Moonshot solution identified to end hunger
Press message 20-11-2017
GROASIS LAUNCHES FIRST PROJECT FOR WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME IN COLOMBIA TO REACH “ZERO HUNGER BY 2030”
DAVOS/BOGOTA/STEENBERGEN – Groasis is launching a pilot project in Colombia and implementing a radical innovation – the Growboxx® plant cocoon. Groasis is part of the first cohort of start-ups to receive support through the UN’s World Food Programme’s Innovation Accelerator. This was reached after a competition with more than 100 start-ups who applied to the Global Impact Challenge, a joint call for innovations by Singularity University and the UN World Food Programme for “Zero hunger by 2030”. The competition sought bold new ideas for quickly providing access to nutritious food for people living in hard to reach, eroded and disaster struck areas.
From December 2017, Groasis will run a project to investigate the impact that the Groasis Ecological Water Saving Technology can have on eliminating hunger by 2030. The project is a combination of ecosystem restoration and agroforestry done by food-insecure families with Groasis’ Waterboxx® and Growboxx® plant cocoons, thus restoring degraded land, supported by the World Food Programme.
Groasis provides the low-cost, scalable solution - the Growboxx® plant cocoon - which enables marginalized people to support their household’s food and nutrition needs in a sustainable manner that lowers their dependence on aid.
The project focuses on local production of fruit and vegetables on degraded land with the promising water saving technology, which can be deployed on any type of soil and in any type of climate. The Groasis Ecological Water Saving Technology has already proven itself in more than 40 countries around the globe. It is known for its “Triple 90 benefits”, since it offers 90% cost savings, 90% water savings, and a 90% survival rate of the trees and vegetables that are planted. The Growboxx® plant cocoon is cheap, does not require energy and is easy to implement as it offers a good fit with local agricultural traditions.
In October 2016 the Dutch Government awarded Groasis the title of National Icon for being one of the 3 most innovative projects of The Netherlands with a high social impact and supporting economic growth.
“We are very honoured that we now have been selected as one of the winners of the WFP – SU Global Impact Challenge, and to launch our first project with WFP. We share the same goal of achieving zero hunger,” says Pieter Hoff, founder of Groasis.
A video message from Pieter Hoff can be viewed here.
For more information on the Groasis Ecological Water Saving Technology – www.groasis.com
YouTube (fruit)tree planting channel
YouTube vegetables planting channel
High-resolution images can be downloaded here.
Follow us on Twitter @Groasis
For more information, please contact:
Celine van Haaften, Groasis/STEENBERGEN, Tel +316 52 21 36 22 or +31 167 54 75 54, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
