Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Kate Okorie
“The trainees’ day starts before sunrise. Across a large stretch of open field in Nigeria’s southwestern Ogun state, young people in safety helmets, goggles, and reflective jackets are assembling frames of what will soon be net houses, a type of greenhouse. Guided by supervisors, the trainees carefully fit steel rods into holes in the red-brown earth, anchoring them in concrete. Once complete, the net-covered structures will be lined with troughs filled with rice bran and sawdust – alternatives to soil. A network of pipes and tubes will deliver fertilizer-rich water to the plants at set intervals. No trainee is over 29 years old, and three-quarters of the cohort are women. ‘We have a slogan,’ says Samson Ogbole, the founder of Soilless Farm Lab, a company set on 450 acres of land. ‘Train a man, and you feed a family. Train a woman, and you feed a generation.'” (04/08/25)