Assessing the Viability of a Fold-Out Hydroponic Farm for Humanitarian Relief Efforts in Dominica

Abstract

Hurricane Maria destroyed most of the agricultural sector on the island of Dominica and left the inhabitants with no locally grown produce for months. As climate change brings more frequent and extreme weather events, the Caribbean region becomes increasingly vulnerable to their adverse effects. Agriculture is a large component of Dominica's economy, and the country seeks to adapt its agricultural practices to accommodate the changing environmental conditions. A Charlottesville, VA startup company, Babylon Micro-Farms (BMF), received a grant to adapt their current hydroponic crop cultivation system to create a prototype for humanitarian food assistance. This prototype “fold-out farm” (FoF) would be solar-powered and transportable to Dominica for testing as a reliable source of fresh produce for families. The produce grown using the FoF could also provide extra income for these families. In order to assess the feasibility of implementing the FoF in Dominica, our project team is developing a Capacity Factor Analysis (CFA). CFA assesses a community's capability to successfully acquire and independently sustain a technology using the following factors: Institutional, Human Resources, Technical, Economic, Environmental, Energy, Socio-Cultural, and Service. By analyzing these individual factors, we hope to identify issues likely to affect the successful deployment of the FoF in Dominica. The results of this CFA lead to suggestions for improvements to the FoF technology and its implementation in Dominica. The development of this CFA will continue to be useful to BMF in the future while implementing their technology in other communities.