GROW2FEED PROJECT LAUNCH

Grow2Feed Project Launch

REINVIGORATING LIVES, TRANSFORMING HOUSEHOLDS & IMPROVING COMMUNITIES

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

Growing Sustainable Communities

Grow2Feed is a donor-funded enterprise designed to reinvigorate lives, transform households & improve communities via a unique balance of co-operative fish and crop farming in a sustainable environmentally low impact way. Grow2feed provides the start-up capital along with the expertise and stewardship of setting up a fish and crop cooperative farm that will not only act as a food source, but also provide sustainable income for the community. Its a pioneering philanthropic initiative that champions self-reliant and entrepreneurial approaches to livelihood enhancement and sustainable development in the Global South. Part nutritional provider and part economic catalyst Timothy Rumage, Grow2Feeds Environmental Director recognizes that We have a dual task. Part of the goal is to provide food, a balanced diet, for the participants, while the other is to expand the economic potential of the individuals involved. Grow2Feeds projects aim to uniquely blend sustainable, low-impact, environmentally sensitive practices with social entrepreneurial values to maximize the community and livelihood benefits while minimizing the ecological footprint of the enterprise. Grow2Feed envisions our initial FARM project as a test model project that can be refined and replicated elsewhere in the Global South.

Work, food and medicine

My goal is to restore the dignity of women and children living with HIV. To empower women with HIV they need work, food and medicine to stay healthy. This fish farm project provides the essentials for that. Wendy Langendoen

GROW2FEED
BOSTON - AMSTERDAM - LIBERIA John D. Sheehy / Founder & Executive Director johnsheehy@grow2feedproject.org Timothy Rumage / Environmental Director timrumage@grow2feedproject.org Wendy Langendoen / Co-Founding Director wendylangendoen@grow2feedproject.org

G2F Global Fish Farm Kit

Grow2Feed's long-term vision is inside this shipping container! A readymade Fish Farm kit, in rapid response to a need for a new project , can be sent anywhere in the Global South.

GROW2FEED PROJECT LAUNCH | WWW.GROW2FEEDPROJECT.ORG | WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/GROW2FEED

The FARM Project, Liberia

The Grow2feed FARM Project in Liberia is our first project and recipient of support. The aim is to help change the lives of a socially isolated HIV+ community of 1,055 men, women and children including orphans, in Liberia, West Africa by delivering a quality solution to raising fish, a vital source of protein. Planned for launch in November 2012, the project's objectives will be achieved by initiating a food-production co-operative, focusing on fish and rice farming through a combination of loans and restricted grants. The FARM PROJECT SNAPSHOT WHY DID WE CHOOSE LIBERIA?

The FARM Project is a Cooperative Farm growing West African Catfish, Vegetables, Fruit & Rice. The first crop of watermelons (500) was planted October 6, 2012. The Farm Coop is made up of 1,055 HIV + Men, Women & Children (503 Females / 206 Males & 346 Children).

The Community will work the farm in exchange for Fish and vegetables, fruit, and rice to eat and sell in the local market. The selling of the fish is more than just a money generator for the community as it is also a way to reintroduce the HIV + group back into society in a productive and dignified way.

Liberia chose us. We wanted our first project to really stand out, by that I mean to really make an impact to the wider community beyond our immediate beneficiaries. The HIV Community will not only benefit from the quality protein and sales in the market place. But the selling of the fish will reintroduce an otherwise isolated community into a productive role in the wider community. It was a natural fit with a key aspect of our mission John Sheehy

The first crop of 500 watermelons were planted on Oct 6th 2012
What makes our approach unique is that Grow2Feed is not a traditional charity. We define ourselves as a donor-funded enterprise. We take on the mindset of a Social Impact Investment Fund meaning our for-profit operations can support our not-for-profit goals for our beneficiary communities. The principles that we are applying are basic tenets of permaculture, aquaponics and closed loop aquaculture. The environmental underpinning of all three of those systems adapts the process to the site, so that operations are integrated with the local conditions, not imposed or superimposed on the ecology of the place. Grow2Feed seeks to be strategic, not heavy handed, in our farming. The waste generated in one part of the operation is intended to become an input in another part of the farm. We are adopting concepts and techniques from other farms and organizations and adapting them for this Grow2Feed project.

We want to help these people feel normal again

The FARM Project it is simple to help this marginalized group feel self-sufficient and proud. To make them feel normal again and be treated just like their neighbors. That will be its true success.
TO FIND OUR MORE ABOUT GROW2FEED PLEASE VISIT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/GROW2FEED OR WWW.GROW2FEEDPROJECT.ORG