Update September 2018:

Marcus Sewell is a 33-year-old emerging aquaponics farmer in Spanish Town, St. Catherine in Jamaica. He became interested in aquaponics two years ago when he was surfing YouTube and came across a how-to video on building a home system. It sparked his interest, so he decided to design a system that would feed his family and provide high-quality produce to sell to his community.

Since enrolling in INMED’s Increasing Access to Climate-Smart Agriculture in March 2018, Marcus has received online and hands-on technical training as well as business training and mentoring. He is expanding his home system and is working diligently to launch his own agri-business. Below is his latest update on his progress:

September 2018: Coaching Session—The Business Side of Farming

I have been working on my business plan for some time now, because I wanted to take my start-up business, Brunswick Farm, to the next level. I had my first session with agri-business consultants Dr. Sharlene Ashley and Earl Ashley from The Consultancy Inc. at the INMED Office in Kingston. The Ashelys commended me on my pitch and how well they see the passion in me for my business and where I would like to see Brunswick Farm in the future.

My business pitch deck (business plan) was given a good grade as well, based on how well I put it together. The Ashelys provided constructive feedback on how I could strengthen certain weakness in my business plan. During the 90-minute meeting, I took notes of what I needed to delete, what needed to change and what I need to strengthen so I could pitch my idea to investors and banks. I took a lot of notes, because as entrepreneur my mind must be open to correction and learning new things. I came out of the meeting with a lot of homework to do. I am very happy that I am getting a lot of support so far to aid me in getting my start-up business off the ground, thanks to INMED.