United Arab Emirates: Why Have High-Rise Balcony Gardens Become A Hot Trend In Dubai?
UAE citizens are urban farmers in the making, despite having regular full-time jobs.
Excerpt:
The UAE imports almost all of the food it consumes. Around 90 per cent of the food consumed in Dubai has come from a far, clocking up a lot of food miles.
Fresh produce comes from places like India, Iran, Lebanon, North and South America, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, UK, and Egypt.
As a result, the UAE is keen to develop more solutions for crop production at home. Especially in the desert – an area that struggles with issues of food insecurity.
Every day after finishing her work, Kris Ang Marteja heads straight to her garden and listens to what her plants have to say. Along with her brother Jhun Adan Llamos, she has planted a rich garden of vegetables in a small outdoor corner of their house.
There are rows of bitter gourd, watermelon, rock-melon, eggplants, curry leaves and more in their garden. They all have personalities to Marteja – and she treats them with a good dose of TLC. She also recycles pots, wood and metals for her vines too, while using kitchen waste as fertiliser.
