NOMAD is on a mission to develop a unique mobile solution for the production of high-quality organic fertilisers and soil amenders from digestate - the liquid biofertiliser by-product from anaerobic digestion.
Digestate is an excellent organic biofertiliser that contains most of the contents from the original material digested (feedstock) but there are several pros and cons when it comes to storing and applying it to land.
Green-skills training: At the heart of our model are three core growing methods — each chosen for its potential to regenerate land, reduce waste, and empower communities in dense urban environments.
1. Hydroponics: Growing More With Less
Hydroponics allows us to grow leafy greens and herbs without soil, using up to 90% less water than traditional farming. This clean, soil-free method is ideal for urban spaces where land is limited or contaminated. At our East London sites, we grow crops like basil, lettuce, sorrel, and parsley in vertical hydroponic systems — providing hyperlocal, chemical-free food with zero air miles. Our hydroponic training courses teach learners how to build and manage their own systems at home or in community settings, opening up new green career pathways.
2. Mushroom Cultivation: Circular and Nutrient-Dense
Mushrooms are one of the most efficient and nutrient-packed foods you can grow. At SOURCE Foods, we grow gourmet mushrooms like oyster in compact, low-tech systems that are perfect for small indoor spaces. Our mushroom kits and cultivation workshops show people how to turn waste into delicious food while learning about the remarkable role fungi play in ecosystems and climate regeneration.
SOURCE Foods is LEAP's flagship urban agriculture project, based in East London. Through hydroponics, mushroom cultivation, and soil-based regenerative gardening, we grow chemical-free food while training communities in climate-positive food systems. Our goal is to create a replicable, scalable model that can be adapted across urban, peri-urban and rural neighbourhoods to reduce food and waste miles, replace non-renewable fertilisers, compost and energy, and create more self-sufficient communities empowered with everyday climate action and skills.
We’ve already transformed sites like Gainsborough Primary School, Hackney Wick and R-Urban, Poplar into vibrant learning farms — offering fresh produce, hands-on worshops for all ages.
From £5 produce bags to accredited green skills training, SOURCE Foods is where circular growing meets community action.
We also host CSR-friendly site visits and volunteering days, perfect for businesses looking to engage staff in sustainability.
PILOT food waste collection scheme We are currently installing a community-scale anaerobic digester at R-Urban so that we can turn more food waste into biofertiliser, bioenergy and compost. We'll be setting up a pilot food waste collection scheme at the Teviot Estate over the road, engaging with residents and demonstrating a closed-loop cycle, where the by-products are used to grow food on-site. We'll use the food for community workshops, volunteer meals and events so everything is hyper-local! This zero food and waste miles model is what we want to promote across social housing estates, schools, university campuses and more.
3. Soil-Based Sustainable Gardening: Healing the Land
We also grow food the old-fashioned way — with our hands in the soil. But we do it differently: our soil-based gardens are designed with regenerative principles in mind. That means we don’t just grow vegetables — we build soil health, support biodiversity, and sequester carbon in the process. Using compost we've made ourselves, cover crops, and no-dig methods, we create lush, productive beds that demonstrate what’s possible even in neglected urban plots.
More Than a Farm: Events, Visits, and CSR Partnerships
In addition to our training programmes and produce, we also offer site visits, corporate volunteering days, and sustainability-focused activities tailored for CSR programmes. Whether you're a company looking to engage staff in meaningful climate action or a community group wanting to explore urban farming, we provide immersive, hands-on experiences that leave a lasting impact. It’s a chance to connect with nature, give back locally, and be part of the regenerative future. Email info@sourcefoods.uk.
ECOSMART 2
Smart solar + AD minigrid pilot project 2022-24
ECOSMART is a clean energy project that brought LEAP together with Nigerian partners; Solar Sister; Meyana Bioenergy; and Energy and Industry Development Initiative and UK partners; the University of Sheffield, Connected Energy and Stopford Energy and Environment.
The project addressed the lack of affordable, reliable energy and waste management infrastructure in Nigeria and Sub Saharan Africa. It combined AD with solar technology to form the basis of a circular economy minigrid system for Sub Saharan Africa.
The focus on processing cassava, yam, and mixed market wastes ensures a high proportion of beneficiaries are women and those on low incomes. A pilot system at Ibiade was established in 2024, where smallholders could benefit from clean, renewable energy to process their crops.
LEAP is now working with Nigerian partners to build on the learning from this project and bring this solution to market.
Successfully commercialisation would support developing countries in leapfrogging centralised waste infrastructure and pioneering innovative, equitable models of energy generation, bio-resource management and reuse.
ECOSMART's integrated UK Nigerian collaboration aligned social and gender considerations with economic and environmental benefits to form a blueprint for sustainable community bioresource management.
Our sister company
While MAD LEAP focuses on delivering circular bioeconomy projects that benefit local communities, our sister company, LEAP Micro AD, is on a mission to develop enabling technology. The two examples below give a taste of LEAP Micro AD's activities in recent years.
Developing a mobile digestate processing solution
NOMAD developed a unique mobile solution for recovering nutrients, grey water and soil amenders from digestate - the liquid biofertiliser by-product from anaerobic digestion.
Digestate is an excellent organic biofertiliser that contains most of the contents from the original material digested (feedstock) but haas several pros and cons.
Digestate has a wider range of macro and micronutrients compared with standard synthetic NPK fertilisers and an much lower carbon footprint but is bulky at 90-95% water, making storage expensive. Its composition varies depending on the feedstock used. On farms with plenty of land, it is invaluable replacement for energy-intensive synthetic fertiliser but is best applied just under the soil surface, making application expensive. For sites that don't have space to use it, it must be transported off site with high costs and environmental impacts.
NOMAD´s smart, mobile digestate technology could be key to reducing the overall cost, complexity and footprint of small plants to dramatically improving their economic viability. It could unlock the urban market for micro AD networks. It could also be scaled up to serve large AD plants, helping save significant disposal costs where they're incurred.
For the end user, NOMAD reduces the risks and challenges associated with digestate. The technology aims to boost circular bio-economies by expanding enterprise opportunities, improving resource-efficiency and sustainable agricultural practices to create prosperity and employment in rural and urban areas.
The project ran from 2019-23, with MAD LEAP's sister company LEAP Micro AD bringing together 15 partners across the UK, EU and China to design, build and demonstrate the technology in four countries, processing different types of digestate.
LEAP Micro AD designed and fabricated the system, with input from Stopford Environment and Energy (UK), CERTH (Greece), IHE Delft (Netherlands) and IUE (China). NOMAD was piloted in the EU before returning for the UK trials in 2023. MAD LEAP will demonstrate aspects of this solution as part of their East London circular pilot.
