Who Would Have Expected This?
According to Al-Monitor, The Pulse of the Middle East, the daily newsletter summarizing reports from Middle Eastern nations, including Israel, the southern Sinai Peninsula--once a thriving tourist resort, surrounded by stretches of dry desert--is now dotted with world-class organic farms.
These farms, that continue to expand, supply vegetables and herbs for both locals and tourists in the Red Sea towns of Taba, Nuweiba, Dehab, and Sharm El-Sheikh.
How Did This Happen?
After the January 25, 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's multi-billion dollar tourism sector plunged, suffering 90% losses. Earlier, in 2007, Maged El-Said, a tourism investor living and operating in South Sinai since 1989, had decided to start an organic farm. Although he raked in millions of dollars from tourism investments, he was dissatisfied, wanting a sustainable, environmentally friendly business. People thought him crazy for attempting such a venture.
He noted that during the Israeli occupation of the Sinai the Israeli government had developed a 400-acre agricultural estate--presently, its irrigation system in ruins and thousands of trees dying. Nevertheless, from this Israeli farm produce was exported, even flowers to The Netherlands.
A Model Organic Farm Transforming the South Sinai Region
Habiba Organic Farm, El-Said's two-acres in Nuweiba, a Red Sea town 40 miles from the Israeli border, with the help of universities and NGO partnerships, now serves as a model for Egypt's South Sinai. The farm demonstrates how an entire region can transform itself via sound organic farming practices in the desert.
A Demeter-Certified Biodynamic Farm
In 2012, the Habiba Organic Farm (HOF) began selling its organic products as Demeter-certified. Demeter International is the certification organization for biodynamic agriculture and a top organic certifier worldwide. The farm was officially registered with the Egyptian Center of Organic Agriculture and declared one of the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.
Developing a Self-Sustaining Society
A regional organism develops where
- Crops can be used to feed cattle and chickens on neighboring farms
- A free-range chicken farm supplies neighboring farms with chicken excrement to use as organic fertilizer
El-Said that others now see the wisdom of organic farming. Eniz Eneizan, a powerful leader of the Tarabyn tribe in South Sinai, has turned his farms organic. El-Said says,
But our major success was seeing the tribal leaders of South Sinai adopt the idea and open their lands to it.
An Organic Community
Blooms in the Desert
May Many More Bloom in Deserts Throughout the World
And in Your Neighborhood!
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