE residents become more self-sufficient in meeting their everyday food needs.

The showcase is a collaboration between Masdar and the UAE-based agri-tech specialists Madar Farms, and is one of the outcomes of a partnership between the UAE Office for Food Security and Masdar aiming to raise levels of self-sufficiency for food in the UAE.

The exhibition, which will be open to the public throughout 2019, will demonstrate more than 15 innovative home solutions, around food production, and water and waste recycling, production and recycling. These solutions, which Masdar sourced from local and international suppliers before being installed at the Masdar City Eco-Villa earlier this month, will be tested throughout the year.

The objective of the showcase is to highlight how progress in technology has allowed the emergence of solutions to increase food security at the home level, as well as raise awareness of the broader global challenges of sustainably and nutritiously feeding a growing population.

The showcase was officially opened today by HE Mariam AlMheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, UAE Office for Future Security, accompanied by Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, Yousef Baselaib, Executive Director, Sustainable Real Estate at Masdar, and Abdulaziz AlMulla, CEO and Founder from Madar Farms.

“Food security is one of the most pressing issues affecting humankind and advances in technology are proving instrumental in addressing this. One of the most exciting developments we are witnessing and one that offers huge potential is Smart Home Farming, as showcased in Masdar City’s prototype Eco-Villa. The concept encourages self-sufficiency and reduces the burden on commercial food producers and suppliers by enabling villa-dwellers to produce food from facilities on their own premises. Smart Home Farming turns consumers into ‘prosumers’ and if initiated on a wide enough scale, could result in a new paradigm of food security for the nation,” said HE Mariam Al Mheiri.

“Global food systems are faced with the challenge of sustainably feeding more than 9 billion people by 2050. Today’s food systems are falling short of these objectives and remain both unsustainable for the environment and unable to adequately nourish a major part of the global population. Leveraging technological innovation will undoubtedly be part of the solution and the launch of the smart home farming showcase at the Eco-Villa in Masdar City demonstrates Masdar’s commitment to exploring innovative and sustainable approaches to farming,” said Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi.

“Our ongoing efforts are guided by the UAE leadership, which has placed food security at the top of the national agenda,” Al Ramahi added. “As Abu Dhabi’s flagship sustainable urban development, Masdar City will continue to focus on raising awareness of sustainable urban farming in 2019, a topic of discussion at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week this year, in support of the UAE’s food security mandate and the continued advancement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”

Masdar is supporting start-up companies and entrepreneurs to develop an innovation ecosystem focused on improving food and water security for the region. One of Masdar City’s key themes for 2019 is sustainable agriculture.

Abdulaziz AlMulla, Madar Farms said: “We are proud of this collaboration with Masdar. By showcasing innovative smart farming solutions from all over the world, we hope to raise awareness of the exciting change that is currently taking place in the ag-tech landscape. At Madar Farms, in addition to producing locally on a commercial scale, we believe that increasing consumer awareness and influencing behaviors are essential steps towards the transformation to improved sustainable agriculture practices.”
Launched during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2017, the Eco-Villa pilot project at Masdar City incorporates various water- and energy-saving technologies. The 405 square-metre residential property is the first villa to achieve a 4-Pearl rating under the Estidama Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS), introduced by Abu Dhabi’s Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities.

It uses around 72 per cent less energy and 35 per cent less water than a typical
Abu Dhabi of the same size, while displacing an estimated 63 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

To view Masdar’s recently published Sustainable Agriculture in Arid Regions report, please click here.

About Masdar
Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar is advancing the commercialization and deployment of renewable energy, sustainable urban development and clean technologies to address global sustainability challenges. Wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, the strategic investment company of the Government of Abu Dhabi, our mandate is to help maintain the UAE’s leadership in the global energy sector, while supporting the diversification of both its economy and energy sources for the benefit of future generations. Masdar’s renewable energy projects are located in the UAE, Jordan, Mauritania, Egypt, Morocco, the UK, Serbia and Spain.

About Masdar City
Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City is one of the world’s most sustainable communities. It is made up of a rapidly growing clean-tech cluster, business free zone and residential neighbourhood with restaurants, shops and public green spaces. Masdar City is a working model for cities around the world based on the three pillars of environmental, economic and social sustainability, and continues to push the boundaries of innovation. The sustainable city is home to the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency, several Fortune 500 companies, hundreds of local businesses and entrepreneurs, and a leading graduate-level research institute.

Contacts:

E-mail: press@masdar.ae

Tel enquiries in Arabic: +971 2 653 3333

Tel enquiries in English: +971 2 653 6014

For more information please visit: http://www.masdar.ae and connect: facebook.com/masdar.ae and twitter.com/masdar

About Madar Farms
Madar Farms is an agri-tech company focused on reducing water consumption in the GCC through implementation of the most efficient growing systems available. Implementing the latest technologies at both residential and commercial scale, Madar Farms is the regional expert and thought leader when it comes to sustainable and local food production. For more information please visit www.madarfarms.co

Contacts:
E-mail: info@madarfarms.co
Tel enquiries: +971 4 331 1908