The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

EEDEN Farms, a tech-enabled farming company, sold two container farms to the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, a move officials said would help “revolutionise food security and food production in The Bahamas”.

Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister Jomo Campbell highlighted the advantages of container farming during yesterday’s handover ceremony, noting the country’s challenges with climate, land availability, and soil quality.

He said container farming allows crops to grow in a controlled environment, making the most use of the space available while permitting year-round farming by controlling temperature, humidity and light.

He said container farming ensures a consistent food supply for the population and reduces the need for importing from abroad.

He said it is “resource efficient by using techniques such as hydroponics or aeroponics, which requires less water”.

He said container farming also provides job opportunities and stimulates economic growth.

Lincoln Deal and Gilbert Cassar, founders of Eeden Farms, emphasised the need to achieve food security.

“As mentioned in one of the dailys, a supermarket owner is already predicting some shortages in some segments of the agriculture industry and so food security is very important to the livelihood of the nation and also the future of the nation and it’s important to become more food secure than we currently are because we rely too much on imports,” said Mr Deal, president of the company.

“We need to increase our level of productivity and the way that you do it is to just start growing more, and so, containerised farming is just one of the more innovative and most innovative approaches to some of the greenery and opportunities to grow food on a consistent basis.”

Eeden Farms chief financial officer Mr Cassar said the two container farms will now belong to BAMSI, underlining the focus on training, education, research and development for further innovation.