Today's Edition
SARA ALZAABI (AL AIN REGION)
What happens to tea leaves after a cup is finished? Is there a simpler way to grow plants and crops?
Thinking outside the box, Emirati innovators are turning everyday questions into practical solutions that could help build a more sustainable, efficient, and future-focused food and agriculture industry in the UAE.
Fatma Al Moosawi, an environmental researcher and the first certified Emirati tea master, has been studying tea waste since 2017 and, over the years, has developed innovations that aim to give new life to materials that are often discarded.
“Our first research was on water purification using tea waste, and we obtained a patent for it,” said Al Moosawi, Founder and CEO of Chai By Ygnd El Ras. Today, that vision has expanded into new initiatives.
Al Moosawi and her team now turn tea residue into products such as organic fertiliser and other natural, tea-based solutions.
Another entrepreneur who took part in this year’s Emirates Agriculture Conference and Exhibition (EACE) is Maha Al Muhairi, who founded Mahaya's to simplify agriculture for wider communities.
Al Muhairi said her company focuses on creating agricultural products designed to address farming challenges in the UAE and the wider GCC region.
“A key methodology for the company is education,” she said, emphasising that their efforts are directed at guiding individuals and communities on effective planting practices.
To make farming more accessible, they developed a “super potting mix” — an all-in-one blend that only requires watering, she said. This combines multiple components into a user-friendly solution.
Its vermicompost is “locally sourced and often referred to as ‘black gold’”, produced by converting food waste into nutrient-rich fertiliser, Al Muhairi added.
The company also introduced the TerraPod, a system that “combines hydroponic and traditional agriculture to transform empty spaces into green environments”, supporting urban agriculture and more sustainable living.
Beyond individual innovators and startups, local institutions are also driving progress across the sector. Ali Al Obaidli, Awareness and Community Engagement Section Manager at the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), highlighted the innovation-driven focus of the authority’s participation.
At EACE 2026, ADAFSA presented an integrated food supply chain — “from production on farms and ranches to food processing and finally to the arrival of products in markets”.
“We also showcased the most prominent smart agricultural projects and demonstrated the authority’s role in supporting the food and processing industries, in addition to presenting research projects such as cassava and mushroom cultivation and reviewing their results,” Al Obaidli said.
These efforts, he added, ultimately aim to translate studies into real-world impact. “Our goal is for farmers to benefit from this research and to adopt the cultivation of high-value economic products on their farms, which will benefit them and their communities.”
The Ghaf Superfood
Did you know that Ghaf tree is considered a superfood? Two Emirati brothers have come up with an easier way for people to include it in everyday meals: they created a nutritional powder made from the seed pods of the UAE’s Ghaf tree.
Laboratory tests show that “it contains high protein levels comparable to Greek yoghurt, more fibre than chia seeds, and more vitamin C than oranges”, according to Husain Al Hashimi and his brother Khalid Al Hashimi.
The brothers then developed 10 local recipes using the powder, bringing the concept into daily use. Among the standout examples are their Ghaf bread — made with 80% Ghaf powder and 20% standard flour — and the Ghaf hummus, where the powder fully replaces chickpeas and is blended with lemon, olive oil and sumac.
While their current focus remains on the Ghaf tree, they said there are plans to further expand the project. “We are actively conducting studies on 12 other local UAE trees to see how they can be similarly utilised,” they said.
Through their work, the Al Hashimi brothers said they aim to demonstrate that “sustainable food security can be achieved by utilising the UAE’s local trees”.
