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Ed van Paassen - Plant Expert

Horticulture & Floriculture

Category: <span>Practical Solutions</span>

Pivot Irrigation in Africa: Green Circles Against Food Insecurity

Fly over farmland in a dry region, and you may spot perfect green circles in the sand. These are pivot fields. Pivot irrigation is a modern, low-waste way to water crops, and it is spreading fast across Africa. The idea is simple: a long sprinkler arm turns around a central point, so water reaches every […]

Climate Change and Sustainability: The Role of Trees in Urban Landscaping

No machine cools a street like a tree does. Meanwhile, our cities keep getting hotter, wetter and more polluted. In an era of climate change, that matters more each year. So planners everywhere are rediscovering the oldest piece of climate technology we have. In a city, large trees especially do a lot of good — […]

Climate Change and Sustainability: The Role of Green Roofs in Urban Landscaping

Cities feel climate change first. To begin with, summers grow hotter and cloudbursts grow heavier. Meanwhile, most cities are covered in stone, asphalt and bare roofs. That is a problem, but also an opportunity. After all, every flat roof is unused space. However, cover it with plants, and it starts working for the city. In […]

The Watercone: Six Glasses of Drinking Water from One Sunny Day

Big problems do not always need big machines. The Water Pyramid makes drinking water for a whole village. However, its tiny German cousin serves just one family: the Watercone. This small cone of clear plastic sits on a pan of salt or dirty water. Sunlight does the rest. One cone yields about 1 to 1.5 […]

Contour Trenching: Just Dig, and the Desert Turns Green

Can a simple ditch bring a desert back to life? Yes, it can. Dutch inventor Peter Westerveld proved it in Africa. His method is called contour trenching. You dig trenches in dry land, and they catch the rain. As a result, plants return — even in places with less than 100 mm of rain per […]

The Waterboxx: A Passive Tree Growing Method

How do you grow a tree in a desert, without any drip line or water truck? Dutch inventor Pieter Hoff found a simple answer: the Waterboxx. This smart bucket collects dew and rain. Then it feeds that water to a tree sapling, drop by drop. Today, his invention has helped plant 2,000,000 trees in 55 […]

The Water Pyramid: Drinking Water from Sunlight – Then and Now

Lack of water threatens drinking water and food crops in many warm regions. However, Dutch engineer Martijn Nitzsche found a clever answer: the Water Pyramid. This large solar still turns salt or dirty water into clean drinking water. Moreover, it needs nothing but sunlight. Twenty years on, the pyramid has a strong track record. Meanwhile, […]

Sudan Faces Acute Food Shortages: Challenges and Solutions

Introduction Food security in Sudan has deteriorated into one of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies. Defined as the state where individuals have consistent access to enough safe and nutritious food for an active and healthy life, food security remains a distant goal for a large and growing share of Sudan’s population. Since April 2023, […]