Global impact
Local solutions. Global knowledge.
Garden Pool's international work has emphasized one thing above all: helping people gain the capacity to build, repair, adapt, and improve systems themselves.
From Arizona outward
A community project that became capacity development
What began as a single converted swimming pool in Mesa became a body of practical method — how to grow more food with less water, using materials that are already nearby.
As invitations arrived from outside Arizona, Garden Pool's focus shifted from installing systems to developing local capacity: training people, documenting designs, and adapting methods to local climate, diet, and supply.
Garden Pool has collaborated with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and historically maintained an international sub-office in Trinidad & Tobago. Garden Pool's founder is designated an IICA Goodwill Ambassador in Sustainable Development.
Verified locations
- 01
Arizona, USA
Origin of the Garden Pool method; community programs, seed libraries, education and research.
- 02
Haiti
Sustainable agriculture and community food-production work.
- 03
Trinidad & Tobago
Golden Grove work and Garden Pool's historical international sub-office.
- 04
Barbuda
School-based agricultural work during rebuilding of the agriculture sector.
- 05
St. Kitts & Nevis
Climate-resilient aquaponics demonstration for farmers.
- 06
Suriname
Agricultural disaster-risk-management capacity development with IICA.
- 07
Dominican Republic
Garden Pool system built and taught locally.
Only verified locations are listed. Additional countries will be added as historical records are confirmed.
Climate Smart Farms
Designated an IICA Goodwill Ambassador
In this video produced by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), founder Dennis McClung discusses his designation as an IICA Goodwill Ambassador in Sustainable Development and the Climate Smart Farm approach that followed.
The work spans the Caribbean, Latin America, and South America — bringing practical, climate-resilient food-production systems and training to communities and institutions, with the goal of leaving behind skills and local capacity rather than dependency.
UN Solutions Summit 2019
Presenting Climate Smart Farms at the United Nations
In 2019, founder Dennis McClung presented at the UN Solutions Summit, held during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
His talk introduced the Climate Smart Farm approach and the goal of bringing this technology to communities around the world — pairing resilient food-production systems with the training and local capacity needed to sustain them.
Focus areas
What this work addresses
- Food security
- Climate resilience
- Post-disaster agricultural recovery
- Appropriate technology
- Local materials
- Water conservation
- Technology transfer
- Training
- Agricultural disaster-risk management
- Community resilience
Historical context
Reported reach, reported honestly
By 2018, Microsoft reported that Garden Pool had grown to approximately 1,600 volunteers worldwide, a core team of around 20 people, and activity associated with roughly 40 countries.
These are historical, third-party reported figures from that period — not current organizational statistics.
