The world’s largest indoor farm will be built in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, by the RaiMakers Capital Investment LLC from Abu Dhabi who will be collaborating with GrowGrow IFS Barendrecht of the Netherlands in the effort.

The estimated produce by the Green Factory Emirates is of 10,000 tonnes per annum on a plot of 17.5 hectares and the cultivation area will be 160,000 square meters.

This will be an attempt to develop the most advanced and innovative indoor farming technique by the GreenFactory Emirates who will be aiming at the goal of the world’s most advanced indoor farming. The details were revealed earlier today and it was explained that indoor farming will be a combination of vertical and flat farming. This will help in solving the restriction with farming in extreme climates such as the UAE which generally occur in normal circumstances.

A joint press statement further revealed that this initiative will involve a lot of top agro-technological companies in its construction as the best of breed of each and every component will be sourced through the top-tier companies from the Netherlands. Through this facility, it will be possible to cultivate high quality 100% pesticide free vegetables all throughout the year. "Quality of Holland – Local Grown." From seeding, harvesting, processing to "ready to eat" products will take place under one roof.

They also added that through this joint venture they aim to build more such indoor farming facilities in the region which is subjected to extreme climatic conditions.

The Minister of State for Food Security, Mariam Hareb Almheir said, "The private sector plays a vital role in the transition towards more sustainable food systems. Private sector organisations have entrepreneurial traits that drive innovation. They possess the qualities necessary to disrupt existing non-sustainable agricultural systems."

She further appreciated UAE’ efforts of improving its domestic production of food by bringing in new agricultural technologies also known as AgTech. Indoor farming initiatives by the GreenFactory Emirates will help UAE reach goals such as generating 30% yield from technology based production and make UAE a world leading hub in innovation driven food security by 2051, she says.

The GreenFactory will also be doing an environmental favour by reducing the carbon footprint upto 40% by reducing the water consumption upto 95% by its unconventional methods of generating the produce. Because these produce will be locally grown, it will reduce a ton of waste that comes in while importing things and will also save the logistical traffic that is required for transportation.

This partnership between GrowGroup and RainMakers is due to the introduction made by the embassy of kingdom of the Netherlands in the United Arab Emirates and the Monarch group and on this partnership, Lody Embrechts, ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to the UAE, said, “The Netherlands has a lot to offer across all aspects of the food value chain. This flagship project is a symbol of the know-how and expertise available back home as well as the Dutch Triple Helix approach (collaboration between academia, industry and government): combining growing crops commercially along with research and development in order to continuously innovate the way in which we grow our food, in a sustainable manner, hence taking into account our impact on the environment. As an Embassy we are proud to have been able to contribute - within our means - to this project. We hope to intensify our cooperation with the UAE to further develop the local agriculture ecosystem."

The whole project is planned for a stretch of three years which will amount to 650M AED which is nearly 150 M Euro. It will be distributed in three phases where the first phase will be operational before Expo 2020 Dubai in October 2021. The innovations of the Green Factory will be on the display for the world through the Expo.

GrowGroup Innovative Farming Solutions(IFS) is founded by John Breedveld, CEO of the Grow Grow group, in Barendrecht, the Netherlands. They specialise in indoor farming which is based on the most advanced Dutch innovative farming solutions. This especially helps in regions where normal cultivation is restricted by extreme climate and or limited space.

RainMakers Capital Investment LLC With offices in Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Montreal (Canada) is an entrepreneurial catalyst co-founded by Emirati and Canadian entrepreneurs. Led by Mohamed Jouan Al-Dhaheri, Sultan Al-Nassour, Sebastien Leblond and Jonathan Mérineau Gosselin, the company brings together the world’s most impactful companies and projects in the food and agriculture sector and UAE’s economic, educational and investment stakeholders. The motive of this company is to ensure UAE’s food security by bridging the gap between the stakeholders which will accelerate the progress on critical components to support the Emirati nation.

WAM