A newly-founded Israeli initiative that seeks to match technology innovators with policy makers held a digital conference on food security this week that aimed to connect Israeli technology companies with African nations to help them meet the challenge of feeding the continent's rapidly growing population.
IMPROVATE was launched in September 2020 with a vision of making innovation and technology accessible to all.
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The IMPROVATE conference brought agriculture ministers of five African nations – the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) – together with representatives of Israeli tech companies to discuss their countries' particular food supply challenges.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair opened the conference.
"Food security is a huge challenge, and it was a challenge before COVID, which has just deepened that challenge," Blair said.
"This is a huge opportunity to use technology to help lives, to improve lives, to save lives, to improve the quality of agriculture in Africa, to help Africa fulfil its potential as a major source of food, not just for Africans, but for the world... This is something that is transformative, groundbreaking and will change the world," Blair added.
A total of 10 leading Israeli companies presented solutions to challenges laid out by the African representatives in fields that ranged from drip irrigation to solar-powered fisheries to methods of increasing dairy production. Israel Discount Bank offered financial cooperation.
Science and Technology Minister Izhar Shai, who took part in the conference, said that "Innovation today leads the dialogue between nations and reinforces the importance of peace between peoples."
IMPROVATE founder and chairwoman Irina Nevzlin noted that "During periods of crisis, people tend to focus on the problem, on its causes, and on who is to blame. But the important thing is to understand the source of the problem, and we believe in the need for a platform that enables leaders and companies to focus on the solutions to problems. '
"That is the role of IMPROVATE," Nevzlin said.
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