Moroccan Startup Transforms Desert into Sustainable Farmland

Sand to Green is initiating the agricultural revolution in the desert. Wissal Ben Moussa, its co-founder and Director of Agriculture, explains to CNN that this Moroccan startup is able to transform a plot of desert into a sustainable and profitable plantation in five years. "Desertification is the future of many countries today. Our solution is to use agroforestry to create a new type of sustainable agriculture capable of withstanding climate change," she adds, noting that the system can be deployed anywhere near a source of brackish water, which the startup desalinates using solar technology. A variety of fruit trees and aromatic herbs are then planted in the same space - a practice known as intercropping. The system allows their roots to be drip-irrigated directly with the desalinated water to minimize evaporation.

Sand to Green uses what it calls "green manure," a mixture including compost, biochar - a form of charcoal that can help arid soils retain water - and microorganisms that help the soil "wake up," to regenerate the soil. This technique allows some herbs to be ready for harvest in just two years. The startup has tested a variety of plants in search of the most efficient ones as part of a five-hectare pilot trial conducted in southern Morocco since 2017. "My three favorite trees are the carob, the fig and the pomegranate," says Ben Moussa. "They are endemic to the regions where we want to deploy, have high added value in terms of the product, but they are also very resistant."

Today, Sand to Green is working to move to a 20-hectare commercial experimentation site, also in southern Morocco. A project that requires funding of around 450,000 euros ($475,000) and could generate financial benefits in about five years. "With this system, we create biodiversity, which means better soil, healthier crops and higher yields. Our plantation can generate 1.5 times more yield and therefore more revenue than a monoculture plantation in the same area," assures the startup manager, stating that once commercialized, each plot will be divided into plantations that will constitute a "green investment".

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Techniques that make Sand to Green proud. The startup says its techniques could be used in countries such as Mauritania, Senegal, Namibia, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, certain regions of the United States and the Mexican coast. "We can go anywhere in the world as long as we have access to brackish water. [...] The good news is that there is a lot of it along the coastal areas," Ben Moussa enthuses.