Sustainable intensification of agriculture in the Horn of Africa

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The project will develop an integrated agricultural enterprise that is both profitable and sustainable in the arid conditions of the Horn of Africa. Traditional agriculture is marginal and risky in this climate because it is generally too hot, too windy and there is a shortage of fresh water. As a consequence, evaporation exceeds rainfall by a large factor and crop yields are low. The project will overcome these obstacles with a low cost shade net structure to protect the crops from the extremes of wind and solar radiation and which is cooled and humidified with seawater, using the prevailing wind to drive the evaporative cooling process. Brackish ground water will be treated by reverse osmosis, powered by solar PV to provide irrigation and drinking water. The pilot will be built near Berbera in Somaliland and managed by a local team with support from the UK. Once demonstrated, the technology will be scaled up and replicated locally and in other hot, arid coastal regions.