NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A Bahamian tech-enabled hydroponic containerized farming company is aiming to change the perception of what sustainable farming is and offer fresh organic produce year-round.
Serial entrepreneur Lincoln Deal II said yesterday the idea to develop Eeden Farms was conceptualized eight years ago, starting as a research paper.
Deal, while speaking at the official launch of the farm located in the Bron Business Centre, Airport Industrial Park, noted: “In The Bahamas, we have a lack of production because of space, climate and weather restrictions. It is not sustainable for a country to continue to import food at the rate we do today.”
According to Deal, Eeden Farms represents the “blueprint” for the future of farming in the country.
“In the era of climate change and COVID-19, conventional farming is facing unprecedented challenges,” said Deal.
“Countries like ours will struggle to supply environmentally friendly, locally-sourced and competitively-priced food. This pandemic has emphasized the urgent need to build recovery plans and new food security systems. One part of the answer could lie in a shipping container.”
Eeden Farms Co-founder Carlos Palacious noted each reusable container used in the hydroponic farming initiative has the growth equivalent of five acres of farmland, with the farms’ three containers currently representing the equivalent of 15 acres.
Gilbert Cassar, co-founder and CFO, noted the farm produces organic, non-GMO, pesticide-free produce.
“Eeden Farms is a technology company that does farming. We are changing the perception of what farming is into something, modern, sophisticated and clean,” he said.
Cassar noted the farm can grow more than 500 crop types, including lettuce, spinach, kale, arugula, basil, mint, thyme, edible flowers, parsley and more.
Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Michael Pintard, who was on hand during the official ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday, said Eeden Farms has embarked on a process that can help fix many of the gaps that exist along the value chain and the supply chain in agriculture.
He stated that new methods are needed not just to feed the 400,000 Bahamians but also the seven million tourists who visit the country.
“This generation, I believe, will catapult us in a way that past generations have not been able to,” Pintard said.
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