GEORGE NEWS - Georgians will soon be able to enjoy organic vegetables cultivated at a local micro urban aquaponic farm. The George Municipality and the green company, Grow Organic Plus, are establishing the farm on the outskirts of Blanco.
Manager of Local Economic Development, Pedro Oliphant, is excited about the project. "Many South Africans are vulnerable to food insecurity. This type of farming means healthier, cheaper food, job creation, self-sustainability, saving water and environmentally friendly produce," he said.
People's project
George Municipality provided the land and did the excavation, and Grow Organic Plus is taking it further. The unit structure is already built and set to be assembled.
Gerhard Swanepoel of Grow Organic Plus said, "We are proud to say that most items were manufactured in George by local people".
After community members have been trained, the community will form a cooperation and operate the farm. The community will have 20% to 30% shares in the cooperation.
The project will be built on a mere 500m², which means it can be used in the backyards of suburban houses, in townships or even on top of shopping centres.
Green company
Swanepoel is the brother of the founder, CEO and director of the micro urban aquaponics farm, Dr Frans Swanepoel.
Over the last eight years Grow Organic Plus has developed one of the world's most productive micro urban organic aquaponic farms that can feed hundreds of people balanced organic meals per day.
Swanepoel says the Grow Organic Plus unit is a unique modular semi pre-assembled system. Its plastic panels, piping and metal framework can be shipped anywhere around the world to be easily and quickly assembled along with supplied instructions.
It's perfect even for terrain not suitable for farming, such as mountainous or arid landscapes.
In 2015 Grow Organic Plus was chosen as one of the top 10 green companies in South Africa through the "JustAdGreen" organisation sponsored by J.P. Morgan Bank.
In 2016, a European board that represents 160 countries elected Grow Organic Plus as one of the top five entrepreneurial companies in South Africa, and they were sponsored a stand and a space on the agenda at the Global Entrepreneurial Congress held in Sandton Convention Centre in March 2017, where they presented the business to the ultra-rich and government representatives of these countries.
This was the first time this congress was held in South Africa.
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
