At the intersection of space technology, agritech, and sustainability, Ancestral Technologies is redefining how humanity can grow food in the world’s most challenging environments. The company’s flagship project, Kolonize, was developed in Chile’s Atacama Desert—the driest place on Earth—and is now poised to contribute to the UAE’s Food Security Strategy 2051 by enabling local food production under extreme desert conditions.
Led by Patricio Arias, Ancestral Technologies is pioneering a model of climate-resilient agriculture that transforms environmental adversity into technological opportunity. With collaborations that include Syngenta, Corteva, and even a Letter of Intent with NASA, the company is bringing its frontier innovation from Earth’s deserts to new horizons—potentially even beyond our planet.
Kolonize was designed for food production in extreme environments. How do you see this solution contributing to the UAE’s food security agenda?
Kolonize is fundamental to the UAE’s food resilience, as it directly addresses the country’s primary vulnerability—agricultural production in an arid climate. By enabling local food production in extreme environments, Kolonize aligns perfectly with the two core pillars of the National Food Security Strategy 2051:
- Increasing domestic production (with the goal of achieving 50% self-sufficiency), and
- Fostering technological innovation (AgTech).
Our solution serves as a strategic enabler that turns the UAE’s climatic challenges into cutting-edge technological capability—directly supporting national initiatives such as “Plant the Emirates.”
What lessons from your work with clients like Syngenta and Corteva can be applied to desert agriculture initiatives in the Gulf?
Our experience working with global leaders such as Syngenta and Corteva in extreme environments like the Atacama Desert has provided two critical lessons relevant to the Gulf:
- Operational resilience must come before automation. Ensuring continuous crop production in arid environments—where failure is not an option—is the key priority.
- Data security and full traceability are essential. They transform each desert agriculture project into a scalable, auditable investment asset, providing the intelligence needed for strategic decision-making.
These principles ensure that agricultural innovation in the Gulf is both reliable and investable.
You signed a Letter of Intent with NASA for crop trials. How does that collaboration position the company globally?
Our collaboration with NASA is a powerful validation that significantly enhances our global profile. It has a dual strategic impact:
First, it integrates us into an elite network of scientific and deep-tech innovation. Solutions validated in such extreme environments don’t just represent progress—they have the potential to become game-changers for terrestrial agriculture.
Second, NASA’s endorsement provides exceptional technical credibility, which strengthens our standing with governments and investors around the world. It’s a major step toward positioning Ancestral Technologies as a global reference in space-inspired agricultural innovation.
How scalable is Kolonize for large commercial farming operations in arid regions such as the Middle East?
We believe we are highly competitive for Middle Eastern operations, based on the technological maturity we developed in the Atacama Desert—the driest and most irradiated place on the planet.
There, we have successfully transformed small communities into key agricultural suppliers for major local industries such as SQM mining. We believe this model is replicable in the Gulf, enabling local communities to participate in regional food production ecosystems.
What kind of partnerships are you seeking in the UAE (research, investment, pilot projects)?
Our roadmap in the Middle East follows a threefold acceleration strategy:
- We seek deep-tech alliances that connect our R&D with brilliant minds tackling similar challenges—including space agriculture.
- We are looking for our first investors to help us accelerate and refine our technological roadmap.
- Most importantly, we aim for sustainable growth through client acquisition, staying close to breakeven—because in the desert, as I like to say, you must be more like a camel than a unicorn.
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