IT engineer quits job to turn barren lands into food forests, plants over a lakh trees

Growing up in Kerala, Shihab Kunhahammed planted his first tree while still in class five, inspired by his grandmother, who was 90 at the time. Surrounded by farms and greenery, he loved watching saplings grow into plants and trees.

He graduated from MES College of Engineering in IT in 2010 and landed his first job in Bengaluru. For nearly ten years, Shihab lived the predictable rhythm of corporate life as an engineer in India’s IT capital. However, something always felt missing.

“I was bored with concrete all around me,” he tells 30Stades.

In 2015, while still working full-time in IT, Shihab found his calling. He began working with a group of like-minded individuals who were buying barren land with the dream of restoring it in Shoolagiri, near Hosur in Tamil Nadu. On weekends, he travelled to Shoolagiri, working on the plantation, landscaping, and afforestation.

“For five years, I lived two parallel lives – working in the office on weekdays, planting forests on weekends,” he says.

The jump from IT to forests

By 2020, the pull of the land became impossible to ignore. Shihab moved to his farm in Shoolagiri, and in 2021, he resigned from his job with multinational firm ITC Infotech. “I realised farming could no longer be my side project. It was my life,” he says.

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Around the same time, people began approaching him with requests to help green their barren plots, neglected spaces, and dry landscapes. “I saw possibility in all of them because with natural, organic practices and good planning and layout, any land can be turned green,” Shihab says.

He began creating food forests, which are well-designed ecosystems that mimic natural forests, attracting bees, birds, and butterflies and yielding edible produce.

Since 2021, Shihab has created over 1,000 food forests and more than 100 micro forests, planting over a lakh trees across India. His work now spans 600 acres in seven states, including Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and regions like Nagpur and Tadoba.

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How a food forest is grown

“A food forest is not just about growing food. It’s about balance,” Shihab explains. Unlike conventional farming, food forests are layered ecosystems with trees, shrubs, vines, and root vegetables that turn into a self-sustaining, edible ecosystem.

As in the case of Japan’s Miyawaki Method, Shihab ensures the sunlight does not reach the ground of the food forest.

“By blocking sunlight from reaching the forest floor, the growth of weeds and parasitic plants is naturally suppressed. The shaded environment also encourages the growth of beneficial microorganisms, like earthworms,” he adds.

Before starting work on any barren or unused land, Shihab studies the site in detail, including topography, rainfall, humidity, the soil type, drainage, and water flow. “Before planting even a single tree, we must understand the existing ecology. Then the plantation is decided,” he says.
Shihab designs a food forest with seven layers.

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The first layer comprises tall canopy trees, like mango, jackfruit, and avocado, typically planted 25 feet from each other. Medium canopy trees such as guava and lemon are spaced carefully between, say, two mango trees. “Short-lived plants like papaya and banana are planted between medium trees,” he explains.

The rest of the land can be used to plant tubers and spices like yams, colocasia, ginger, turmeric, and creepers like passion fruit, which climb along fences, he says.

Shihab also ensures space for mulch and pollinator plants to attract bees, butterflies, and birds. Bamboo species can also be planted, he adds.

“Every inch of land is used thoughtfully. Within two to three years, grafted plants like mango begin yielding, and what was once barren becomes a thriving edible ecosystem,” he says.

Growing forests and communities

Along with seven partners, he has co-founded an ecological landscaping firm that offers consultancy on forest creation and land restoration projects. He also runs a sustainable farmstay that hosts events, workshops, and internships, training people in ecological farming and food forest design.

While he charges for consulting and workshops, Shihab continues to guide farmers and landowners wherever help is genuinely needed without charging any fee.

For Shihab, food forests are essential, not just for humans, but for all life. “They provide food, restore soil health, conserve water, and bring back pollinators and birds. Most importantly, they prove that development and ecology do not have to be opposites,” he says.

He plans to expand his work to every nook and corner of India and abroad. “When you create a food forest, everyone benefits -- people, birds, insects, and the land itself,” he says.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai- based journalist specialising in financial, business and socio-economic reporting).

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