Safwa clinches award for pioneering sustainable hydroponic farming – The Peninsula

Safwa clinches award for pioneering sustainable hydroponic farming – The Peninsula

Doha: Fardan Fahad Alfardan Founder and General Manager of Safwa, a subsidiary of Alfardan Group was awarded the FBN International NxG Lombard Odier award during the Family Business Network’s (FBN) 31st Global Summit in Budapest, Hungary last month for sustainable innovation in entrepreneurship. He is the first-ever GCC awardee in the history of the award.

Safwa is a leader in automated hydroponic, aeroponic and aquaponic farming, built and maintained locally by in-house experienced engineers at the Alfardan family farm, “Wahat Al-Shafalahia”.

The farm, started in 1975 grows a variety of vegetables in greenhouses which act as a protective microclimate, providing consistent temperatures and humidity and efficiently using resources to ensure higher yields where otherwise harsh environmental conditions in Qatar would limit produce production.In addition, Safwa uses indoor hydroponic systems, which require no soil to grow vegetables and are up to 90 percent more efficient in their use of water. Production increases 3 to 10 times in the same amount of space, decreasing the time between harvest and consumption and increasing the nutritional value of the end-product. No chemicals or pest control products are needed when operating such systems.

Fardan Fahad Alfardan, Founder and General Manager of Safwa said, “Our vision is to be