About Habiba Community

Habiba Community is committed to transforming the lives of local Bedouin communities through promoting sustainable agriculture and permaculture. We do this by empowering the Bedouin we employ to experiment with organic farming, helping them to not only grow their own produce but to conduct their own research into how best to make use of the resources around us. Our goal at the farm is to help the local Bedouin learn and create their own farms, thus creating employment, food security, and a sense of commitment to the future of our shared environment. Habiba aspires to set a successful example to be followed by locals across the Sinai Peninsula.

Habiba Community is based in Nuweiba, South Sinai with the Sinai Mountains on one side and sandy beaches with turquoise waters on the other. The farm is based on a plot of what was an empty desert and has transformed it into a production hub of locally grown organic vegetables, as well as a center for research in sustainable desert agriculture. We are a center for research and regularly collaborate and conduct knowledge transfer with the Desert Research Center as well as agricultural research institutes around the world. For this reason, Habiba welcomes volunteers, students conducting research, and experts.

Habiba also aims to promote the importance of conservation. We teach the local communities the benefits of organic farming practices, showing that it not only benefits the individuals who consume the product, but also the environment as a whole.

Volunteering at the Organic Farm

The goal of this project is to help Bedouin organic farmers with their research and experimental farming projects. You will help them discover new desert agricultural techniques and exchange cultural experiences.

This is a unique opportunity for you to work with the Bedouins side-by-side, for you to learn to see the world through their eyes, and to give them a chance to do the same with you.

By participating in this project you will be empowering local Bedouins to create their own food security in an uncertain world, as well as to teach them not only to farm in the desert but to conduct desert farming research to continue innovating on their own. Our metric for success is when one of our farmers can leave to create their own experimental farm elsewhere in the desert.

Training

You will spend a few days at Habiba Organic Farm learning desert farming, water management techniques, and waste management in order to be able to train the Bedouin community.

What should I bring?

Sun protection, including lightweight clothing to cover your head, neck, and shoulders, mosquito repellant, sturdy shoes, work gloves, beach gear, and a sense of adventure. Most of the above are available in shops around Dahab and Nuweiba, but it is preferable to buy your quality shoes and cargo gear before arriving. Winter gets chilly, even in Sinai, especially in January and February, so bring warm clothes for the evenings.