Sustainable intensification of agriculture in the Horn of Africa

该项目将发展一个在非洲之角干旱条件下既有利可图又可持续的综合农业企业。在这种气候下，传统农业处于边缘地位，风险很大，因为通常太热，风太大，而且缺乏淡水。因此，蒸发量大大超过降雨量，作物产量很低。该项目将通过低成本的遮阳网结构来克服这些障碍，以保护作物免受极端的风和太阳辐射的影响，并利用海水进行冷却和加湿，利用盛行风来驱动蒸发冷却过程。微咸水将通过反渗透处理，由太阳能光伏发电提供灌溉和饮用水。试点项目将在索马里兰的柏培拉附近建造，由当地团队在英国的支持下管理。一旦得到展示，该技术将在当地和其他炎热干旱的沿海地区推广和复制。

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.