Displaced people from al-Sham are often violently ripped away from their homes, gardens, and dignity. Once displaced, gardening, one of the most important factors of Shami culture, becomes impossible. There is either no space for decent yields, or their environment is hostile to plants.
Displaced Shami people face military blockades, destroyed agricultural infrastructure, and economic hardship. Access to fresh vegetables is heavily constrained and families are left dependent on traditional aid parcels, which consist entirely of dry goods and processed foods, completely lacking fresh greens.
I found that gardening was a primary way to help restore dignity for many displaced families. I spent the past year researching, meeting with displaced people, designing, and refining Juthoor: a high yield, stackable, modular hydroponic planter system suited for and designed around the wants and needs of displaced Shami people.
- Space-Efficient: It supports 45 plants in a one-square-foot footprint.
- High-Yield: 3 stacked modules can provide up to 50% of a family of four’s recommended vegetable intake.
- Off-Grid (Kratky Method): It is a passive system requiring no electricity, pumps, and aeration.
- Low Maintenance: Users only need to top off the water and add nutrients every three weeks.
Timeline:
- Tooling & First Production: Reach our funding goal to pay for the industrial injection molds needed for the food-safe HDPE components.
- Distribution: The very first production run will be distributed on the ground in Lebanon, distributing units directly to families in a chosen refugee camp.
- Worldwide Launch: Following production, the planter will be available for purchase worldwide using a Buy-One, Give-One model to make the project entirely self-sustaining.
Thank you!
Your support funds the initial production run (tooling and initial batch) to bring this planter to market and distribute it in the Levant. If you can’t donate, please follow my updates and share my videos to help make this project a reality.
Who Are We?
We are Jad Mabsout and Mariyah Baig, a husband-and-wife team of designers and organizers working to bring Juthoor to life.
Jad is a Lebanese industrial designer based in Houston, Texas, and Mariyah is a graphic designer. Together, we believe design should be used responsibly to improve human life and the world around us, not contribute to environmental destruction and human suffering.
Instagram updates: https://www.instagram.com/juthoor.planter/
Organizer
