The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA), through funding from Sony Music Global Social Justice Fund and the support of agriculture technology company Fork Farms, has granted 12 grow towers to the Walkers Institute for Regenerative Research, Education and Design (WIRRED) in St Andrew as well as to the governments of Anguilla and the Cayman Islands.
The CCSA pilot includes five Flex Farms for each of the two governments and two units for WIRRED, a non-profit organization and charity born out of the regeneration of the 277-acre Walkers Reserve.
One Flex Farm can grow 25 pounds of lettuce every 28 days. The farm requires only nine square feet of space and a standard electrical outlet. Both units for WIRRED will be housed at Walkers Reserve, a former sand quarry that is now the largest regeneration project of its kind in the region and a model for climate adaptation and resilience.
Training will be done with members of the Walkers Reserve’s team and community stakeholders, increasing their knowledge of and skills in regenerative agricultural techniques. WIRRED and the other two beneficiaries of the pilot project will receive support to operate the Flex Farms and will monitor production yields for a one-year period.
Racquel Moses, chief executive officer of the CCSA, noted that The World Food Programme and Caribbean Livelihoods Survey – May 2023 shows that 52 percent of the population in the English-speaking Caribbean remains food insecure.
“Everyone should have access to fresh, nutritious, locally grown food, especially in the global South and for vulnerable groups like youth and women. This is a climate and social justice goal we hold in common with Fork Farms and the Sony Global Justice Fund,” she said.
Read the entire article at Barbados Today