Palmaculture is a new name for an old concept – one which helped green the Middle East with traditional palm gardens called bustans For centuries now date palm groves have been present in the hot deserts of MENA stretching from Morocco in the west to Yemen in the south. Indeed these man-made ecosystems have been […]
Sturdy wild wheat and barley are essential for humanity’s survival. New study shows we are losing genetic diversity Israel’s wild wheat and barley are known to be the ancestors of our modern grains. When Man cultivated them, their genetic resistance to drought and disease carried over to cultivated varieties. This aided mankind’s struggle to grow […]
10,000 years after inventing agriculture, will we 7 billion take this strange next step?
A brilliant new online farming system in Egypt allows city dwellers to become reacquainted with their agrarian roots without leaving their urban comfort zone. Egyptian urbanites who have a desire to grow their own food but lack the farming skills now have access to a brilliant new remote farming system that has both an online […]
This image taken in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia shows irrigation canals being dug by the agricultural firm owned by Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi. Last week BBC News reported that 70,000 indigenous people have been forced to relocate in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia to new villages that lack adequate resources for […]
Greensoil, an investment firm from Canada will fund Israeli agritech companies with a reported $12 million. Cash from Canada will be funding clean technology companies in Israel. A new Canadian fund called Greensoil looks to build Israeli agritech companies with the launch of a $12 million CAN fund. Greensoil investors say they will invest in […]
Bee colony collapse disorder is a worldwide phenomenon decimating bee colonies worldwide. Bees, you see, are pretty important. Without them much of our food can’t be pollinated. And the true reason why America lost about one third of its bees last year is largely unknown. Some believe it’s because there is lack of pollen as […]
If you have lost faith in earth architecture, take note: Yemen's Manhattan of the desert, Shibam, boasts 400 habitable clay towers!
Before now, the environment has been glaringly absent from Egypt’s political agenda, but our friends over at Almasry Alyoum have compiled a fantastic list of would-be parliamentarians who seek to change that. Until now, the environment has never been on Egypt’s political agenda, but today’s parliamentary elections – albeit fraught with undue complexity and fears […]
Water shortages don’t bode well for agriculture in the Middle East, but a new rice variety developed in India could change all that! Lack of water is a serious problem in the Middle East. It is felt in Egypt, where even the fertile valley of old can no longer feed a growing nation, in Gulf […]
Green-fingered activists will be flocking to Jordan to attend the tenth International Permaculture Conference this September The bustling city of Amman and sweeping red sands of Wadi Rum in Jordan will be hosting the International Permaculture conference this month. The theme of the event is ‘Plan Jordan – Water’ which is rather apt considering that […]
See how permaculture is spreading across Israel during an international tour at the end of September. Permaculture, or the sustainable use of land and agriculture, has thankfully been spreading across the Middle East in recent years. Permaculture farms have sprouted seeds in Palestine, grassroots permaculture initiatives have popped up in urban settings such as Jerusalem, […]
Qatar is hoping to boost its food security by setting up 1,400 agricultural farms covering an area of 45,000 hectares Following the recent news that the United Arab Emirates is slowly embracing organic farming, are more signs that the Gulf States are slowly recognising the importance of food sustainability. Qatar has announced plans to establish […]
The verdant valleys in the Toubkal National Park stand in stark contrast to the dry, red mountain sides. After my last visit to Toubkal National Park in Morocco’s high Atlas Mountains, where I ungracefully scrambled to the summit of its namesake in order to prove to myself and the world that I am cool enough […]
The EU has banned 10% of Egyptian agricultural products after linking that country to the devastating E. coli outbreak that killed 49 people earlier this year. The European Union has linked the May/June E. coli outbreak that killed 49 people to produce grown in Egypt. Following a dedicated probe, officials concluded that a shipment of […]