Fund Jamaican Farmers in Climate-Smart Aquaponics

Farmer Follow-up

Since our last report, the EnGenDER project participants to foster gender equality in climate adaptation completed their training in aquaponics and INMED Caribbean worked with six of the participants to install starter systems at their homes. The next phase of this project will be to monitor their progress and provide technical support as needed to help them grow their agri-businesses.

CSO Expo

Along those same lines, INMED Caribbean recently hosted the first in a series of educational exchanges/on-site expos at the INMED ASE Production & Training Center at Vernamfield in Clarendon, Jamaica. The three-hour event was part of Green Climate Fund (GCF) readiness project, Enhancing Caribbean Civil Society’s Access and Readiness to Climate Finance, to encourage Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to share best practices, and ideas.

Representatives of farmers groups and other NGOs toured our commercial aquaponics facility and production center and learned about the variety of innovative goods and services the INMED ASE offers the agricultural community, such as training, inputs, construction and consolidation services, among others. 

The GCF readiness project aims to enhance the capacities of CSOs to improve access to climate financing and mitigation initiatives to foster climate change adaptation in the most vulnerable communities of the world.

"Of course, three hours was not enough time to cover all the questions the group had," said INMED’s Senior Aquaponics Technician. "We have had many requests to hold more expos in the near future, and we anticipate they will become popular events at the ASE."

Agri-entrepreneurship Workshop

In partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank, INMED Caribbean is offering a 5-day INMED Aquaponics^® training workshop to jumpstart regional expansion of climate-resilient aquaponics farming and entrepreneurship, initially with a Producers Cooperative from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is partnering with INMED to introduce aquaponics farming to the island nation later this year. The event will be held on May 15-19, 2023, at theINMED Aquaponics® Social Enterprise Production & Training Centre Jamaica 4-H Club Vernamfield Facility in Clarendon, Jamaica.

New Starter System

The agri-entrepreneurship workshop coincides with the commercialization of INMED's residential aquaponics system to build food security, climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods, local economies &public health in vulnerable communities. A model of the system is on display at the Jamaica 4-H Club Duke Street Chapter in Kingston.

“It is truly amazing how much this program has grown from the time we introduced it in Jamaica just a few years ago,” says INMED Chief Operating Officer Kristin Callahan. “We are thankful for the groundswell of support to bring aquaponics to every household to reduce food insecurity. We have a lot of work to do!”

As always, thank you for supporting this project. Please share it with your social and professional networks, and if you haven’t done so already, please consider becoming a recurring donor. It will help us turbo-charge our impact!

Since the last big news about our new partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank to expand the INMED Aquaponics® Social Enterprise (ASE) program model to other Caribbean nations, our team has been busy performing a landscape analysis to identify the best site for our first expansion project. We are engaging a variety of stakeholders and look forward to sharing an announcement in the new year.

In the meantime, our team at INMED Caribbean has been training the next generation of climate-smart farmers in Jamaica through a partnership with 4-H and the United Nations Development Program. Called EnGenDER, the project aims to eradicate gender inequality in the experience and exposure of women and girls to the adverse impacts of climate change and natural disasters by helping them build skills in adaptive agriculture and entrepreneurship. 

Our training is being delivered in three phases:

1. An online introduction to aquaponics farming  and establishing an agri-business.
2. In-person classroom training on how to set up a household aquaponics system.
3. A day at the INMED ASE hub farm in Vernamfield, Clarendon for hands-on training on a commercial aquaponics system.

Six of the farmers in training will be selected to receive their own home system. One system has already been installed at the home of a youth farmer in Clarendon. More updates to come in our next report!

As we close out a very productive 2022, our staff and farmers in Jamaica are grateful for your support. Our work to strengthen local food production, climate adaptation and sustainable livelihoods in this vulnerable country would not be possible without you. If you haven’t done so already, please consider becoming a recurring donor to help us keep the momentum going strong. 

Best wishes for a joyful holiday season and new year from your friends at INMED Caribbean and INMED Partnerships for Children.