How a lebanese entrepreneur is redefining sustainable home-farming from the ground up
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locationLebanon
- Programme
- From Innovation to Creation
For individuals living in the city or in gardenless living spaces, the idea of growing their own plants and vegetables seems impossible. But Mitri Harmouche, the co-founder of Ground Vertical Farming, believed he could make the impossible possible through his groundbreaking and gravity defying agricultural project.
In 2019, Mitri Harmouche co-founded ‘Green Vertical Farming’, to produce home-farming systems which optimise both the use of space and resources needed for growing plants. The systems are composed of automated vertical panels which hold a planting mesh in which growers can plant all kinds of vegetables and legumes. Mitri created multiple designs for the panels in order to accommodate for variable availability of space in the customers’ homes. The systems can be controlled remotely through a smart controller, enabling growers to fully care for their plants at all times.
Despite having an extensive background in landscape design and urban planning, Mitri faced many hardships on his journey. Green Vertical Farming was established a few days before the beginning of the Lebanese Revolution, followed by a deep economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. These events profoundly affected the everyday lives of Lebanon’s population and made it very hard for businesses to survive, particularly young startups like Green Vertical Farming. But Mitri wouldn’t give up and worked twice as hard to see his project come to fruition.
To support its development, the Ground Vertical Farming team applied to ‘SCALE HUB’ initiative which is part of the From Innovation to Creation programme funded by the European Union, in collaboration with SPARK and The Nawaya Network. The objective of the programme is to support pioneering entrepreneurs to lead the transition to a greener, more sustainable future.
Through this programme, Mitri benefited from a variety of training and tools to develop his business. Among them, he was guided in determining his system’s sales and production capacity as well as received tailored coaching for his overall business plan. Ground Vertical Farming equally received financial support, which helped them to acquire new tents for their R&D, allowing them to showcase their results to interested customers.
Today, Ground Vertical Farming stands as a thriving start-up, and Mitri has become a respected figure in the farming community. They support both land-owning farmers and landless individuals who are looking to begin their home-growing journey. Through its products, Ground Vertical Farming is offering a promising new way of approaching farming in which convenience meets sustainability.