The Oko Farms Story
The word “oko” pays homage to our founder’s Yoruba heritage. Oko is a Yoruba word which loosely translates to farm in English. A more accurate definition of the word is a province or place where agriculture is at the center of socio-economic life, daily activities, and cultural traditions.
2013
Oko Farms began as a volunteer-run initiative with the conversion of 104 Moore Street, a rundown, 2,500 square foot lot in Bushwick, Brooklyn into The Oko Farms Aquaponics Farm & Education Center. The farm was built in collaboration with the Moore Street community and a diverse group of individuals interested in bringing an outdoor aquaponics farm to Brooklyn.
2015
Oko Farms launches NYC’s first Aquaponics Training Program - a 7 month long farm training program that provided participants with the skills to operate a small farm operation.
2016
Oko Farms begins school-based aquaponics education programs in collaboration with Leave it Better where 2nd - 6th grade students learned science, technology, nutrition and filmmaking through the experience of building and aquaponics garden in their classroom
2021
Oko Farms expands to a 10,000 square foot lot in North Williamsburg. This expansion allowed us to triple our food production and double the number of educational workshops and farm tours.
