Land Reclamation
Greening the desert: We aim to address the special needs of each country we are active in. In Egypt, for instance, arable land is needed, so we are particularly involved in land reclamation projects.
Widely spread problems of developing countries are the lack and decrease of fertile land and soil degradation due to chemical fertilizer application and inappropriate waste and crop residue management. As a result of intensive agricultural practices, using huge amounts of chemical fertilizers and pest and disease control agents, most soils are degraded and heavily depleted. Thus, farmers increasingly see themselves confronted with decreasing yields, increasing water consumption and various crop diseases.
Our goal is to bring back soil fertility and to develop new farming areas through land reclamation. In Egypt, for instance, we turn desert soil into arable land. We provide required know-how and produce high quality compost in order to help greening the desert. Only 2% of Egypt’s geographical surface is arable land, but the agricultural sector remains the third largest employer in Egypt. Therefore, land reclamation is one important step towards food and economic security.
Soil & More runs two composting facilities jointly with its local Egyptian partner, the Sekem Group. Sekem is one of Egypt’s largest producers of organic products for both exports and the local market. Due to increased demand for organic commodities in Egypt and internationally, Sekem has to expand its agricultural areas to meet the market requirements. In total, there are more than 8,000 acres of desert land adjacent to the Nile valley that needs to be developed until 2015.