Suceess Sory : Productive Housing And The Square Meter Theory

PortSudan(Sudanow)- A success story ،a story of production ، a story of prosperity. I dedicate it to all the poor people of my country, that they may have faith in God, trust in Him, and take a dose of a cocktail of vaccines against the diseases of defeatism, surrender, loss of self-confidence, and self-diminishment.

Those diseases that have crippled the nation of Sudan from progressing and flourishing, despite possessing diverse resources above and beneath the earth that qualify it to be among the advanced ranks of great nations.

The success story of Dr. Abbas Taha Hamza Sabir, Professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Khartoum, researcher, supervisor of postgraduate studies, farmer, and animal breeder, and initiator of solutions to Sudan's problems.

He shares the essence of his successful experience with Sudanese people to benefit from it, saying، I dedicate the essence of this experience, which is not just about fighting poverty but goes beyond it to achieve prosperity. I dedicate it to decision-makers after winning the battle of dignity, to grant any Sudanese citizen an area of only 1,000 square meters and provide water to replicate my experience, so they can live and produce.

He continues, I am confident that the production of this experience in providing daily living requirements such as milk, cheese, vegetables, fruits, organic fertilizer, biogas, and seedlings collectively can contribute to self-sufficiency and export the surplus.

Dr. Abbas says, "Establishing productive housing is considered a unique and successful experience that can be replicated to combat poverty and reduce dependence on salaries. I founded the productive housing initiative after moving to one of the University of Khartoum's houses in 2015. I implemented a theory I call the square meter theory, which means making a commitment to utilize every square meter inside the house. Here's a brief overview of the details:

100 square meters for producing milk, cheese, yogurt, and cheese from hybrid goats. I started with 2 hybrid goats, each producing an average of 8 pounds of milk per day. Through breeding, the number reached 21 heads in October 2023, with a market value of 10500000 Sudanese pounds. Thanks to God, my children and I drink goat's milk like water and sell the surplus.

50 square meters for fattening sheep during Eid al-Adha and other occasions. I recall that during the last Eid, I was able to fatten a number of lambs, which were of exceptional quality. I sold some of them in dollars.

40 square meters for a poultry coop that can accommodate 300 laying hens. Based on an 80% production rate, the egg production from the 300 hens can reach 240 eggs per day, which means to 8 trays of eggs (30 eggs per tray). Approximately, the daily cost is estimated to be half of the egg production, which means the net daily production is 120 eggs, or 4 trays of eggs per day. With the price of one tray of eggs being( 2500) pounds, the daily income from eggs alone would be (10000 pounds), and the monthly income would be( 300000) pounds. This amount is enough to buy sugar, tea, oil, soap, and other essentials for a family of 5 for a whole month, and it is equivalent to several times the salary of a worker or employee.

450 square meters for producing the following:

Firstly, within the area's surroundings:

3 South African mango trees, excellent quality, bore fruit after 3.5 years of planting, with an average production of 500 fruits per tree this season, each sold for 500 pounds. This means each tree generates 250000 pounds (500 * 500), and the total income from the three trees is 750000 pounds per season.

Additionally, there are:

2 excellent and highly productive Cape gooseberry trees
1 excellent and highly productive tangerine tree
1 mixed-production tree (tangerine and orange)
5 excellent and highly productive lemon trees
1 excellent and highly productive Adelina lemon tree
1 good and highly productive fig tree
1 excellent and highly productive Persian jujube tree
3 date palm trees
5 fruit-bearing banana trees

The estimated income from these fruit-bearing trees, combined with other activities within the productive housing, exceeds 3000000 pounds per season, with potential for increase as production grows.

Secondly, within the area surrounded by the fruit-bearing trees, I planted the following:

Vegetables such as tomatoes, ajour cucumbers, watercress, green fennel, parsley, green peppers, chili peppers, okra, and eggplant. Legumes such as Egyptian beans, beans, the maize and lentils.

Spices such as fenugreek and coriander

Fodder: Abu Sab'in clover and country bread.

A 20-square-meter area was allocated for a small nursery to produce various seedlings, especially through cutting and air layering techniques. Regarding the latter, I must highlight the efforts made by my wife, Dr. Ikhlas Malek Abdullah, a graduate of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Khartoum. She learned and mastered the method of producing seedlings through air layering using YouTube videos, utilizing excellent mother trees at home. This method is known to shorten the fruiting period, as it involves separating a branch from the mother tree to create a ready-to-fruit seedling within the next season. It's no surprise that my wife was able to sell these air-layered seedlings, specifically lemon and Adelina, for 30,000 pounds per seedling.

10 square meters for producing organic fertilizers needed for fertilizing crops at home (fruit trees, vegetables, and fodder). The organic fertilizer is produced from the following materials: goat and sheep manure from the animals raised at home.

Green shrubs that grow randomly at home, banana leaves and stems, crop residues such as Egyptian beans, green beans, and lentils, vegetable and fruit waste, and kitchen scraps including food leftovers and peels.

From the above list, it is clear that it is possible to achieve multiple benefits with one stone by producing organic fertilizer within the productive housing. For example, obtaining a cheap and environmentally friendly fertilizer for all crops, safe compared to chemical fertilizers, in addition to contributing effectively to environmental sanitation within the home by disposing of food waste, kitchen scraps, animal manure, and agricultural waste.

7-10 square meters for producing biogas, a cheap gas alternative to expensive and sometimes unavailable LPG, using animal manure and agricultural waste from the household. Unfortunately, progress on the biogas project was halted due to the outbreak of war.

As a summary of my experience in establishing a productive home, I can confidently say that the aspirations of this unique experiment go beyond just fighting poverty and achieving self-sufficiency in food and beverages, but rather extend to horizons of prosperity. The significant financial returns can be utilized to meet the family's remaining needs, such as healthcare, education, and other requirements, as well as purchasing clothing for family members. Additionally, this experiment allows for the utilization and investment of the time and energies of the family's youth in agricultural work and animal husbandry, which can protect them from the pitfalls of idleness and bad company. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to train the youth to enter the production cycle, making them productive citizens in the future, reliant on themselves with God's will, and benefiting from this experience in innovation and development.

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