Hydroponics and the Turkana Basin Institute - A Green Transformation in the far North of Kenya

For almost 2.5 years, Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) worked with the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI). TBI operates a research facility in Inert, Kenya. Located amongst arid and semi-arid lands, rainfall is extremely limited, but needed to drive all plant growth. Thanks to the joint project with WE4F, TBI can now grow crops without relying on rainfall.
Heavily mineralized water is pumped from boreholes via solar-powered pumps and then demineralized through a solar-powered reverse osmosis system.
Within TBI, the water is partly used for hydroponics that grow fresh vegetables. This soilless form of agriculture is the only way to reliably produce crops in arid and semi-arid lands. Additionally, hydroponics are a very water-efficient way of farming, with plants getting all of their required nutrients from a special solution that circulates in the system and around plants' roots.