Growing Hope

Growing Hope is a Sahrawi run cooperative farm in Laayoune camp. It is on a 16 acre site with a well and a polytunnel. There is a core group of 3 fulltime members and a team of 6 part time workers and 3 advisers. There are two growing seasons a year. The first is planted in September to harvest in February and March. Inside the polytunnel they grow tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet peppers. Outside they grow onions, carrots, courgettes, turnips, aubergines, lettuce, parsley, coriander and mint. The second season of melons and watermelons is planted in February to be harvested in May.

How did the Project Begin?

In 1986 The United Nations World Food Programme began to provide support for the food needs of the Sahrawi Refugee Camps. The items provided are oil, sugar, lentils, rice, soya, wheat and flour, although recently lentils have been missing due to the global refugee crisis and lack of funding. The amount of food has also decreased as the money allocation is the same but food prices have increased.   The food that comes from the World Food Programme is distributed according to how many are in each family.  The severe lack of fresh fruit and vegetables has resulted in malnutrition and anaemia amongst many of the refugees. According to the WFP 2019 Nutrition Survey, anaemia is very high amongst children (50% in children under 5), pregnant women (50%) and breastfeeding women (70%) and this has significantly worsened since the previous survey in 2016.  You can find up to date information here.

Because of the harsh conditions, extreme temperatures and lack of water in the desert it is very hard to grow vegetables. However, in the nearby town of Tindouf in Algeria vegetables are grown successfully in polytunnels.

A group in the Smara camp headed by Fatimatu Bachir wanted to start a community project to grow their own vegetables for the people in the camp.  The project was named Growing Hope in the Sahrawi Refugee Camps. They have did their research and planned and costed everything.  They planned to sell the vegetables at affordable prices for the refugees and use whatever money was left to expand and gradually buy more and more greenhouses. They also planned to donate some of the vegetables to those most in need, children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
Fatimatu approached her old friends in Manchester where she had visited as a child and told them of her ideas. She showed them her project plan and asked if they could help.

Phase 1

By 2021 WSSG had become a registered charity and had raised enough money for the team to get started.

They bought and erected a 100ft polytunnel with a fence around it and a small building for the guard to stay in. They bought the first seeds and compost. They arranged for water to be bought and delivered by tanker and stored in polythene tanks as they had no well yet. They grew their first plants and enjoyed a successful harvest in February 2022. That first year the Polisario bought the vegetables from them and distributed them to Sahrawi families. They had proved that it was possible.

However, buying in water was very expensive and not viable long term if they were to become self-reliant eventually.

Phase 2

In spring of 2022 they found the 16 acre site in Laayoune. It has 3 wells that had been abandoned and filled in to make them safe. Acquiring this site was a game-changer for the project. No more water being brought in tankers at great expense. A step closer to becoming independent.

Phase 3

During summer of 2022 in the extreme heat one of the wells was opened up and made safe with a wall built around it. Then the polytunnel and the fencing was moved to the new site to make it ready for planting in September 2022.

Having a well meant that they had enough water to plant outside the polytunnel as well as inside. WSSG supported them with the costs of moving, renovating the well, buying a pump, irrigation pipes, extra fencing etc.

The farm had a good harvest in Spring 2023 in spite of a very severe storm and they were able to have a summer season of melons. Initially they sold to shops in the camps and as word spread people came to buy direct from the farm. By the end of the season they were running their own small shop one day a week. They covered 75% of their running costs through sale of vegetables

Phase 4

In February 2023 three members of the WSSG visited the project and met with the team. They discussed the achievements so far and the plans for the next season. Having learnt from the first full harvest in the Layoune site, the team have big plans to improve the project over the next few months.

The original water pump in the well was overheating so a second pump has been purchased. Another polytunnel will be put up and crops between the polytunnels for protection from the wind. A 10m x 10m reservoir will be built to enhance quality of water and improve irrigation efficiency. A small house will be built for the site supervisor.