This report assesses the current market of startups in the field of land restoration in the Aral Sea basin, and provides recommendations for enhancing the Republic of Uzbekistan’s innovation capacity in the forestry and agricultural sectors. Consolidating data from stakeholder interviews, government websites and institutional reports, it finds that, although the country is well-resourced to support a healthy innovation infrastructure, startups operating within the restoration and sustainable land and water management spheres are currently limited. Against this backdrop, the report provides guidance on existing funding mechanisms for startups in the region and includes an annex of focal directions for innovators and projects entering the field.
The synopsis was developed under the Global Disruptive Tech Challenge: Restoring Landscapes in the Aral Sea Region, organized with the support of the Central Asia Water and Energy Program (CAWEP) – a multi-donor Trust-Fund financed by the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The Challenge is administered by the World Bank and will inform the Resilient Landscape Program in Central Asia RESILAND CA +, currently under preparation. It is implemented by the Kazakh- German University (DKU), the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) and Plug and Play (P&P).
