Send me to the WAS Aquaculture 2016 international meeting and allow me to work reducing world hunger

Aquaponics to reduce hunger and poverty in Argentina

My name is Leonardo. Since I was a kid, I have been interested in finance and administration and, therefore, I went straight into a Business Administration degree and a MA in Finance afterwards. Troughout my career, developed mainly in global companies, I have always impulsed innovation because I am convinced that it is by adopting the best practices in the world that companies and societies move forward and improve lives. I am a member of Rotary Club Gualeguaychu. I also love cooking and have a little home orchard.

Currently working for the public sector, I have everyday the opportunity to combine my expertise in the private field with the development of public policies to promote the economic and commercial growth of my local community. That is the reason why I got deeply interested in Acuaculture and, more specifically, in Acuaponics. This revolutionary system produces a symbiotic relationship between the plants and the fish that are cultivated in the same environment: effluents from aquatic animals are used by plants as food.

I intend to gain as much qualified information about the system as I can, in order to launch an Aquaponics project in my local community. The benefits of Acuaponics are well-known in many countries and multiple:

-it is eco friendly: fish waste is used as an input for plant growth; it requires little water and no fertilisers, pesticides or chemical nutrients.

-it can help to feed a growing population: this food can be grown in both urban and rural landscapes, indoors or outside.

-it encourages the consumption of organic vegetables, fruit and fish.

-it has social benefits for the communities that adopt it.

By developing Aquaponics, my intention is to produce high quality sustainable fish and vegetables while improving the nutritional conditions and the access to food in the region where I live.