Bari, Where Agricultural Innovations Meet Investors
On November 25, CIHEAM Bari will host the AU-EU-Med Innovation Fair, dedicated to food security and sustainable agriculture. Thirty-four innovative solutions from Africa, Europe, and the Mediterranean, already tested and proven in the field, will be presented to investors who can help bring them to scale.
A Pressing Need, Promising Projects
The stakes are high. According to the United Nations' SOFI 2026 report, Africa is home to approximately 309 million undernourished people, or one in five inhabitants. With its population expected to approach 2.5 billion by 2050, the continent is set to become the world's largest food market. Across Europe and the Mediterranean, countries are seeking solutions to water stress, antimicrobial resistance and dependence on imported fertilizers. These three regions have little choice but to strengthen their resilience and capacity to adapt to climate change. Their challenges are converging, and so are their solutions. In Bari, 34 projects will come together around four key themes.
Sustainable agricultural production. Tomato hybrids developed by the University of Ghana target a domestic market estimated at €1.3 billion annually, while the country still imports around €100 million worth of tomatoes. Registered in Ghana, these varieties can be marketed throughout the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) without additional registration. The PASUSI biofertilizer increases legume yields by 15% to 45%, with demand already exceeding 25 tonnes per season, twice its current production capacity. An investment of €170,000 would be enough to automate production and establish a cold chain. In East Africa, PrAEctiCe uses solar energy to recycle wastewater for irrigation (€500,000 to €1.5 million).
Value chains and trade. Biofortified and drought-tolerant, NARO beans include ten varieties registered in Uganda and Rwanda. The project is seeking up to €2 million to secure agreements with food processors and expand production to supply school canteens in around 100 schools. DualCassava, led by the University of Greenwich alongside partners in Malawi and Tanzania, has reduced chick mortality by approximately 25% in initial trials. Its approach involves replacing up to half the maize in poultry feed with cassava grits, potentially increasing profit margins by 27% for farmers and 17% for feed manufacturers. HD4A transforms underutilized crops into fortified crackers and dried fruit. The project is seeking €450,000 in funding.
Circular economy. IINCiTiS-FOOD has patented a fish feed in Kenya made from black soldier fly larvae and Azolla, designed for warm-water aquaculture (€200,000 to €1 million). FoodLAND has developed four types of bio-based packaging using agricultural by-products. The Mediterranean region is also contributing its own innovations. NEWFEED, coordinated by the Basque research institute AZTI under the PRIMA programme, converts grape stalks into feed ingredients for dairy cattle and sheep. Tested at 10% of feed rations in Spain, Greece, Egypt and Türkiye, the solution has demonstrated a 5.5% to 7.7% reduction in environmental impact. It represents the largest investment requirement among the research projects: €7 million to €8 million for a facility capable of processing 10,000 tonnes annually.
Biotechnology and digital innovation. Makerere University's SAFEFISH project offers an alternative to antibiotics in aquaculture, a market where phage-based products are already commercially available in Europe. ICIPE's pheromone trap captures both male and female tomato leafminers, a pest capable of destroying 80% of a harvest. Combined with the Ghanaian tomato hybrids, it could form an integrated solution bringing together crop genetics and protection. In animal health, SWINOSTICS2 enables on-site detection of African swine fever through saliva samples, a disease for which no vaccine is currently authorized by the European Union (€1.5 million).
A Decade of Proven Results
More than ten years of African Union–European Union cooperation on food security have generated a remarkable body of scientific research, supported by Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, PRIMA, DeSIRA and LEAP-AGRI. Scaling up these innovations has now become essential, as many projects seek the funding needed to move forward. The event on November 25 could prove decisive for several of them.
Previous editions have already demonstrated their value. Nairobi in 2022, Cape Town in 2023, Cairo in 2024 and Brussels in 2025: across four editions, the Fair has showcased up to 150 solutions to more than 2,000 participants, secured equity investment commitments of up to €600,000 per company, and brought together partners including EDF Africa, L'Oréal, Sanofi, Sothema and United.b.
Following the 2023 Cape Town edition, a European Commission report highlighted several concrete outcomes: “Climate fintech company Melanin Kapital established a partnership with Absa's Kenyan subsidiary and the African Development Fund. Its customer base grew from 10 to 10,000; Zimbabwean start-up CropFix was invited by a wine-producing group to discuss a potential partnership.”
In Brussels in 2025, all eighteen finalists of the innovation challenge received incubation support through the Africa-Europe Innovation Platform and visibility on EuroQuity, Bpifrance's investment platform. Six subsequently pitched their solutions to selected investors.
Several companies have since made significant progress. Zambia's Green Giraffe, which uses artificial intelligence to connect smallholder farmers with demanding buyers even before planting begins, already reports working with thousands of farmers. Dutch company LUXEED Robotics has recently received the Brightlands Award for its herbicide-free laser weeding technology, with initial sales targeted for 2027. Tunisia's My AloéOléa, which cultivates aloe vera and olive trees through regenerative agriculture using 70% less water and employing a predominantly female workforce, is preparing to enter European markets.
The ENRICH in Africa centre, established through this momentum, hosted ten start-ups from six African countries in France for three months, during which all launched projects. Among them, Egyptian company Baramouda transforms sugarcane and sugar beet waste into organic fertilizers in a country that produces approximately 38 million tonnes of agricultural residues each year.
34 Start-ups and SMEs Complete the Lineup
Selected from more than 200 applications received in September and evaluated by an expert task force bringing together organizations including AEIP, the CEA-FIRST consortium, ENRICH in Africa, the European Innovation Council (EIC), the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and the World Bank, twenty research-based and deep-tech start-ups and SMEs represent every stage of development, from prototype to growing business.
Financing and traceability. In Kenya, Shamba Records uses AI and blockchain to provide access to credit for approximately 110,000 smallholder farmers, while ensuring compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation. The company is raising more than €3 million. In Uganda, MobiPay AgroSys finances adult agricultural labour to help remove children from the fields, providing European buyers with documented evidence (€260,000). Kajou, a social enterprise originating from Bibliothèques Sans Frontières, has already trained 8,500 young Senegalese farmers using microSD cards and an AI assistant that operate offline in Wolof and Pulaar. In Warsaw, WeavAir combines satellite data, sensors and embedded AI to measure climate outcomes that banks, insurers and carbon credit buyers can finance (€1.5 million).
Robotics and monitoring technologies. In Navarre, Lab4Impact's ZeroToxBot eliminates weeds, including their roots and soil seed banks, without herbicides or water. Patented at European level and tested across approximately 2,500 hectares in Spain, Poland and Romania, it generates annual herbicide savings of €170 to €220 per hectare. The project is seeking €1.5 million. In Lebanon, FullFarm monitors dairy herds using an ingestible capsule that measures rumen pH and detects acidosis before the first symptoms appear (€100,000).
Soil regeneration. In Tanzania, Plant Biodefenders supplies 45,000 farmers with certifiable biological agricultural inputs, helping overcome pesticide residue barriers that prevent coffee, cashew nuts and avocados from accessing European markets (€1 million). In Ghana, youth-led Bimak Green Technologies converts manure and agricultural residues into biogas for cooking and organic fertilizers (€100,000).
Preservation, processing and nutrition. With 15,000 solar-powered refrigerators deployed across 25 countries, Koolboks is seeking the largest investment of the event: €26 million in Series B funding. Women-led businesses account for 70% of its customer base. In Nairobi, Nutri Shrooms develops oyster mushroom-enriched porridge for pregnant women and young children, with the smallest funding request among the participants: €33,700. In Tunisia, Harvest Labs extracts ingredients from pomegranate peels and seeds to develop dietary supplements targeting metabolic syndrome (€150,000 to €300,000). Operating between Italy and Zambia, Koalisation installs energy-efficient cooking stoves at no upfront cost, financed through carbon credits, before selling fuel pellets through a subscription model. With 3,000 stoves already installed in the Copperbelt region, the company is seeking €2.2 million to reach 200,000 installations by 2030.
Closing the loop. In Nigeria, Foodlocker transforms brewery spent grain into livestock feed that reduces methane emissions by 70%. In Marseille, Polychaeta converts aquaculture waste into protein-rich marine worms. In Tunis, PigmentOCO uses CO₂ to dye cotton without water and is developing an alternative to potassium permanganate for denim washing (€1 million).
Investors in the Spotlight
The entire initiative has been designed with investors in mind. The fourteen solutions originating from research projects were selected based on their technological maturity, market potential and financial attractiveness. Each is presented in a detailed investment dossier outlining its technology readiness level, intellectual property and funding requirements.
Three investment pathways are available: licensing or purchasing agreements for assets already ready for commercialization (€60,000 to €850,000), co-financing pilot trials with priority options on the results (€220,000 to €400,000), or early-stage investment opportunities starting at €100,000.
The collaboration with Bpifrance acts as an accelerator through several initiatives and resources, including EuroQuity, its online platform, which gives each project visibility among hundreds of investor members.
The associated Horizon Europe project, the Africa-Europe Innovation Platform (AEIP), is another major asset extending beyond the Bari event. It will organize further meetings between the 34 innovators and potential investors, ensuring that opportunities for collaboration continue after the Fair.
This mutually beneficial partnership builds on the legacy of the Horizon 2020 ENRICH in Africa project (2021–2024), which led to the establishment of the centre of the same name in Cape Town.
In less than a month, around 100 investors are expected to attend, including venture capital funds, impact investors, development banks, foundations, blended finance providers and industrial groups.
A New Decade Begins in Bari
The timing gives this edition particular significance. The AU-EU-Med Innovation Fair in Bari, a flagship event of Mediterranean Innovation Agrifood Week, will provide the first showcase for the renewed 2027–2036 roadmap of the Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA) partnership, ahead of next year's AU-EU ministerial meeting on research and innovation.
In 2027, the Union for the Mediterranean will adopt its strategy for scaling up innovation. A monitoring framework is already planned: investment commitments, agreements concluded, patents filed and funding raised will be tracked over the coming years, including throughout the remaining seven years of implementation of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda (2023–2033).
For investors, this represents a rare opportunity: access, in a single day, to a portfolio of validated, well-documented solutions backed by established institutions and positioned in growing markets.
For African, European and Mediterranean agriculture, it is an opportunity to transform research and innovation into drivers of international cooperation and food sovereignty. The latter is emerging as one of the most critical challenges of the coming decade, affecting more than 260 million people worldwide, according to the latest United Nations figures.
Registration: au-eu-med-innovationfair-fnssa.servicefacility.eu
