Can Hydroponics Save Egypt’s Farming Industry? This Green Startup Thinks It Can
We paid this innovative farm’s founder Omar El-Etriby a visit to find out exactly how and why he’s on the cusp of revolutionising Egypt’s third largest industry.
As part of a new series, The Green Scene, we’re highlighting regional startups whose core values are rooted in eco-practices.
On the outskirts of Cairo, breathes a 45-acre farm, which is one of the partner farms of ElMazr3a, a green startup run by entrepreneur Omar El-Etriby. Boasting 400 unique product lines provided by its 35 export farms within Egypt, ElMazr3a is an online farm produce marketplace.
To film with El-Etriby, we voyaged to this state-of-the-art farm that runs on the magic of hydroponics: a technique for growing plants in water, instead of soil and one that uses 20% times less water than traditional farming. Over that last 12 months, it has made over 13,000 deliveries across the country.
“We started off as a mango farm delivering to friends and family, and then out business grew and we became a website and these are one of some of the items that we deliver,” says El-Etriby pointing at one of the lettuces soaking in the hydroponic installation, which he later devours. “As we all know there are some issues with the agricultural market in Egypt, and sometimes, stuff is not grown to international standards. The 35 export farms we’re contracted with are certified.”
While ElMazr3a provides its customers with homegrown fruits and vegetables, it also supplies cheese, meat, jam and more.
