Press and News AgriTech4Egypt: A strategic Egypt–Italy partnership translating research into market-ready solutions for farmers and value-chain actors
Cairo, 9 March 2026 — The AgriTech4Egypt: Technological Innovation in the Agri-Food Sector in Egypt is a flagship Egypt–Italy initiative designed to accelerate the translation of research products into market-ready agritech solutions across Egypt’s agricultural and food sector.
The project promotes the development, deployment and adoption of innovative technologies to enhance productivity, sustainability, and climate resilience along agricultural value chains, while strengthening the capacity of farmers, innovators and agri-business stakeholders to respond to climate change, natural resource constraints and food security challenges.
Aligned with Egypt’s national priorities specifically the 2030 Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy, Vision 2030, Egypt’s Startup Charter and Italy’s Piano Mattei per l’Africa, this project strengthens local startups’ capacities and fosters international collaboration through a series of 3 innovation challenges, offering an integrated support package that includes business development mentorship, scientific validation, tailored technical assistance, facilitated market access, and pilot testing with end-users.
AgriTech4Egypt sets out to create an enabling environment for knowledge exchange and the transfer of agritech by linking Italy’s excellence in agribusiness research and industry with Egypt’s specific needs and market demands, enhance innovation teams’ capacity to prototype and validate their agritech solutions through a comprehensive support package, and facilitate the adoption of these solutions by farmers and value chain actors.
Over three years, this project will directly support 105 startups and innovation teams, representing at least 350 innovators, with a strong focus on youth- and female-led teams. Farmers and agri-food value-chain actors will access field-tested, scalable technologies designed to improve productivity, resource efficiency, and climate resilience.
The three-year project is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (a CGIAR center), funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and supported through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. It is endorsed by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and implemented in collaboration the Agricultural Research Centre, and the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology. It builds on the results, partnerships, and lessons learned from a pilot project implemented in 2024.
On Monday, 9 March 2026 in Cairo, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT convened the first Project Steering Committee meeting, represented by Tiberio Chiari, Head of the Cairo Office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Gina El-Feky, President at the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Adel Abdelazim, President at the Agricultural Research Centre, and Stephanie Speck, Global Director of Strategic Partnerships, Engagement and Communication at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. This meeting marked the first official gathering within the project’s governance and strategic oversight framework, held in advance of the project’s official launch scheduled for May 2026.
Contact details
- Rachel Kibui: [email protected]
Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
