Desert Garden
Speakers: Professor Tony Ryan OBE - Director of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures
Dr Moaed Al Meselmani - Researcher in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Sheffield
Date: Thursday 11 March 2021, 6pm
You can watch the webinar recording below
Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan is a UNHCR safe haven for 80,000 refugees from the Syrian war. It’s full of former farmers, so our speaker, Professor Tony Ryan expected it to be green – but it’s not. Poor soil, sandy & salty, with little organic matter, water restrictions and local rules that don’t allow permanent structures (including planting in the ground) making desert based Za’atari a tough place to grow plants.
The camp is very resource-efficient, having the most effective plastics recycling scheme in Jordan, but there was a hidden waste problem. Used polyurethane foam mattresses, piling up in a warehouse, which couldn't be recycled. These held the solution to the planting problem.
At the University of Sheffield we were already working on soil-free, hydroponic food production, growing plants in special polyurethane foam so we immediately recognised that repurposing the waste mattresses could allow refugees to grow their own fresh food. We have worked with the camp residents to develop low-tech hydroponic systems for herbs, vegetables, fruits and leafy greens using chunks of recycled mattresses in drain pipes and yoghurt pots and refugees were trained in hydroponic techniques. As conventional toilers of the soil, they couldn’t believe it at first – but now they’ve transformed the desert into a garden.
In close collaboration with the UNHCR, we have now trained more than 1,000 refugees, including over 400 women, in hydroponic techniques. Initially one of our webinar speakers, Dr Moaed Al Meselmani, did the training – but now we have trained refugee trainers, the diffusion of this knowledge is self-sustaining.
The benefits of the project have been gauged by interviewing over 500 of the participants, asking about the utility of the training and whether they can, and will, use what they have learned to produce fresh fruit and vegetables. The co-creation approach also means that scientists have learned from the refugees how to use PU foam in real-world conditions and in harsh environments. There are other benefits too. Training for young people, who would otherwise have no access to further education, provides future employment opportunities. Skills in hydroponics not only enable food production, but also provide food of cultural significance and connections to their homeland. But our most enduring collective achievement is boosting mental health by delivering the colour green.
After starting in Za’atari, we are engaged in Azraq camp and urban areas, including Mafraq and Ruwaished. This brings benefits to Jordanians as well as refugees, as urban hydroponic systems are designed to overcome challenges of limited natural and financial resources. This work is about using science to improve people’s lives, empowering refugees with new skills that they can apply in innovative ways, and doing things that scientists might never have considered.
