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Why
Growing vegetables, flowers or fodder for husbandry in urban and arid conditions can make good use of the space available along the outdoor walls of someone's house. If in total 6 meters wall lengthwise would be used for 4 sets trays above each other, about 8 square meter would become available for this purpose.
Collected waste water (quantity guess is 5 persons x 40 liters each = 200 liters daily available) could be used for watering the plants.
Techniques could be applied as used in modern greenhouse agriculture, as done by the Israeli in the Negev dessert. The general setup has to make a small scale use of these greenhouse techniques possible.
The work regarding controlling humidity, heat, nutrients, plant diseases and damage by insects can be done by people who stay home most of the time.
How
Trays, that hang from a wall holds pots with plants or seedlings in plastic bags. The trays are made out of bits of wood and sheet metal, about 30 cm wide and one meter long. The trays hang from the wall, using space as available, next to and above each other. Such trays are covered with plastic and can hold a thin layer of water. Waste water from the house is pumped up from a tank to the tray that is positioned highest. From there it runs slowly from one tray to an other, placed a little lower. See ClothPump for details on the pumping system
To protect and control temperture and humidity the set of trays is covered by transparent plastic, hanging down in front of the trays. This plastic can be easily removed to give access to the plants.
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External Links
Links related to Urban Agriculture
- Urban farming promoting project in Ethiopia related to the use of urine separating toilets
http://user.tninet.se/~gyt516c/ECOSAN.html
- Urban agriculture, information gathered by the Dutch 'Ode' magazine
http://www.ode.nl/odemagazine/mijn_ode/4archief/fmpro?-db=ode_com_art...
- The City Farmers of Africa by Diana Lee-Smith: the average productivity of urban farm plots in Kenya is higher than that of rural plots, and is highest in the capital at 9,000 k/ha.
http://www.unhabitat.org/HD/hdv5n1/regional.htm
- WastewaterUse in Urban Agriculture
Article appeared as a cover story in Environment & Development magazine (Arabic), Issue No. 60, March 2003. Written by Boghos Ghougassian, Coordinator of MECTAT, Lebanon
This article describes the reality of the use of (in most cases untreated) urban waste water for urban farming.
Description of the (not enforced) WHO-guidelines for use of waste water in urban farming.
http://www.mectat.com.lb/metopics/india/india.htm
- Living Machine
Water purification with the 'Living Machine'. A series of small biological environments coupled in a optimized way gives exellent purifcation results on a relative little area. This system needs tropical conditions for best result.
http://www.rps.psu.edu/0009/machine.html
http://www.dharmalivingsystems.com/livingmachines/index.php
- Nino a Nino, a project in Mexco, promoting gardening in slum areas
http://www.spraguephoto.com/imageresponse.lasso?id=8568
Picture: http://www.spraguephoto.com/stock/images/5500_5999/5655.jpg
- Let's Make This Clear: Vertical Farms Don't Make Sense. A review on Urban Farming, modernized in high urban buildings, stating that it could not be economically viable.
http://ecogeek.org/agriculture/2984-lets-make-this-clear-vertical-far...
- Food security by bag gardening in the slum area of Kibera/Nairobi, interesting article, argumentation and links:
http://innovatedevelopment.org/2014/03/30/vertical-farming-fighting-p...
- Also in Kerala/India peopole work on Vertical Farming. It looks more sofisticated then in Kibera:
http://mathrubhuminews.in/ee/ReadMore/4143/vertical-garden-becoming-c...
- This is how it actually works in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobo:
http://www.afrigadget.com/2008/09/04/innovations-in-a-slum-kibera-cas...
- Send us an email form about any relevant link, that should be added here
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