By Nancy Baker | Communications Director
We're often asked, "What are you really growing in those aquaponics systems?" Aside from all-natural produce and fish, we're really growing opportunities.
Our INMED Aquaponics® Social Enterprise (INMED ASE) connects all the pieces that smallholder farmers and vulnerable families need to achieve food security, community health, climate adaptation and sustainable livelihoods. In fact, in less than two years, we have implemented the INMED ASE in five countries, and the opportunities continue to grow.
We continue to expand the INMED ASE throughout South Africa, adding more satellite hub farms and aquaponics producers. Soon, we will be expanding the INMED ASE beyond Jamaica to other Caribbean nations. We're in the process of interviewing public and private stakeholders to identify the site of our next INMED ASE project. CLICK HERE to read more about this exciting development.
INMED USA is the latest to introduce our social enterprise model, kicking off our first INMED Aquaponics® project in the U.S. for a low-income community near our headquarters. We are introducing a community aquaponics system, plus traditional home and cooperative gardening, to strengthen food security among low-income residents of the Leesburg Mobile Home Park in Leesburg, VA, while promoting environmental education and access to outdoor space. The project will provide fresh, all-natural food to residents year-round.
An innovative aspect of our U.S. project is the use of discarded shipping containers, cut horizontally, for the grow beds–reinforcing the INMED's focus on locally available and repurposed materials to reduce costs and waste. CLICK HERE to read more.
And we have launched our first INMED ASE in Peru (more on that in our next report).
We have won many awards for our work, but I think a more impressive achievement is how INMED Aquaponics® has changed the life of Mary. Wheelchair bound, she spent years trying to find a job. Life was a daily struggle. But with training and an opportunity to grow, she is now a member of a successful farming cooperative in South Africa that is prospering with INMED Aquaponics® —and she is teaching other women in her impoverished community how to grow their own food for their families and income generation.
It takes a lot of resources to make this type of transformation happen. Please mark your calendar for Giving Tuesday on November 29 or consider a year-end gift. We would be grateful for a donation and are thankful for your continued interest in our project.
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