After years of working on oil drilling rigs in Alberta, Canada, Álvaro Arellano Silva, also known as Baba Zuwa, made the unlikely transition from petroleum to plants — and from extraction to regeneration. He is the inventor of a new vertical hydroponic grow system designed to address one of the greatest global challenges: how to grow food in a world where water is scarce, land is degraded, and climate stress is rising.
In his earlier years, Silva witnessed firsthand the environmental impact of extractive industries. Conversations with Elders in Canada's north often echoed the same theme — that as development grew, nature shrank. He eventually left the oil field and moved to Africa, where he founded a biodiesel program in Zimbabwe called Oil Castor Zimbabwe. The goal was to cultivate castor beans for sustainable fuel production. The initiative was recognized and gazetted by the Zimbabwean government, offering a local solution to an international crisis.
However, it was on those farms — observing farmers struggle with pests and spraying chemicals across wide, open fields — that Silva began to imagine a different kind of agriculture. One where crops weren't vulnerable on the ground, where soil wasn't required, and where water loss could be minimized.
In 2019, a life-altering accident resulted in an above-knee amputation for Silva. This physical setback forced him to slow down, providing the clarity needed to refine the idea he had been sketching for years. Using salvaged potato sacks and wicking material, he built his first vertical grow panel.
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