Doha: The Qatar Research, Development and Innovation (QRDI) Council’s flagship programme, Qatar Open Innovation (QOI), has announced the two winning innovation partnerships for Hassad Food, Qatar’s investment arm in food and agribusiness sectors, one of which has been developed in collaboration with Kahramaa’s Creativity, Innovation and Scientific Research Incubator (CIRI).
The Qatar Open Innovation programme is QRDI’s first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at supporting the nation’s innovation ecosystem through fostering innovation partnerships for government entities and Large Local Enterprises in Qatar. QOI received 116 proposals from more than 34 countries for the innovation calls for Hassad Food, out of which two were awarded the winning partnerships.
Hassad Food awarded its calls, “Value Extraction from Agricultural Sidestreams,” and “Atmospheric Water Harvesting in Harsh Environments”, to the French SME, Rézomes, and the US Micro Nano Technologies (MNT), respectively.
Hassad Food’s “Atmospheric Water Harvesting in Harsh Environments” call was awarded through the collaboration between Kahramaa and Hassad Food to exchange expertise and select the winner based on their unified goal of addressing national challenges in Qatar.
Haya Al Ghanim, RDI Program Director at QRDI, remarked on the occasion: “We at QRDI are delighted to see our flagship program, Qatar Open Innovation, successfully serve one of Qatar’s leading organizations, Hassad Food, in addressing national challenges in resource sustainability and agriculture through research, development, and innovation endeavors. We have worked closely with Hassad’s team for the past months to identify the right innovators for their project calls. We want to welcome the awardees, Rézomes, and MNT, to Qatar’s RDI ecosystem and extend our appreciation for their support in realizing a thriving future for our country.”
Mubarak Al Sahuti, Executive Director of Business Relations and Communications at Hassad Food, said: “Reducing food waste is an important pillar to maintain our resources. According to the FAO, around 14 percent of the world’s food is lost after harvest. This food loss contributes to an unstable climate and extreme weather events. These changes negatively impact crop yields, reduce the nutritional quality of crops, cause supply chain disruptions and threaten food security and nutrition.”
Eric Charun, Project Manager – R&D & Innovation at Rézomes, remarked: “Qatar is rapidly increasing its presence as an attractive destination for global innovation. Our work with QRDI in responding to the call for agricultural innovation serves as a joint opportunity to expand the knowledge and development of pioneering and tested technologies in agriculture.”
Eng. Rashed Al Rahimi, Head of Kahramaa’s Creativity, Innovation & Scientific Research Incubator (CIRI) and Manager of the Conservation and Energy Efficiency Department, the department concerned for this project at Kahramaa, said: “We are pleased for this innovative project in cooperation with QRDI and Hassad to utilise water more efficiently to reduce the pressures on local reservoirs and irrigation systems. This matches with Qatar’s Water Strategy goals to utilise potable water wisely.”
