Aquaponics: Getting it right in Jamaica

What can produce 10 times more crops in the same amount of space as traditional agriculture, consumes approximately 75 percent less energy than mechanized agriculture and uses 80 to 90 percent less water? Agriculture’s not-so-new but popular relative, aquaponics. The food production system — which combines conventional aquaculture with hydroponics to create a symbiotic ecosystem and dates as far back as Aztec cultivation — requires low capital investment, uses minimal energy and is resilient against extreme weather. These are just a few of the reasons it’s risen to the top of conversations about climate-smart solutions and why INMED Partnerships for Children has piloted them throughout Jamaica, Peru and South Africa. Agriculture accounts for nearly 18 percent of the total employed labor force in Jamaica, a climate-sensitive country. Drought devastated crops in 2014, yet the island needs to produce “more food, more efficiently, under more volatile production conditions” than ever before, Colin Bullock, director general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, told attendees at last week’s Harvest the Future Symposium in Montego Bay, Jamaica. At the same time, the practices used should be sustainable, climate-smart and lift farmers out of poverty. The to-do list to make one such option — aquaponics — a viable long-term substitute for traditional agriculture, including capacity building for farmers to adapt to the work, creating successful cooperatives, as well as bringing in global and local financial institutions to secure access to financing and fair returns, remains daunting. Aquaponics addresses many of the resource issues that plague the small farmer and the need for climate-smart agriculture at a time when Jamaica’s climate regime is marked by unreliability. Michael Taylor, lecturer at the Department of Physics at the University of the West Indies, encouraged attendees to forget anything they’d heard previously, and stated: “Climate change is real. And climate change is a real problem.” Aquaponics farmers can, with a low-cost grow bed and tank system, produce leafy greens, including scallions, romaine lettuce, okra and basil, to name a few. The fish raised in conjunction are often tilapia, a hearty, fast-growing fish with easy saleability. “It’s not hard work, it’s not heavy work and it can be done by most people,” according to Thad Jackson, executive vice president of INMED. Without ownership, though, the success of aquaponics farming is limited. INMED is currently developing an aquaponics loan program for small-scale farmers in partnership with local Jamaican banks and credit unions. To remedy the fact that many aquaponics farmers would have no collateral and no down payment, one solution is for financial institutions to have a list of guaranteed buyers to whom the farmer would sell directly. The buyer would then not pay the farmer, but the financial institution, which would take a percentage for the farmer’s repayment and another for savings, and dole out a certain amount to cover living expenses. The savings account becomes collateral for the bank, and the farmer can access it after he or she has repaid the loan. It’s a loan system that INMED hopes to adapt and roll out globally. INMED has worked with the Inter-American Development Bank to develop a loan prequalification online training program. Online video modules show how to build, operate and problem-solve an aquaponics system — What if my fish die? What if my leaves get fungus? — and provide business planning training. Assessments would follow to gauge satisfactory completion and knowledge retention, which would identify potential successful borrowers who could apply for a loan. In the meantime, Brian Wedderburn, president of the Westmoreland Organic Farmers’ Society of Jamaica, which operates one of INMED’s piloted aquaponics systems, is looking forward to the idea of a more fully formed cooperative. As it stands, his team isn’t able to harvest enough to guarantee the demands of their buyer, a local resort hotel, and have lost out on a long-term contract as a result. With the establishment of more aquaponics systems in the area, they could then join forces to decide who would grow what and when, allowing them to better meet the hotel’s demand for basil, which in this case was year-round, Wedderburn told Devex. The demand for fresh produce definitely exists though, according to Neil Curtis, founder of Farm Up Jamaica, a diaspora-funded nonprofit designed to reduce the importation of foreign food. Curtis has been dedicating his time to setting up large-scale organic farming in the country and has met with several hotels that would rather buy locally grown produce than import it at a premium. This immediate interest could be inspired by the philanthropic aspect of Farm Up’s work, he acknowledged, but he feels many hotels are very open and ready to buy locally. Already aquaponics farmers have formed the Jamaican Aquaponics Group under the leadership of Westmoreland Organic Farmers' Society’s Patricia Parchment to unite those practicing the harvesting system on the island — from marketing to purchasing of inputs for their systems. INMED plans to install five more strategically placed systems this year. ”If we can get it right here in Jamaica, it can be a model for the rest of the world,” Linda Pfeiffer, president and CEO of INMED, told Devex. 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