To improve food security for Bedouin communities in the Sinai, Habiba Community will build a 'Community Soil & Water Analysis Laboratory Service'. Regenerative, women-run backyard farms in the desertified Nuweiba region require accurate planning through scientific equipment and lab tests to 1) ensure maximum crop production 2) maximize water resources while preventing soil salinity 3) enhance local community food security and livelihoods, and 4) provide hands-on training to local female farmers.
Climate change is threatening the Sinai Peninsula's fragile ecosystem. Overgrazing, conventional agriculture, soil salinity, and soil biodiversity loss are exacerbating the problem and threatening food security in the local community. Om Eid is a widow who has been feeding her family with produce from her garden. She remembers how her father used to harvest juicy lemons, guavas, pomegranates, and figs, but this year the harvest has failed for unknown reasons! We need testing to understand why.
Habiba Community has been empowering women through regenerative practices for over a decade. But climate change and ecosystem degradation pose unprecedented challenges. Through the Laboratory Service, Habiba will be able to train local women farmers to find practical solutions to the soil, water, and pest problems they encounter in their backyard farms. Empowered female farmers are key to a regenerative agricultural community, healthy ecosystems, and the well-being of future generations.
Good quality water and healthy soils are the basis of agricultural productivity. With a Laboratory Service we will understand the challenges related to ecosystem degradation, water and soil and find effective solutions to radically improve the productivity of women-run food gardens. This enhanced productivity will ensure food security for 3,000 people, lead to new financial opportunities in local markets and help them break out of the poverty cycle while restoring healthy functioning ecosystems.
