MFI’s DeserTech Initiative Partners with United Nations

Merage Foundation Israel’s DeserTech has partnered with the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to help African nations build “the Great Green Wall”. DeserTech is an Innovation Community that promotes the development, adaptation and commercialization of technologies that enable sustainable living in arid climates, while simultaneously, turning Be’er Sheva and the Negev region into a global entrepreneurial hub for these technologies.

The partnership between Merage Foundation Israel and the UN plans to combat desertification in the 11 African countries leading the “Great Green Wall” movement. The Great Green Wall is an African-led initiative aimed at rehabilitating 100 hectares (over 385,000 square miles) of degraded land across the Sahel region by 2030, generating millions of jobs, and capturing 250 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The DeserTech Team with the United Nations Global Mechanism Team

Sinai Gohar Barak, DeserTech’s ecosystem development manager, said the project has two aims — developing and implementing technologies that address global challenges, and turning the Negev into a global hub for desert technologies. The Sahel which runs between the Sahara Desert to the north and Savannah to the south — is not only one of the poorest regions on earth, but also one of the most exposed to the devastating effects of climate change. These effects include drought, food shortages, conflicts over natural resources and mass migration.

Merage Foundation Israel has brought together policymakers, entrepreneurs, tech companies, businesses, investors, academics and NGOs to develop, commercialize and promote desert technologies in the fields of extreme climate, water, land degradation, and life in remote places. The organization recently mapped over 300 Israeli startups and companies developing technologies either specifically geared to, or potentially adaptable for, desert environments.

Nicole Hod Stroh, executive director of the Merage Foundation told the audience, “It’s getting hotter and the land is getting more degraded. We share the same problems and we need to learn from each other about the challenges and solutions.”