Syrian refugee's farm thrives with Middle Eastern crops 4 years later

Three years ago, aSyrianfarmerfled to Calgary with his family, unable to speak English and with no job prospects.

However, with the help of a benefactor, he set up a smallfarm and has since grown it almost four-fold withMiddle Eastern crops.

Mohamed El Dahersays he grew up on farms in Syria, but when he came to Calgary with his wife and three kids as refugees, he heard farming here can be difficult.

"When I came to Canada, I thought, what should I do in my new country? Because all of the people have a big [academic] certificate but I didn't have any certificate," he said.

"I have a lot of experience as a farmer. And many people said, 'you can't plant vegetables here for the weather.'"

Despite hearing this,El Daherpursued his dream after being gifted a small farm. It's been four years since he started, and it has already expanded to have a wide range of produce and customers.

"The first year, I planted one acre, or two acres. When I succeededlast year, I planted seven acres," he said. "I planted spinach, radish, the tomatoand eggplant, and the green beans, two kinds, and zucchini, and cucumber."

SinceEl Daheris still new to Canada, he says hedoesn'tspeak English very well. However, since he does speakArabic, a lot of the vegetables he grows are specifically for Arabic people.

"In the future, I'd like to get Canadian customers," he said.

El Dahernow has several hectares of vegetables and a greenhouse he built himself in order to grow eggplant.

"Next year, I should make more greenhouses because now I have produce from my eggplant," he said.

El Daher says he hasn't hired anyone yet to help on the farm, but his wife and friends come by to lend a hand every day.

"I should say thank you to my wife because she stood beside me and helped me to make my dream," he said.

Syrian success story

5 years ago

Duration 2:22

Syrian success story

His advice for new farmers out there is to be patient with your dreams.

"First and second and third and the fourth year, you should not look for money. If you wantsuccessin your dream, [it] will take fouryears," he said.

"But next year, I'm ready to make it a business and for money."