Creating ethical & sustainable farming practices
Grow Asia Pacific (GAP) is a New Zealand registered Charitable Trust that aids and supports the primary sector's ethical and sustainable farming practices in the Asia Pacific Region.
who we are
Providing farmers opportunity for sustainable growth
Farmers are essential in all societies for producing food, fibre, and helping to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
Despite this vital role, farming systems are coming under increasing stress from a rage of negative influences, including climate change, an aging workforce, and competition for land use. Grow Asia Pacific comprehends the need for improved returns for farming families and explores realistic opportunities to create resilience, secure markets, and increase incomes.
Minor changes to farming practices and fair access to resources and markets are often all it takes.
The trust was established by the Directors of SPS Biota to pass on the knowledge gained from decades of agri-business work primarily in the Pacific.
Grow Asia Pacific supports the Three Pillars and Five Actions of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) of the United Nations Food and Agriculture organisation. The pathway to achieving successful outcomes; balanced environmental protection, food security, and economic development is delivered by SPS Biota.
Our vision
Resilient and prosperous Pacific farmers with fair and respectful business relationships across Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific region.
Our mission
To be a respected partner in providing platforms and expertise for Pacific farmers to supply premium products to Australasian markets.
Permaculture - Working with nature
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The concept of permaculture arose from the combination of the words “permanent” and “agriculture”, and describes a design system as well as a best practices framework for the creation and management of sustainable and resilient agroecosystems.
We see traditional practice being essentially organic but without the scientific knowledge of why production increases or drops.
When we link traditional farming methods with scientific, less intensive, more organic approaches we get a form of permanent agriculture where long-term sustainability is developed.
Today, permaculture is a widely recognised sustainable concept, with hundreds of projects being implemented in over 100 countries and being funded by large organisations like IFAD (https://www.ifad.org/en/web/latest/-/see-how-permaculture-transformed-farmland-in-nepal-from-barren-to-lush), JICA (Food Security based on Permaculture Development Model for Indigenous Mangyan in the Amnay Area, Philippines), USAID (https://2017-2020.usaid.gov/results-data/success-stories/kitchen-gardens-flourish-samoa) and MFAT too, which supported publishing of Permaculture garden book for kids in Timor-Leste under large Timor-Leste government initiative of introducing permaculture concept into the primary school curriculum.
what we do