An organic vegetable grower in Egypt has remained committed to sustainable farming practices despite a lack of governmental support for environmentally responsible agriculture.
Khalil Nasrallah, co-founder of Wadi Food, a network of organic farms that produce more than 300 products including olives, pickles, pasta sauces and honey, is passionate about sustainable farming. But he told the Egypt Independent that most sustainable farming techniques are not cost-effective in Egypt. Organic certification, compost and fertilizers are expensive, he said. And the government incentivizes oil, not clean energy tools.
“You’re at a disadvantage if you try to use sustainable energy,” he told the newspaper.
Case in point: Wadi Food currently uses diesel fuel to pump water for irrigation, largely because the Egyptian government subsidizes it, according to the newspaper. The company, however, is so committed to sustainability that it’s still planning to transition to a solar-powered irrigation pump.
The farm combats pests by hanging cardboard satchels filled with Trichogramma wasp eggs over the tree branches. When they hatch, the female wasps destroy pest populations by inserting their own eggs into the eggs of other insects.
“It’s excellent,” Nasrallah told the newspaper. “It’s better than anything we’ve ever used, and it’s better than pesticide. It’s fully organic and it’s cheaper.”
The company also breeds Egyptian tortoises in an effort to save the endangered species. And it operates an environmental science center on one of its properties to educate youth about renewable energy and waste management. The center’s goal is to instill a sense of environmental responsibility in young Egyptian citizens.
An educational center such as the one run by Wadi Food is not in demand right now among Egyptians, Nasrallah told the newspaper. But he said he hopes over time it will increase in popularity.
“Egypt has a lot of issues to deal with,” Nasrallah told the newspaper. “We are limited in land and water, and both are being abused. Our number one priority should be to save what we have.”
Main photo credit: julie gibbons/Flickr