Projects bring soilless growing systems to three cities and agricultural career exploration to thousands of students

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Two Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension professionals have turned a yearlong leadership fellowship into projects expanding agricultural education across the Commonwealth.

Arnold Katende, horticulture Extension associate, and Lynsey Crumbie, state specialist in entrepreneurship, participated in the University of Kentucky’s Urban Extension Initiative Fellows Leadership Program. The program helps Extension professionals develop innovative, community-engaged projects addressing needs in Kentucky’s urban communities.

Katende developed a project providing hands-on education in hydroponics, aquaponics, vertical growing, and other controlled environment agriculture systems.

His project, “Empowering Kentucky Communities Through Urban Aquaponics and Hydroponics Education,” received a $15,000 runner-up award in the 2026 Kentucky Commercialization Ventures IMPACT Competition. Supported by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, the competition funds ideas designed to improve social, health, or economic conditions across the state.

The award will help establish community demonstration and training systems in Louisville, Frankfort, and Lexington. More than 50 participants will receive hands-on instruction, take-home hydroponic systems, educational materials, instructional videos, and technical mentoring.

Developed with Dr. Alhagie Cham, Crumbie, Kelly Rawalt, and Changó Gardens, the project will teach residents, schools, and community organizations how to produce fresh food year-round in limited spaces. Its combination of workshops, digital instruction, and regional partnerships could also provide a model for other communities seeking to expand urban food production.

Crumbie developed the Urban Ag Discovery Center, which opened Sept. 18 at Sam Swope JA BizTown® in Louisville through a partnership between Kentucky State Cooperative Extension and Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana.

Integrated into JA BizTown’s simulated local economy, the center allows fifth-grade students to explore food systems, agricultural finance, crop production, and animal health. Students take on professional roles that ask them to make financial decisions, compare growing systems, identify crop pests and beneficial insects, and examine how food moves through a community.

More than 14,000 students and volunteers participate in JA BizTown each year. Crumbie also secured a $20,000 Community Investment Partnership grant from Farm Credit Mid-America to enhance the student experience.

“Arnold and Lynsey have taken what they learned through the fellowship and created projects that respond directly to the communities we serve,” said Gill Finley Jr., program leader in Community Resource Development.

“As the Commonwealth’s only public HBCU and an 1890 land-grant university,” Finley added, “Kentucky State has a distinct responsibility to put knowledge to work for people across Kentucky. Extension fulfills that mission by bringing practical education, new technologies, and strong partnerships directly into our communities.”