SL: Greenhouse growing

[DRACO]

EXCLUSIVE: Pioneering project in Somaliland delivers first harvest of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers - all grown using only sea water


A ground-breaking project to grow vegetables with seawater has produced its first harvest in Somaliland, green tech start-up Seawater Greenhouse announced today.

The UK start-up has reaped a successful crop of lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions from the 'greenhouse' - a shade net covered with cardboard pads. Seawater is trickled over the pads to keep the air damp and cool for the plants, cutting the need for irrigation by up to 90 per cent.
The remaining water for the plants comes from an on-site desalination plant - the first in the country - powered by solar.

The Somaliland set-up, Seawater Greenhouse's first in the Horn of Africa, adapts the start-up's design from similar projects in Australia, Abu Dhabi and Oman, in particular by replacing glass panels in the greenhouse with netting. This cuts costs tenfold compared to previous projects and is better suited to Somaliland's climate, Seawater Greenhouse said.

Seawater Greenhouse's founder and director Charlie Paton said the setup will not only act as a vital food source for local people, but could also provide a scalable solution for water-stressed sites around the world. "Water shortages are a global crisis that is worsening dramatically," he said. "So is land degradation. This represents a scalable model that could be taken anywhere there is limited or no fresh water."

Paton now wants to expand the project from one to five hectares, but needs to find local investors willing to back the scheme. "This project's ongoing success is going to be dependent on local ownership," he said.

 

[DRACO]

 

[RasCanjero-]

Seawater greenhouse concept is a great idea but the concept hasn't been tested in Somalia yet.

Their current pilot project is too small to test if the system is viable.

Then again if you could add wind turbines to it then it might work.

 

[Shushue]

Desalination is pretty expensive. I dont see anyone making profit unless there is industrial scale mass production for exports.

Otherwise i cant see it paying for itself as the food for only somalilanders, unless of course these are very rich people....

 

[Descendent-Of-Fiqi]

I went on their website and they only take direct donations, it doesn't mention anything about "Financial investors". Which is pretty shady for a company.

https://www.sgsomaliland.com/take-action

Are you sure this isn't a scam, that's using malnourished Somalis as a source of income?

 

[LittleNileRiver]

Reading the construction blog for this site! Very interesting!

Construction Completed
November 7, 2017


Written by Christopher Rothera



I am delighted that, seven months since first arriving into Somaliland to start this journey, we have successfully completed the construction of the Seawater Greenhouse Somaliland compound. The local team, headed up by our rising star Abdihakiim Mohamed Riraash, has taken up the mantel of Seawater Greenhouse Somaliland and begun the horticultural work and daily operations. Seawater Greenhouse UK and local partners PENHA are managing the progress and logistics and we look forward to our first harvest in a few months! Abdihakiim is operating the desalination system, powered by sunlight, which is the first of its kind in the entire Horn of Africa. With this desalination system, coupled with our evaporative cooling technology, we have brought restorative agriculture to the coast of Somaliland; slowly but surely the green is going to return around our site.

The concept

The final product

The Team

https://seawatergreenhouse.com/construction-blog/

 

[LittleNileRiver]

CONTINUED

The final construction tasks


THE EVAPORATOR WALLS
The last major job was to erect the four evaporator walls on both greenhouses. These evaporator walls are made up of specialised corrugated card pads that become drenched in seawater. The hot dry wind of the local environment comes through these evaporator walls, picks up the rapidly evaporating moisture and enters the greenhouses as water vapour. The salt meanwhile concentrates on the evaporator walls and drains into waiting tanks beneath the walls, to eventually be turned into sea salt. The presence of this water vapour inside the Seawater Greenhouses raises the humidity inside to 99% and drops the temperature from 45 degrees to 25 degrees, creating an optimised environment ‘oasis effect’ to grow our crops.

Getting the pads out

Lining 'em all up

The first few pads getting put up!

And they just kept on coming

Evaporator wall ready for action

Filling up nicely

Oh so satisfying

Keeping it cool

Up close and personal

Soaked through

https://seawatergreenhouse.com/construction-blog/

 

[LittleNileRiver]

CONTINUED

SETTING UP THE SALT SHED
Once the evaporator walls were finished we turned our attention to the Salt Shed. Up until now, it had effectively been used as a storage shed for our final materials and tools. After clearing out these final bits, organising them and finding them new homes within the compound, we brought in the salt evaporator trays and prepared the building.

Clearing out the Salt Shed

Didn't take too long

And just like that, here comes the salt

Beautiful, beautiful salt

Salt must be cleaned you know

The first Seawater Greenhouse Somaliland sea salt, bagged, sealed and ready for your meal

https://seawatergreenhouse.com/construction-blog/

 

[LittleNileRiver]

CONTINUED

HANDING OVER TO OUR LOCAL TEAM
Charlie Paton and Karl Fletcher spent time with Abdihakiim, giving support and final training for the day to day operations of the site, setting up the growing plan with him, and laying out support and managing system to ensure Abdihakiim has access to all the help he needs to ensure a smooth start.

Imparting some SG wisdom

Going over the RO system

The office is ready



This Seawater Greenhouse compound, we hope, is the first of many more to come. It brings about so much potential for change, not just in the country of Somaliland but on a global stage, to provide food, jobs and security. The long term goal is for this humble 1 hectare compound to be a stepping stone to major expansion and kick start a new industry of agriculture in the region, the rest of Africa and beyond. It all starts with a single seed.

Transplanting the crops

The team getting stuck in it!

Big, Bushy and oh so green!

Oh look, a cucumber!

https://seawatergreenhouse.com/construction-blog/

 

[Bernie Madoff]

Mashallah this is good news