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ProSal-Hydro introduces a low-tech, low-cost hydroponic system that helps smallholder farmers in Egypt’s Nile Delta grow crops year-round, even where soil and groundwater have become too salty for conventional farming.

Facts

  • Project type PfW Subsidy Project
  • Country Egypt
  • Partners Delphy International, The Salt Doctors, Plug’n’Grow
  • Themes Water security, soil salinity, smallholder agriculture
  • Duration 
  • SDGs SDG 2, SDG 6, SDG 13

A region under pressure

Southern Africa faces immense water challenges. In Mozambique, Eswatini and South Africa, persistent drought threatens development, worsens food security and puts increasing pressure on already limited freshwater resources. Climate change is intensifying this water stress and degrading water quality, while population growth and economic development drive up demand.

Reliable, up-to-date information on forecasted water availability is essential for both day-to-day and seasonal water resource management – from planning reservoir inflows and groundwater storage to managing water distribution and safeguarding long-term water security.

Two catchments illustrate this challenge clearly. The Maputo River rises in South Africa and flows through Eswatini before forming part of the border with Mozambique. The Black Mbuluzi originates in the Eswatini highveld and joins the wider Mbuluzi River, which also crosses into Mozambique. Together, these catchments span all three countries, making coordinated, cross-border water management essential.

The ‘Global water availability forecasting service to support water security’ (GLOW) consortium was formed to address this problem.

The objectives

The idea of ProSal-Hydro is to give smallholder farmers in the Nile Delta a practical way to keep farming on land affected by salinity and lack of water. It is designed for farmers on coastal plots who need a low-tech, low-cost alternative for growing crops. ProSal-Hydro deliberately avoids the expensive greenhouses, electric pumps, and complex equipment that commercial hydroponic setups usually need. The design uses locally available materials wherever possible so it can work even in remote areas. Compared to regular sprinkler irrigation, the system can save up to 90 percent of the water used, sidestepping soil-borne diseases. The overall goal is better income and food security for farmers, not just an environmental fix.

The approach

The Nile Delta, with its widespread salinity and heavy reliance on smallholder agriculture, is an ideal setting for testing this kind of solution. The setup is simple: grow vegetables in shallow, floating trays rather than in the ground, so roots sit in nutrient-rich water instead of saline soil. The system is deliberately open-field and low-tech, built from locally available materials. Early trials with pak choi showed that salt tolerance alone isn’t enough – the crop was unfamiliar to local buyers, so the team switched to local lettuce and cabbage varieties farmers could sell. Piloted on five farms the system now supports year-round production, and two additional farmers have since joined with their own systems.

Rainfall in Egypt is very limited. Everything depends on the Nile. At the same time, the population is growing rapidly, which means there is strong demand for both water and food.

Tycho Vermeulen
Agricultural Counselor for Egypt and Jordan at the Dutch Embassy in Cairo

The team

The ProSal-Hydro consortium brings together the expertise of three organisations:

  • Delphy International coordinates the project and contributes global expertise in food and flower production and knowledge development. https://delphy.nl
  • The Salt Doctors is a Dutch social enterprise specialising in resilient farming systems for land and water affected by salinity. https://www.thesaltdoctors.com
  • Plug’n’Grow is an Egyptian company focused on affordable, economically viable hydroponic and aquaculture solutions.

Outcomes

  • A working low-tech, low-cost hydroponic system tailored to the saline Nile Delta, now producing vegetables year-round.
  • Validated piloting across five smallholder farms, with two further farms recently added.
  • Farmers trained to build, run and maintain the system independently.
  • Water savings of around 80 percent compared to conventional sprinkler irrigation.
  • Improved crop quality and market value, supporting higher and more stable farmer income.
  • A scaling strategy toward a wider network of hydroponic farms across the Delta.

Why it matters

Having proven itself on five pilot farms and drawn new farmers on its own merit, ProSal-Hydro is now moving into a scaling phase. Delphy points to the project as proof that farmers adopt new practices once they see real results in yield, cost or income – a lesson feeding directly into Egypt’s national Salinity Roadmap. If scaling succeeds, the model could support a much wider network of smallholders across the Nile Delta, and other salt-affected deltas facing similar pressure.

Innovation in Progress series

ProSal-Hydro features in Partners for Water’s ongoing Innovation in Progress series. Throughout this series, Partners for Water closely follows a selection of projects that have received a Partners for Water subsidy, from start to finish – including their processes, collaborations with local partners, potential solutions, and the struggles, challenges and lessons learned along the way.

 

Follow the ProSal-Hydro Journey