Students aim to raise $10,000 for hydroponics farm in Honduras

November 09, 2015

A group of UW-Whitewater students is trying to raise $10,000 to help students 3,100 miles away in Honduras build a sustainable hydroponic farm.

The UW-Whitewater students are members of the campus group Enactus, an international nonprofit organization that brings together students, academic and business leaders who are committed to entrepreneurial action that will improve the standard of living of people in need.   

The students launched the campaign, Hydroponics 4 Honduras, on Oct. 6 with the goal of raising enough money to purchase a greenhouse, irrigation, fertilizers and tools so high school students in the rural town of Linaca, Honduras, can start a self-sustaining hydroponic farm. The high school the UW-Whitewater group will be working with is in an area where few people receive education past the sixth grade and where malnutrition leaves children with a myriad of health problems.  

"If we can get the funding, we can bring a different style of agriculture to an area where the rocky soil isn't productive," said Randall Whicker, a senior communication major and Hydroponics 4 Honduras team member. "This style is one that produces higher yields and brings more food to the community."  

Whicker said the goals are to increase agricultural productivity through hydroponics and make it profitable enough that so their Honduran counterparts can start a small business and teach others, so it becomes a sustainable livelihood.  

Choton Basu, associate professor of information technology and supply chain management in the College of Business and Economics, is the faculty adviser for UW-Whitewater's 36-member Enactus chapter. He oversaw the students' creation of their business model and will prepare the group to compete in the Enactus regional competition in Chicago, Illinois, next spring. The competition encourages creativity and rewards results, Basu pointed out, just as in the business world. In addition, it gives student teams a forum in which to showcase their hard work.   

"They're evaluated by executives from some pretty big-name companies, who are the judges," Basu said. "The students have 17 minutes to make their presentation and it is unbelievable pressure. The judges will ask tough questions. They will want to know what the measurable results from their project will be."  

Basu knows his students are learning "hard-core entrepreneurial skills," but is quick to point out they're being entrepreneurial to help others.  

"It is not about only being charitable, it is about empowering people," Basu said. "It is literally like the proverb of teaching people to fish."