by Allan C'oredo, Awesome Blossoms Project Manager, and Leslie Janoe, AWC Amsterdam
The world’s population is predicted to grow to nearly 10 billion people by 2050, and the challenge to feed this growing population is magnified by climate change. The sub-Saharan regions of Africa are particularly vulnerable due to persistent drought and poverty.
As croplands dry, people are migrating from rural areas into already overcrowded cities. Slum areas in Nairobi, Kenya are characterized by:
- high population density: 500,000 people living in an area of approximately 3 square kilometres
- poor sanitation
- lack of clean water: around 50% of households in Nairobi’s Mathare slum rely on water from unsafe sources, including streams and shallow wells, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever.
- inadequate access to nutritious food
The lack of access to sustainable farming practices and water resources exacerbates these problems, leading to food insecurity, low income, gender inequality and exploitation, particularly for women and girls.
Using hydroponic urban farming, FAWCO’s Target 5 Project, Awesome Blossoms, is working to create a solution to these environmental and economic/social problems in Nairobi’s harsh slum environment. In this project, Safe Spaces Organization (SSO), a girls’ and women’s education and empowerment program, will build organic hydroponic urban farms at three schools and support them with a Center of Expertise.
The Awesome Blossoms Project aims to create an environmentally and economically sustainable model that can be duplicated and tailored for other slums. It will:
- advance food security by making fresh vegetables available in the slums and to school lunch programs
- strengthen women’s economic autonomy by training and enabling 75 community women micro-entrepreneurs to own their own gardens
- help fund SSO empowerment programs
- teach nutrition and environmental care
Why Hydroponics?
Hydroponics is a form of agriculture that involves growing plants with little to no soil. Instead, the plants are grown in a nutrient-rich solution that provides everything the plant needs to grow. Hydroponics has numerous benefits, including higher yields, efficient use of water and space, and reduced environmental impact.
Hydroponic systems vary in complexity and design, but all have the same basic principles. Plants are grown in a medium that supports the roots and holds the nutrient solution, which is circulated to the roots. The nutrient solution contains all the essential minerals and nutrients the plant needs to grow. The plants absorb the nutrients directly from the solution, resulting in faster growth and higher yields.
One of the main advantages of hydroponics is that it uses significantly less water than traditional soil-based farming. In a hydroponic system, water is recirculated and reused, reducing water usage by up to 90%. This is particularly beneficial in slums, where traditional farming is not viable due to water scarcity. Hydroponics further reduces the amount of water lost to evaporation.
Another advantage of hydroponics is that it allows farmers to grow crops in areas where traditional farming is not feasible due to poor soil quality or lack of arable land. In slums where soil is contaminated with toxins, hydroponic systems can provide a safe and clean environment for growing crops. This allows for fresh produce to be grown close to where it will be consumed, reducing transportation costs and emissions.
Hydroponics also offers a higher yield per square foot than traditional farming, making it an efficient use of limited space. Hydroponic systems can be set up vertically, allowing for multiple layers of crops to be grown in a single space. This means that hydroponic farms can produce more food per unit of land than traditional farms.
What is the Awesome Blossoms Project doing?
The Awesome Blossoms urban farming project is an initiative taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the negative impacts of climate change. SSO has experimented with both circular and vertical garden systems that have been specially designed to be productive and affordable for marginalized communities. Some of the other actions we have taken in a pilot project include:
- Increasing carbon sequestration in urban areas through planting of kales, spinach and cowpeas. Carbon sequestration refers to the process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) is removed from the atmosphere and stored in plants, soils, and other natural reservoirs. Carbon sequestration is an important tool in the fight against climate change, as it can help to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the environment. One acre of kales can sequester between 2 and 3 metric tons of carbon per year.
- Circular and vertical systems comparison: Based on its experimentation, Awesome Blossoms has found the vertical systems using coco chips as a base to be most productive and will be implementing these systems. A standard vertical system, using only 9 square meters, can accommodate 300 crops of seedlings and produce 150 kg of fresh lettuce in 55 days.
- Encouraging use of organic farming through use of Mexican marigold, a flowering plant native to Mexico and Central America: This plant has long been used for its medicinal properties, as well as for its ability to repel pests and improve soil health. Mexican marigold contains natural compounds that are toxic to many insect pests. By planting it around the perimeter of Awesome Blossoms’ pilot farm, we have significantly reduced pests and the need for synthetic pesticides.
- Encouraging use of sustainable farming through using organic fertilizer, a key component of sustainable farming: Our organic fertilizers are locally produced by Hydroponics Africa Limited, which supplies us with the vital elements of Hydro A and Hydro B. Hydro A and Hydro B are designed to be used together. Together, these contain macronutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and boron.
- Water conservation: Awesome Blossoms’ farm uses hydroponic food systems to conserve water in several ways compared to traditional soil-based agriculture.
- Plant water-efficient vegetables: Hydroponic systems have been optimized to grow water-efficient plants that require less water to grow, such as lettuce, spinach, kales and other leafy greens. For this type of crop, the system will use only 10.5 liters of water and 21 grams of nutrients/day.
Ultimately, Safe Spaces’ Awesome Blossoms Project seeks to use hydroponic systems supported by training and community mentoring to create a nutritional and environmental economic ecosystem that can be expanded and serve as a model for the “greening” of slums.
Photos courtesy of Awesome Blossoms
