24.1 Introduction

Social enterprises, as distinct from traditional private or corporate enterprise, aim to deliver products and services that cater to basic human needs. For a social enterprise, the primary motivation is not maximizing profit but building social capital; economic growth is therefore only part of a much broader mandate that includes social services such as rehabilitation, education and training, as well as environmental protection. There is growing interest in aquaponics among social enterprises, because it represents an effective tool to help them deliver their mandate. For example, aquaponics can integrate livelihood strategies to secure food and small incomes for landless and poor households. Domestic production of food, access to markets, and the acquisition of skills are invaluable tools for securing the empowerment and emancipation of women in developing countries, and aquaponics can provide the foundation for fair and sustainable socioeconomic growth (Somerville et al. 2014). This chapter presents some examples of recent initiatives by social enterprises using aquaponics.