‘Schaduf’ sets up rooftop urban farms for low-income families in Egypt

Photographer: Sherif Hosny.

Eventually, Schaduf aims to set up a small farmers market at a neighborhood sporting club where the urban farmers can sell their “made in Maadi” produce.

By Megan Detrie
Egypt Indenpedent
Feb 7, 2012

Excerpt:

On a small rooftop in a residential building in Maadi, Sherif Hosny has swapped satellite dishes for hydroponics to grow crops using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil. And he hopes to soon do the same to rooftops in surrounding lower-income areas.

The name of this micro-agriculture initiative, “Schaduf,” refers to a simple tool composed of a long suspended pole maintained by a weight at one end and equipped with a bucket attached at the other to lift water.

Hosny and his brother Tarek launched Schaduf in September to create a second source of income for low-earning families through micro-urban gardens. The company plans to install hydroponic growing systems on roofs in the poorer neighborhoods surrounding Maadi.

Schaduf will provide the newly appointed urban farmers with technical training and cheap supplies. Hydroponic systems fertilize plants with mineral nutrient solutions and the water used for irrigation is recycled. The plants are grown through “vertical farming,” where a single irrigation line feeds feeds multiple shelves of produce.

Soil-less agriculture systems use water that is recycled through a closed irrigation system and thus cut water and pesticide usage to near zero, lowering growing costs and creating healthier food. On the test site in Maadi, Hosny is growing lettuce, chicory and herbs. He believes it’s possible to fit up to 75 heads of lettuce on a square meter of shelving, but says they are still determining the optimal space needed between plants.

All of the products used from the wooden frames, the perelite (a soil conditioner), the peat moss to the tarps are locally manufactured. Schaduf has already received enough donations to set up three rooftop farms and is working with local NGOs to find families who are interested and have the appropriate amount of space.

“Maadi is separated by a single street from neighborhoods with narrow streets, dirt roads and lots of alleys, and there’s a real interest in those areas for people looking for more income,” Hosny said.

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