Old motors left behind from Eritrea's liberation war have been turned into pumps. Bones and innards from the tilapia and other fish, ground up with seaweed and salicornia seed, feed the shrimp. There are other punctuation marks as well. Hodges's office sits in the beach palace of former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Salassie. The imperial tennis court is now the foundation slab for a new shrimp hatchery shed.
Aloes growing off the palace porch soothe the occasional sunburn.
Some, handpicked by Hodges, have gone overseas to earn advanced degrees to ensure the farm's future. The state plans to privatize its half. Eventually, Hodges will walk away, too, leaving behind what he hopes will be a model for a new era of agriculture. Standing alongside an irrigation sluice, he watches a seeder slowly cross a new salicornia field. Hodges said, satisfied that his farm marks a forward leap in that process.