Aquaponic Farming is to be introduced to Anguilla as a means of improving sustainable food security for the island.
During the Government Press Conference on Monday 6th March, 2023 the Honourable Minister of Innovation Sustainability and the Environment, Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie, introduced two officers from the Department of Natural Resources to apprise the public on plans for improved food security in Anguilla via aquaponic systems.
The officers, Natural Resources Officer – Plant Protection Ms. Isabel Rosario, and Director of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Ms. Kafi Gumbs, spoke about the Aquaponics project that will be launched in Anguilla shortly.
Aquaponics is a combination of fish and plant production. It involves hydroponics – the growing of plants without soil.
Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie noted that the aquaponics project is part of the Resilience, Sustainable Energy and Marine Biodiversity (RESEMBID) programme for Anguilla, and is funded by the European Union. She said it is another step in the Ministry’s effort to achieve sustainable food security for the island.
Ms. Gumbs said that Anguilla was awarded the project Piloting Backyard Re-circulating Aquaponics System in Anguilla through Resembid in December of 2022. Funding for this project totals 292,000 Euros.
“The project is conducted by the Fisheries and Agriculture Units, and Isabel Rosario and myself are the Project Leads…We have a Project Steering Committee which is made up mainly of farmers. We are still trying to get someone from the fishing community to join the Project Steering Committee,” Ms. Gumbs said. “A part of the Projects Steering Committee is the Department of the Environmental Health, and the Health Promotion Unit is a vital stakeholder on this project.”
“One objective of this project,” she said, “is to increase public awareness about the importance of alternative food production for increased food security.”
“We intend to establish a small scale aquaponic system for demonstration. This will be located on the grounds of the Agricultural Unit. We also intend to establish aquaponic systems at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School; in one of the primary schools; at the senior citizens’ homes; and at the hospital. The folks at the hospital and seniors’ homes really welcome this opportunity to grow their own vegetables and produce their own fish,” Ms. Gumbs said. “They are extremely excited about it, and they say that they had the idea of growing their own food for some time now.”
“Another objective of the project is to increase the capacity of food production using backyard aquaponic systems,” the Fisheries Director noted. “Every household can have this opportunity to grow food as well as fish. Some people might say that there is so much sea around us, so why would we want to create fish farms. But the key reason here is for resilience. During Covid, for example, when fishers could not go out to fish, backyard fishing could have picked up the slack if households had aquaponic systems set up.”
Ms. Gumbs pointed out that the fish farms can provide bait for sea fishers. This would be efficient, seeing that the Japanese bait is quite expensive and the traditional fries for bait are becoming scarce now.
Interested persons in the community can visit the Agriculture Unit to get firsthand knowledge of the system.
Ms. Gumbs said there will be several workshops from which persons can benefit. They can come and be enlightened and be guided while they learn how to set up their own aquaponic systems in their back yards or in their garages.
The aquaponic project is scheduled to be launched on Wednesday 15th March, at 10:00 a.m. on the grounds of the Agriculture Unit, and the general community is welcome to attend.
