UNDP Jerusalen Project, Bogota, Colombia

Farming Without Soil in Bogota, Colombia

Jerusalen near Bogota, is one of Colombia's poorest urban communities. Nearly 100 women are growing vegetables using hydroponic technology, providing food for their families and selling vegetables, substantially increasing their household income.

In Jerusalen, every available sunny location was utilized, placing growing containers in stairwell spaces, balconies, rooftops and yards. Light weight rice bran from a local mill was recycled and used as a growing media, an excellent choice for rooftop gardens.

Hydroponic gardening requires no soil and very little space. Plants are grown in small containers constructed from recycled containers and fed with nutrient enriched water. Water can easily be recaptured as it drains from containers and used again to save resources.

Hydroponic gardens can produce up to six times the yield, use 1/20th the water, and less than 1/3 the space of soil based gardening. Water can be enriched with organic nutrients or inorganic nutrients derived from rich composted vegetation or well composted manure or guano. Worm farms can product an excellent source for rich organic nutrients, harvesting the enriched worm castings from the bottom.

The Jerusalen Hydroponic Cooperative grows up to 30 varieties of vegetables and supplies a supermarket chain in metropolitan Bogotá. Under a contract agreement, fresh produce is delivered weekly in exchange for cash payment.

The Cooperative is so successful that the women now bring in about three times as much money as their husbands who work as unskilled laborers. Women provide all their own gardening tools and equipment. Seeds and nutrient are provided by the supermarket chain under a contract agreement.

Hydroponic gardening has three distinct advantages in low income urban areas. First, it is virtually safe from soil pollutants, since the plants are grown without soil using water based nutrient solutions. Second, production is done without soil and in small containers, which can be placed in almost any suitable location. Third, hydroponics provides consumers with fresher produce, grown closer to urban markets which greatly reduces transport spoilage.

Referenced Publications:
UNDP, Urban Agriculture -- Foods, Jobs and Sustainable Cities (UNDP, New York, 1995), pp. 119-120.

Zapp, J. 1992. Cultivos sin terra. Hidroponia Popular. Proyecto regional para la superacion de la pobreza. PNUB-UNIFEM, Colombia.