CORE PROGRAM

SEKEM is convinced that the potential of one individual is evolving with the inclusion of arts and culture.

Hence, here at SEKEM Wahat we focus on offering people and students space for their individual development and potential unfolding instead of providing them only with universal teaching and learning models.

At SEKEM Wahat we want to evoke questions instead of giving answers.

During the second phase an ongoing Community Based Learning (CBL) program with HU students has been implemented at Wahat farm.

Through this program students could meet real life challenges of people living in Wahat desert, apply their own knowledge to find practical solutions for them and exchange experiences with the local community.

BASIC HEALTH CARE

With our integrative health care approach we look holistically at each individual.

We take into consideration the relation between body, mind and spirit.

We start with the implementation of a healthcare booklet to record and monitor the well-being and health condition of the community members.

On a regular basis first aid courses are held to provide self reliability and confidence.

We built a small health clinic at Wahat farm.

At the end of the second phase 100% of our permanent employees at Wahat are covered by the health insurance “Eco Health”.

For the third phase our plans are to include casual labor as well

EDUCATION

We believe that holistic education enhances the unfolding of human potential and encourages people to find their own interests.

Therefore, we started implementing a holistic educational program for the community members.

For illiterate employees we started the “Maho el omia” program which prepares them for the school program. 

During the second phase we started a school at SEKEM guesthouse for 25 students (grade 1 to 7) from the Wahat neighborhood and organized a school bus for them.

At the end of the phase we finished the construction of a new community school building, which was created according to the new carbon-neutral concept.

The new school will be ready for the opening already in the beginning of the third phase.

CROP SORTS

Biodiversity is a must have for a vital and healthy ecosystem, hence, we’re cultivating a diversity of crops on our pivot fields.

In the first phase we started with the cultivation of biodynamic chamomile, peppermint and spearmint.

For the second phase, we planted peanuts, jojoba, moringa, hibiscus and cactus, increased the planting area for herbs.

Besides, for the summer season we covered some pivots with green manure, that protects soil and saves water and compost.

Our plans for the third phase is to increase the production of jojoba and moringa.

SOLAR SYSTEM

Pumping water for the irrigation of plants is energy intensive.

Since SEKEM is aiming to keep all the agricultural activities carbon negative and sees an immense potential in bio-dynamic agriculture to mitigate climate change, the only reasonable solution for the energy supply of our new pivots is obviously solar energy.

Each of our new pivots will be equipped with a solar system that minimizes the CO2 impact of the energy intensive irrigation and thus makes our project – as a whole – carbon negative.

During the second phase we achieved the renewable energy capacity of 1,5 megawatt on the Wahat farm.

It carries the work of pumps and pivots irrigation systems throughout the day.

For the third phase we are planning to go even further and kick off a renewable energy storage project that will make the irrigation systems running on 100% renewable energy even during the night time. 

LAND RECLAMATION

With 96% of arid land in Egypt, fertile land is considered here as a scarce resource.

The only way to achieve self-sufficiency and long term food security for Egypt is to move to the untouched areas in the desert and use the available water resources as efficiently as possible.

At the end of the second phase 315 ha of desert land was cultivated at our farm in Wahat.

With only 300 square meters of arable land per person in Egypt this new reclaimed area can feed more than 10 000 people.

Besides, many other exciting things happened during the second phase of the project.

Biodiversity study was conducted to assess how desert land cultivation changes the species composition and abundance on the Wahat desert farm.

A 3-years “Farm 4 Climate” project for smart governance and operational models for agroecological carbon farming was launched.

New trees were planted, which total number at the moment is equal to 300 000. 

For the upcoming third phase we are looking forward to activating the Ecosystem Research Center in collaboration with “Common land” and “4 Returns” framework.