CAIRO - 17 October 2022: Our Home Tree project to be participating in the coming COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, as an ambassador for Giza governorate after winning in a competition in the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects.
The "Our Home Tree" project won in the category of projects submitted by start-up companies. It will be representing Giza governorate next November during the COP27, with the aim of highlighting national efforts To deal with the environmental dimension and climate change, in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development.
About the project, Donia Ibrahim, a founding partner in "Our Home Tree", said that the project belongs to urban agriculture projects to develop the suburbs of villages, cities and neighborhoods by cultivating rooftops.
The project aims to increase the supply of food commodities to reduce their prices, in addition to providing many food items as well as providing direct and indirect job opportunities by involving the people of those areas in farming, harvesting, transferring crops, industrial works and recycling, which improves the economic status of these families.
How the project works
She explained that the project is characterized by its reliance on an automatic and mechanized irrigation system, where moisture "sensors" are used, and placed in each bale of rice straw to measure the moisture content in the bale.
She added that when a certain limit is reached, signals are sent to water pumps to pump water into the "hoses" that extend along the length of the bales in order to start drip irrigation, and when a certain level of humidity is reached, it is measured using moisture sensors as well, and then the pumps are closed, thus saving water and preserving the roots of the plant from rotting as a result of excessive water or drought.
Goals of the project
She indicated that, through the idea of the project, they aim to confront climate changes by increasing the agricultural area and cultivating roofs through an innovative smart system based on providing and making available the basic needs of agriculture. And this is conducted through the use of safe, environmentally-friendly materials, such as installing greenhouses made of environmentally friendly materials, and converting rice straw into soil.
In addition to this, the project relies on a modern smart irrigation system such as drip irrigation and the adoption of “moisture sensors” to automate the irrigation process and reduce water wastage, as well as follow up on surfaces with an electronic system that allows them to monitor and follow up on surfaces remotely 24 hours a day to maintain crops, reduce waste in agricultural crops, and produce abundant agricultural crops that generate high-quality income.
Applicability
She explained that what distinguishes their project is its applicability on the ground, as it works according to an easy and simple smart electronic system, which can be installed on any surface, in any house, region and governorate, according to different natural factors and climatic conditions.
She further stressed that rooftop cultivation is an integrated process that enables citizens economically and provides an economic return for female breadwinners in the most needy places, by involving them in the farming process after rehabilitating and training them on modern farming and irrigation systems, which is followed up by an integrated team of specialized engineers.
She confirmed that they are currently focusing on the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants; being one of the crops that achieve a great economic return and increase exports. They are currently working on cultivating nearly 100 rooftops with tomato crop in Ezbet Khayrallah in Dar El Salam district, south of Cairo.
There are partnership and ways of cooperation with the presidential developmental initiative "Haya Karima" to bring their project to the poorest and needy villages, and start cultivating the roofs of houses that have been rehabilitated and provide job opportunities for their citizens.
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