The film documentary about Lake Agege Farm and the workshop

“Fire in the rainforest"

African tradition and European technology. Ghana on the path to sustainable agriculture. An educational farm on Lake Agege.

A film by Andreas Duerst

The trailer for the documentary will be available on this website shortly.

More information about the director: www.studio-301.de

A book by Christian Paul Lord Zigato Agboada, Anna Heringer and Maik-Jens Springmann

“Cultivating Earth"

The upcoming book is created in connection with and in conjunction with the experiences and implementations of the workshop.

This book (Expected publication: Spring 2026) presents the “African Farmhouse of the Future" as an answer to rural exodus and ecological crises. The authors, Christian Paul Lord Zigato Agboada, Anna Heringer and Maik-Jens Springmann, advocate for a renaissance of affordable clay construction instead of soulless concrete buildings. The goal is a symbiosis of sustainable agriculture and modern architecture for a self-determined future.

The authors’ vision inextricably links sustainable, ecological agriculture with modern architecture to counteract current rural exodus and impoverishment. Instead of chemical fertilizers and deforestation, the concept relies on the following pillars:

• Holistic management: Implementation of agroforestry systems and mixed cropping as an ecological alternative to the degradation of rainforest areas.
• Resource efficiency: Upgrading waste products into biochar and biogas to directly reduce farmers’ living costs in their local environment.
• Site loyalty: A shift away from traditional transhumance towards permanent agriculture, which creates social security through the acquisition of land ownership.
• Economic participation: Creation of infrastructure for processing and storing harvested crops, enabling farmers to share in prosperity beyond mere subsistence.
• Cultural identity: Utilization of modernized adobe architecture, which is cost-effective and transforms the natural features into “true culture" rather than “formless civilization."

The authors include:

Christian Agboada Lord Zigato is a Ghanaian engineer and project manager who works in various African countries. As head of the Department of Rural Housing, he promotes projects for safe and affordable housing in rural and peri-urban areas of Ghana and supports adopting innovative applications of natural building materials. Since 2008, he has worked for the Ada East District Assembly, the local government authority in Ghana, and since 2009 as a technical advisor for the Salesians of Don Bosco West African South Province. A notable project he is involved in is the Don Bosco Earth Campus in Tatale, Ghana, in collaboration with Studio Anna Heringer.

Anna Heringer, a pioneer in ecological building, primarily earthen architecture, and also teaches at various universities in Europe. Her award-winning work always focuses on a holistic approach that includes local communities. She has published several books and articles in renowned journals (de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Heringer). In northern Ghana, she is currently collaborating with the Ghanaian architect Lord Zigato on a village building project.

Dr. Maik-Jens Springmann co-founded one of the first organic farms in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 1995 (www.grenzer-oekohof.de). In 2000, he founded Lake Agege Farm near Cape Coast. He has written several books and articles on cultural landscape inventory and cultural development.