Designed by Butler & Parker and sponsored by the Gates Foundation, the Garden of the Future highlights a range of climate-resilient crops and other innovations that are helping smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to secure healthy, nutritious diets and stable livelihoods – despite the challenges of more extreme weather, periods of drought and sudden, heavy rainfall.
Changing weather patterns are threatening the future for people everywhere, especially those who rely on the land to grow food and crops. In sub-Saharan Africa, most of the 1.2 billion population work in agriculture, a sector that accounts for about 20% of the region’s GDP. Harsher weather conditions have already reduced per capita GDP across the continent by 14%. Scientists warn that rising temperatures alone could cut yields of maize – one of Africa’s most important food crops – by more than 20%. These are challenges however, that are now also increasingly being faced by communities in countries like the UK.
Despite the challenges, there are solutions that enable healthier, climate-resilient futures for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and for communities throughout the world. The RHS Garden of the Future aims to showcase some of these solutions, including climate-resilient ornamentals and vegetables, edible plants with multiple uses and properties, and approaches that help conserve water and support sustainable planting.
“The Gates Foundation works with partners globally and regionally to help people in Sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia who are disproportionately impacted by a changing climate. For these smallholder farmers and people who rely on the land for their livelihoods, this isn’t an issue for the next generation – it’s here now, and it’s already affecting their economic and food security. By supporting farmers, scientists and innovators to develop and scale innovative farming solutions, we can help them and their families have more consistent food production and access to affordable, nutritious food all year long. The Garden of the Future puts these innovators in the spotlight and shows what’s possible when people work together, learn from each other and innovate to solve one of the world’s biggest challenges,” explains Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Director of Adaptive and Equitable Food Systems at the Gates Foundation.
Doulaye Kone, Director of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at the Gates Foundation said: “Nearly half the world’s population still lacks access to safe sanitation — a crisis that impacts health, education, and economic opportunity, especially for women and girls. A warming climate is compounding these challenges, making the need for innovative, water- efficient sanitation solutions more urgent than ever. Technologies like the UK developed Cranfield Circular Toilet are helping us reimagine what’s possible as we advance our goal to enable widespread use of safe, sustainable sanitation services to help drive positive health, economic, and gender equality outcomes for the world’s poorest people.”
In addition to focusing on the crops and plants themselves, the garden will showcase efficient water usage and storage water for the home and garden. One of those solutions is the Cranfield Circular Toilet, developed at Cranfield University in the UK, with support from the Gates Foundation, for global communities without access to safe sanitation. The compact non-sewered sanitation system, converts household generated wastewater into clean, non-potable water that can be used for garden irrigation, and pathogen-free biochar. Biochar, a charcoal-like product produced from the toilet, can be used in the garden to help improve plant health by neutralising acidity and improving the retention of water and nutrients.
Chef Levi Roots will officially open the garden with a cooking demonstration using some of the edible crops from the no-dig vegetable patch. Roots will be presenting alongside Phoebe Mwangangi, a smallholder pigeon pea farmer from Makueni County, Kenya, who is leading her community in adapting climate-resilient growing techniques, and Dr. Clare Mukankusi, an agricultural scientist and Global Breeding Lead for the Common Bean at the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Kampala, Uganda. Mukankusi is focuses on developing new plant varieties that are more nutritious and easier to grow. Together they will highlight how climate-resilient crops can provide nourishing options for communities around the world.
The Design
Set in the near future in the UK, in a scenario where weather patterns continue to change. The garden features climate-resilient crops that have been researched and developed by global agricultural innovation network CGIAR and other leading experts. In the garden, these crops are growing in test vegetable beds, demonstrating the no-dig gardening method, which can be used in gardens across the UK.
Matt Butler and Josh Parker, Garden Designers at Butler & Parker said: “The Garden of theFuture is a beautiful space that is practical and functional. Our goal is to take people on a journey of exploration and discovery, showcasing innovations, climate-resilient ornamentals and veg, edible plants with multiple uses and properties, and tools that demonstrate how growers, scientists, and communities are working together to grow a healthier future for everyone.”
Planting spills over the roof of the rammed-earth building surrounded by the climate-resilient crop beds, in a pink, purple and white palette. Key plants include: Sorghum bicolor, Cajanus cajan, Ipomoea batatas, Cistus × purpureus and Crataegus monogyna. A dip tank makes up part of a system of rainwater harvesting, integral to the climate-friendly design.
Some of the climate-resilient crops showcased on the garden include: (1) Millet (Sorghum bicolor), a drought-tolerant crop capable of growing in poor quality soil, rejuvenating the soil as it grows. A ‘superfood’, millet is a source of protein, fibre, iron, zinc and 10 times the calcium of wheat. (2) Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan), a grain legume crop for promoting food security across Africa, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. Improves soil health through nitrogen fixing and produces quicker harvests. (3) Chickpea (Cicer arietinum), improves soil fertility through boosting nitrogen and are water-efficient. (4) Broad Bean (Vicia faba), popular cool-season legume grown around the world, can be eaten fresh or dried, fed to animals, or used as green manure. Current efforts to diversify the varieties of broad beans aim to strengthen its tolerance to heat, drought, and disease make them a smart choice for a changing climate. (5) Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), warm-season legume, with edible seeds and pods. (6) Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas), new varieties are biofortified with vitamin A and able to withstand hotter, drier climates, and have become a crucial resource for farmers and communities globally. More than 6.8 million households in Africa and South Asia grow them. Consumed daily, they provide vital nutrients for children and strengthens their immune systems.
Companion planting in the garden with varieties such as Purple Sage (Salvia officinalis Purpurascens) and Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) are used to highlight its benefits for plant health and biodiversity, as well as succession planting for productivity and yield with tasty produce including Khol Rabi, Chicory (Cichorium intybus ‘Rossa Di Treviso’) and Parsley. An edible boundary hedge provides foraging, plus habitats for wildlife, and areas of dappled shade with fallen log seating offers relaxation spaces for those working in the demonstration garden.
The rammed-earth building, the Climate-Smart Hub, features a semi-intensive bio-solar green roof helping to insulate and capture carbon, with solar panels. Excess water from the green roof is fed into a dipping tank. Rainwater can be pumped up using a solar powered pump from Futurepump, a British-Indian solar pump manufacturer, with a mission to deliver sustainable, reliable, and affordable irrigation. Inside the hub, there is a display of examples of how smallholder farmers, scientists and gardeners are collaborating to create healthier futures both in the UK and globally.
The Garden will be built by Acacia Gardens Ltd, supported GK Wilson and plants have been sourced from Kelways.
After the show
After RHS Chelsea, the plants from the Garden of the Future will be relocated to the Energy Garden, an organisation helping community groups deliver gardens and solar projects in London, with a focus on transforming parts of railway stations and platforms into thriving gardens. The construction material from the Climate-Smart Hub will be broken down and used as a soil mulch/top dressing, and the green roof materials will be used to create smaller green roofs in the relocation sites. The Cranfield Circular Toilet will return to Cranfield University where it will be used in further R&D as they work on beginning household testing of this new technology.
