Located on the Sinai Desert’s western coast near the city of Ras Sidr is a unique example of environmental integration. Set El Hosn eco-farm is a 30-feddan plot of previously barren desert that has been transformed into a 100 percent organic olive plantation and palm tree orchard.

Philip Bishay, the owner of the eco-farm, says he began the project almost 14 years ago when he first got the piece of land. “It was a complete desert with no water sources whatsoever,” Bishay recalls. Now it is an environmentally friendly, self-sustaining, job-creating business with plans to expand into eco-tourism.

Set El Hosn is a living example of what environmentalists call permaculture — the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems in rural and urban landscapes. These systems have the diversity, stability and strength of natural ecosystems. It is a movement that experts say could be the solution for not just Egypt’s environmental issues but also some of its economic issues as well.

“Permaculture environments mimic the structure, function and productivity of natural ecosystems. They combine different environmental disciplines into one system to create a culture of sustainability,” says Dominique De Bruin, a South African permaculture consultant and environmentalist who moved to Cairo after the revolution.

De Bruin explains it is a multi-disciplinary approach to creating living environments, incorporating green architecture, space-efficient food gardening and farming and maximum water efficiency. It also creates alternative energy systems, clean transport solutions, primary health care, environmental rehabilitation and new economic models.

Preparing for the Crunch
Amid political debates about Nile water rights and the threat of global-warming induced flooding of the North Coast, environmental sustainability is of immediate concern to the nation.

“We have unfortunately created a world where we go about things very stupidly and waste an enormous amount of energy,” says De Bruin.

“And this is part of the reason why we find ourselves in very dramatic and dire consequences of hunger, global water impoverishment, global financial-system collapse, massive air, water and ground pollution and devastating changes to our climate. It is a form of large scale mass psychosis that is going to kill us.”

De Bruin notes that Egypt is one of the top four countries vulnerable to climate change. Experts predict that a one-meter rise in ocean level, considered imminent within the next 30 years, will immediately create 8 million climate refugees in Egypt and cause the loss of 40 percent of the nation’s agriculture capacity — catastrophic in a country that already imports 40 percent of its food.

“As the crunch comes and we start facing energy blackouts and shortages, water rationing and food rationing, I think there will be a rapid shift to complete sustainability techniques,” De Bruin says, “It will not come without suffering; a lot of people are going to be thirsty and hungry and a lot of people will face hard times.”

De Bruin explains that the application and promotion of permaculture will come a long way in helping devastated communities get back up on their feet. The more we invest in sustainability today, the better off we will be when the ‘crunch’ comes.

Set El Hosn 
(Lady of Beauty)
The Set El Hosn eco-farm is a good example of how permaculture can turn a previously uninhabitable place into a local economy and a means of alleviating poverty.

“We brought in permaculture experts such as the Australian Bill Mollison [founder of the movement] to help us design a modern and sustainable system of agriculture.” Bishay recalls.

The eco-farm sources its energy needs from renewable sources. Bishay says, “In our farm we have installed solar water heaters as well as solar energy, and very soon we will also erect wind turbines.”

By planting suitable crops, the team negated the need for fertilizers and pesticides thus preserving the quality of the soil and providing clean organic produce. These techniques gave the plantation a life expectancy of well over 1,000 years, ensuring continuity of the project.

Bishay believes there is more potential for community development once the plantation is expanded and can branch into the processing business, such as producing olive oil. There are also long-term plans to open a small lodge for eco-tourism. By adding some animal-rearing facilities, the farm can supply the lodge’s food, providing a model for a sustainable local economy. And, of course, each phase of expansion helps create employment for the local community.

The Set El Hosn founder is also trying to instill a sense of environmental stewardship through the farm’s permaculture training center, open to whoever is interested. “We aim to train young people on the sustainable methods of agriculture so that they can have their own projects and contribute to the economy while preserving the environment,” says Bishay
 

Gradual, Steady Steps
Permaculture’s first level of application comes on the individual level.

“The most significant thing, especially for urban [dwellers], is simply changing our behavior; these are what I call environmental ABCs,” says De Bruin. “I am not rushing off and saying that everyone should have an organic food garden on their rooftop. […] What is of much more pertinence is to take responsibility for your personal impact.”

De Bruin gives practical examples such as switching off electrical appliances you don’t use, and as your old appliances wear out, replace them with energy-efficient models. It could be as simple as turning off the tap when you brush your teeth or when you shave. In the shower, use a bucket to collect the cold water that precedes the hot water, and use this for one flush of the toilet. Install a solar water heater, which facilitates massive energy savings.

“Individually, these efforts don’t seem like much,” he says, “but when you have [20] million Cairenes doing it, the impact is massive.”

The second level of application comes on the local and community levels — area clean-ups and garbage recycling can be implemented not just in neighborhoods but in individual buildings as well. “In many places around the world, people cooperate on the building level,” De Bruin explains. “They mobilize and organize themselves to possibly install clean energy systems and solar heaters, energy efficient light bulbs, create shopping clusters to buy food and where local farmers can sell their produce.

“Cairo actually has an enormous amount of empty land plots — these should be utilized for permaculture,” he continues. “In many places around the world, groups of city dwellers will actually get together and either rent plots from farmers or buy small plots outside of the city and collectively grow food.”

The third and final level of permaculture application needs to happen at the national and international policy level. De Bruin uses transportation as an example of how government policy can promote environmental awareness alongside investment.

“In many countries, there has been a complete restructuring of the transport infrastructure in the cities, [for example, creating] toll roads and taxes for private cars, even more so if it’s only one passenger per car,” he says. “They put an extra tax on petrol and diesel, which then gets used to subsidize electric cars or converting normal cars to hybrid systems.”

The most important thing that the nation needs to change, according to De Bruin, is its farming methods. “Egypt needs to convert to organic and sustainable agriculture. The current farming practices are having a devastating effect on the carrying capacity and quality of the soil.”

In addition, groundwater supplies are increasing in salinity and toxicity, leading to health and financial consequences, the environmentalist notes.

Similarly, Egypt cannot meet its growing energy demand using fossil fuel sources, so there has to be a shift to sustainable energy provision. In the model of permaculture, making these changes would be a coordinated effort among the relevant ministries.

Prioritizing
But it is not only policy makers that bear the responsibility; such endeavors require true commitment and willpower by the country’s people. De Bruin explains that, in most cases, environmental legislation in Egypt does exist, but it’s a matter of enforceability.

 “It’s a case of building capacity within the [Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs] to develop succinct policy and delivery in partnership with the other ministries and departments. [...] The people must hold their governments accountable,” he says.

 The problem is that ordinary Egyptians still can’t make the connection between the well being of the environment and the effects it has on their health and financial and social status. To the majority of the poverty-stricken population, the environment is not at all a priority.

“I think, in Egypt, the large-scale adoption of [environmental] techniques will come through necessity rather than a shift in consciousness,” says De Bruin. “Yes there are a number of people growing more aware and more concerned about the some of the issues […] Unfortunately, these are often sideline academics who are, by and large, ignored by policy makers.”

Pointing to the contacts he has made working here, De Bruin says the nation has good prospects in many environmental fields. “I have encountered really good initiatives all around Egypt that could form little components under the permaculture umbrella. There are examples of really good organic farms in Egypt. Also, there is aquaculture such as water farming and fisheries, clean-energy initiatives, sustainable or green/natural buildings as well as good examples of urban design and appropriate technology development.”

A Token Ministry
However, as good as these initiatives may be, without clear-cut government support, it will be very difficult to protect the environment that the country’s survival so heavily depends on.

It is the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs that is the sole body responsible for protecting and maintaining the environment. On its website is a link to the “Egypt State of the Environment Report 2009 (New).” The report is nearly 400 pages and 16 chapters long and is the sixth edition in a series of annual publications describing the environmental problems facing the country and the ministry’s achievements in curbing them.

In a July oped in Al-Masry Al-Youm, Waleed Mansour, a program specialist at the UN-affiliated Regional Center for Disaster Risk Reduction (RCDRR) in Cairo, wrote, “The environmental parameters produced by the ministry, known as the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), reflect a very encouraging situation in Egypt at a time when all the sensors should be ringing the alarm. This in itself reflects the poor quality of the ministry’s reports.”

This comes as no surprise given that the top environment post has always been considered a retirement gift for army generals such as the current Minister Maged George. Instead of recruiting experienced environmental professionals who could tackle the problems, the regime has always treated the environment portfolio as a token ministry. As much as the ministry’s reports may fall short of delivering the whole truth, what they did deliver fell on deaf ears.

“Considering all of the […] problems with Egypt’s environmental protection, we should now try to discover how to pave the way for a more sustainable future,” Mansour recommends. “To do so, the EEAA must be utterly revamped, integrated into Egypt’s political transition.”

If that happens, the government may be in a position to start learning the lessons of Set El Hosn and taking advantage of holistic solutions such as permaculture. 

We have unfortunately created a world where we go about things very stupidly and waste an enormous amount of energy […] It is a form of large-scale mass psychosis that is going to kill us.et