Providing refugees with a micro-enterprise supporting them with an income and fresh fish and delicious vegetables

In partnership with the organization Caritas, we initiated a pilot project in Bethlehem in 2014 with the aim of empowering food insecure families to grow vegetables to eat and sell. We provided families with training and small hydroponics systems. This pilot demonstrated the effectiveness of the project: the families successfully produced more than enough vegetables for themselves and only had to spend an hour and a half per week. The lack of water in this area is not problematic since hydroponics requires about 85% less water than conventional agriculture. Even though these families did not have good soil to grow their food, the small scale gardening systems, placed on rooftops and in courtyards, created more than enough food.

With the experience we acquired in Bethlehem, we plan to expand this project to provide refugee families in the Middle East with the opportunity to grow food.