HOW BRITAIN’S ‘KING OF COMPOST’ VISITED KARACHI FOR A ‘SOIL HEALTH’ EVENT THAT BECAME SO MUCH MORE
Nazish Saad
Everything comes from the soil, and so did this project.
Last month, what began as a small, personally funded single event on ‘soil health’ in Karachi mushroomed into Pakistan’s first ‘Soil Health Week’, involving multiple towns across Sindh, and even online.
The remarkable traction and visibility the event gained in less than a week, from 22-27 September 2025, have pushed the organisers into committing to develop it into an annual event next year, moving to other parts of the country also.
So how did it start, and what does it mean for Pakistan – and perhaps an entire region heavily impacted by climate change? There is already relatively high awareness of these issues, but the farmers we talked to felt isolated and helpless. Our conversations provided tangible solutions that were energising and gave direction. They also gave farmers a platform to come together and discuss their issues, creating cohesion and providing a space to generate new ideas.
The initiative emerged from a diverse range of seeds sown over my career in cosmetics, which spanned many more years than I care to admit.
It began with the realisation that we need to move away from traditional, chemical hair care products.
Disillusioned by the blatant “green” and “cleanwashing” promoted by many multinationals, I chose to invest in and develop a small French brand, Terre de Couleur, which works with clay to clean and care for the scalp and hair, and with plants to colour, providing healthy alternatives for hairstylists.
Hair for the soil
Looking for like-minded partners, I searched online and found a non-profit in San Francisco called Matter of Trust. I was intrigued by their work: since the 1980s, they have collected hair from beauty salons – considered a waste product that otherwise ends up in landfills.
In fact, our hair and pet fur is a miracle product that removes pollutants from water, helps in flood mitigation, works as a slow-release fertilizer, and repels pests for clean agriculture. Now, we are even discovering its potential to remove microplastics from the earth.
Connecting with them was not only the start of a long partnership but a deep and inspiring friendship with both Lisa Gautier, the founder, and Chelsea Knight, who heads the UK subsidiary, Matter of Trust.
Meanwhile, having worked with charities and causes all my life, I felt that I needed to do more than simply write cheques.
It struck me that by connecting my professional experience, my network, and my donations to small, innovative companies in clean technologies, with founders I believed in, I could help make a real difference. These connections and projects would create jobs and support people to become self-sufficient and financially independent.
Having reconnected with my native Pakistan, a country from which I had been estranged since my departure in the 1980s, I chose to look for entrepreneurs in the clean tech field there in September 2024.
I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I came across some brilliant initiatives. Among them, I connected with two dynamic and insightful zero-waste advocates and entrepreneurs in Karachi – community builder Anusha Fatima and Rahul Rai, an accountant and a lawyer – who co-founded and manage the compost manufacturing company, Trashit.
When Anusha told me she was coming to France in December 2024, I looked up people in my network who worked with compost for her to meet. One of them was Nick Padwick, known as the “King of Compost”. His company in Norfolk, UK, Wildsoils, makes compost for the estate of Sandringham, home to King Charles.
Timing and visa constraints did not allow Anusha to meet Nick at that time, but my conversation with him drove me to connect Wildsoils with Matter of Trust. The result is a five-year project we initiated in March 2025. This aims to test the effects of integrating hair, pet fur, and wool into the production of compost and on agriculture. In May, I went with Nick to Kin Hill Farms in Norfolk to measure its effects.
We were struck by the initial readings, especially how hair helped the soil with water retention and heat protection. Sitting in the field, I told Nick that I would love for him to come to Pakistan to help regenerate soils there.
I told him how farmers in my native Sindh have to face the brunt of climate change, with flooding, extreme heat, and unpredictable variations in climate, compounded by overuse of chemicals and pesticides. To my surprise, and to the deep concern of his wife, Michelle, he agreed.
I then reached out to Anusha and Rahul, with whom I had begun holding monthly mentorship meetings. I knew they were working with farmers at home. They were instantly enthusiastic, immediately sharing my vision. We discussed the project with Nick and agreed to schedule the event in September.
Over the coming months, we reached out to non-profits and corporations hoping to get some funding and institutional support. Most found the idea too implausible and far-fetched, but our core group did not give up.
Game changer?
With boots on the ground, working with farmers, Anusha and Rahul knew that this project was deeply needed and would be a game changer.
We calculated out the costs – beyond Nick’s flight and hotel stay, I thought the rest could be managed with help from family and friends. It seemed manageable and we could control the costs by limiting the scope. However, as the project evolved, it seemed to strike a chord amongst all involved – there is a real need for soil regeneration in Pakistan. This is perhaps why it required neither large budgets nor unlimited resources to implement.
Scientists warn that 24 billion tons of fertile soil is being lost per year globally, largely due to unsustainable agriculture practices.
The passion and integrity with which the project was conceived, developed, and implemented propelled it into an event of great impact amongst a wide public, ranging from farmers, academics, students to the public.
During the week-long event, farmers shared their experiences and concerns about the increasingly difficult conditions they face. Many cited the unpredictability of seasons and climate-related events as a key issue, as well as the increasing costs of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that seem less and less effective.
One farmer broke down in tears when he shared his plight with us.
With soils under increasing stress from chemical overuse, salinity, erosion, and declining organic matter, the Soil Health Week Pakistan resonated widely. The objective, to promote regenerative agriculture, healthy soil microbiology, and compost-based alternatives to synthetic fertilizers, made sense to professionals as well as to the public. We found that farmers were open to discussions and sharing experiences.
Through seminars, field demonstrations, soil testing workshops, and policy dialogues, the event shifted both mindset and practice toward farming systems that sustain soil, water, and life.
During an intense week, we connected with relevant people in Karachi, Tando Jam, and Rahuki Farms near Hyderabad. Farmers also showed up in a baitak (sitting) organized by Tofiq Pasha, a renowned activist in green agriculture, at his Rahuki Farms on the outskirts of Karachi.
Hearing of our conversations in Sindh, farmers in Punjab also reached out to us and we organized a last minute video conference with them.
Rising input costs are squeezing farmers, as prices for key agricultural essentials have nearly doubled over the past five years, said Ali Kachelo of Kachelo Fruit Farms. These inputs include nitrogen, vital for photosynthesis and plant growth; DAP (diammonium phosphate) fertilizer, which boosts the harvest but worsens soil salinity, which is already an issue in Pakistan; and diesel, the lifeblood of tractors, generators and ploughs. Meanwhile, sale prices have increased by only 10-15%. This means a massive drop in profitability for farmers.
Despite the increased cost, these expenses do not guarantee a better yield since issues related to climate change can destroy an entire crop, added Kachelo.
It is in this context that the Soil Health Week became not just an event, but perhaps a turning point toward interest in soil regeneration and healthy food farming.
Organizers and participants alike came together to envision a Pakistan where soils are living systems rich in microbial life; where waste is reused as valuable organic inputs; where farmers thrive without monoculture and the ensuing over-reliance on chemical inputs; and where agriculture supports climate resilience and biodiversity rather than undermining it.
The movement looks set to continue with a new session being planned for December 2026, this time in collaboration with all stakeholders. Indeed, to implement real change, there will need to be a collective effort from farmers willing to apply regenerative methods, from academics in research and assistance in monitoring, and from policymakers in supporting incentives, subsidies, or regulation that encourage eco-friendly, organic, and soil-reviving agriculture.
We, as consumers and members of civil society, can also make a difference by demanding sustainably grown food, composting our organic waste, and changing our own mindsets. We need to move from lazy solutions aimed at instant gratification to making conscious choices for a healthier life for all living beings.
Our little initiative, which started from a dream that seemed like seeds being sown on arid land, is blossoming, through multiplicity of thought and diversity of contribution. With time, patience, and commitment, it could yield a rich and fertile field where life is regenerated in healthy soils, and a thriving ecosystem flourishes.
Nazish Saad is an investor in cleantech and a business consultant from Karachi, based in Paris. Passionate about bringing positive change and solving corporate problems through unconventional solutions, she is a partner at Terre de Couleur, a cosmetic biotech company in Europe and Founding Partner at Ecobricks Pakistan, a startup focusing on upcycling plastic waste into high value objects. Email: nazishmunch@gmail.com
This is a Sapan News syndicated feature available for republication with due credit http://www.sapannews.com.
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