An event in Cannes has marked the launch of The OpenAg Foundation, a non-profit foundation on a mission to deliver food security, develop farmer resilience, and support smallholder farmers facing the effects of climate change.
Its inaugural initiative, Water for Harmony, aims to drill 1,000 boreholes in Southern Africa, bringing clean drinking water to an estimated one million people. The campaign successfully raised $1.3million USD towards the programme during the event.
The boreholes will supply clean water to people, livestock, and wildlife, enabling farmers to irrigate crops and easing tensions in regions where scarce resources have fuelled conflict. The scheme follows a successful pilot project to drill 10 boreholes in Zambia, where less than half of the nation’s rural population has access to basic drinking water services.
The OpenAg Foundation will be Chaired by Jai Shroff, one of the world’s leading voices on sustainable agricultural development, along with an experienced board bringing together experts in sustainability, business, and politics from across the developing world.
The board includes:
- Mauricio Macri, Former President of Argentina and President of the FIFA Foundation
- Chipokota Mwanawasa, a Zambian lawyer, farmer and entrepreneur
- Sean de Cleene, Co-Chair Emeritus of Grow Africa
- Fatma Al Khater, Founder of Torba Farms Qatar
- David Schaerli, private banker and lawyer
The OpenAg Foundation will shortly announce its CEO and other key positions.
The Foundation seeks to become a driving force in global food security, and work with all stakeholders in the global food chain to institute sustainable practices at the smallholder farmer level. The not-for-profit’s activities include providing financial and technical assistance to farmers; advocating for radical policies and legislation; and facilitating access to high quality inputs, such as low cost, genetically improved seeds.
Jai Shroff announced the launch of the Foundation and the borehole project at a fundraising event held at the Martinez Hotel Cannes Film Festival, in partnership with Chopard. Guests were invited to ‘adopt a borehole’ in Southern Africa, each of which is estimated to support 250–500 people. Outside of fundraising activities, The OpenAg Foundation receives funding from corporations, development finance, and private donors.
The launch of the borehole project follows a new report from the Copernicus Global Drought Observatory, warning that rising global temperatures and less than average rainfall have significantly worsened drought conditions across the continent (link).
Jai Shroff, Chairman of the OpenAg Foundation, said: “The role of smallholder farmers has never been so important. On one hand, they need access to new technology, seeds, and even basic needs like clean drinking water – while on the other, they need backing at a policy level to help increase food security across the world.
“This is why we launched The OpenAg Foundation. We want to transition farmers to sustainable agricultural methods and build coalitions that create a lasting change. But too many of these farmers are living in extreme poverty, so we need to target their short-term survival and prosperity, too.
“We launched the Water for Harmony project to achieve just that. With much of Africa gripped by drought, we want to provide communities with fresh running water to feed their families and livestock, and irrigate their failing crops. Ultimately, we want to support smallholder farmers at every stage of their lives.”
