Making Deserts Agriculture-Friendly

1. Sand to Green irrigates its plantations with desalinated seawater and brackish water, achieved using a reverse osmosis setup (which purifies via a partially permeable membrane that removes unwanted molecules) that runs on solar power. It also uses a drip technique that transports the water directly to a plant’s root system, reducing evaporation and subsequent loss in quantity.
   
   
2. While the start-up’s agroforestry strategy (where trees or shrubs are deliberately grown among crops) optimises production and output, it also creates carbon sinks – environments that absorb and therefore remove CO2 from the atmosphere. It also deliberately cultivates carbon-capturing fruits, nuts, cereals and aromatic fodder herbs on its estates.
   
   
3. Finally, Sand to Green uses agroforestry software to develop plantations designed specifically for arid land. It collects ground and satellite data daily, and closely monitors economic and ecological factors.
   
   

One of the start-up’s first projects is the domain of Nzaha, a 20-hectare agricultural farm in Morocco that produces organic fruit and vegetables suited to its environment. It’s also developing hundreds of hectares of fertile deserts in Morocco and elsewhere using its innovative agroforestry techniques.