Egypt plan to green Sahara desert stirs controversy http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL2651867020071009?sp=true
Tue Oct 9, 2007
By Will Rasmussen
CAIRO (Reuters) - It looks like a mirage but the lush fields of cauliflower, apricot trees and melon growing among a vast stretch of sand north of Cairo's pyramids is all too real -- proof of Egypt's determination to turn its deserts green.
While climate change and land over-use help many deserts across the world advance, Egypt is slowly greening the sand that covers almost all of its territory as it seeks to create more space for its growing population. Tarek el-Kowmey, 45, points proudly to the banana trees he grows on what was once Sahara sands near the Desert Development Centre, north of Cairo, where scientists experiment with high-tech techniques to make Egypt's desert bloom. http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL2651867020071009?sp=true