Johannesburg - As the world buckles under the brunt of climate change and worsening weather patterns which have devastating effects on the agricultural sector, aquaponics farming may just end up being humanity’s salvation.
It’s a food production system that couples aquaculture with hydroponics where nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to hydroponically grown plants.
This is exactly the thinking that led humanitarian development organisation, Inmed SA and its partner, snack giant, Mondelēz International, on a quest to not only find sustainable ways to feed poor communities but also to teach a man how to fish.
At the Inmed Aquaponics Enterprise Farm in Vanderbijlpark, the organisations are using aquaponics to grow Catfish, Tilapia fish, cherry tomatoes and lettuce, which are sold to feed poor communities, but also for the communities to grow to earn a living and feed themselves.
Key to their purpose is promoting healthy nutrition in poor communities and at schools. In Vanderbijlpark, Inmed SA has also partnered with its neighbour, Carel de Wet Technical High School, to get the learners involved in the growing and harvesting of crops and to teach them about aquaponics farming.
Programmes director at Inmed SA, Unathi Sihlahla, said they also partnered with schools in Orange Farm, Diepsloot and Soweto and the aim is to train people with low level literacy about aquaponics farming so that they too can become self sustainable.
“We are finding that young people aren’t interested in agriculture. We need to change this. But if you look at the challenges of climate change, one can almost understand why. The average age of farmers in SA is around 60 years. So we have come up with fun ways, using science and technology, to show young people, especially, how easy it actually is,” he said.
Inmed SA and its partners have used the most basic of designs at their farms across the country to include everyone.
“We even use the local languages of the communities that we work in. We’ve made books and tools available in the local languages to make it easier for the communities to understand the benefits of the various projects.
What is also key is that we do not impose the tech on anyone. We invite communities to see how it works and then we take it from there. This site is also a training ground for us and communities. For us, it’s about building the capacity of our farmers and we have done well in that regard,” Sihlahla added.
Inmed SA said while their hybrid model has a strong social emphasis, there’s also the business side of things and to this end it has partnered with various municipalities to provide training in aquaponics as a way of the future.
“Everything we grow here we sell. We provide fresh produce to Tsogo Sun’s Riverside Sun and some of their Garden Court hotels. We provide about 100 bunches of spinach to Boxer stores per week. We have working relationships with the local farmers and they too sell to big companies.
“Everything is grown organically. Right now, we are even in talks with Spur and Woolworths. The idea is to upscale and secure local markets for us and our partners,” he said.
Sihlahla said the fact that more children and communities are now aware of and eating various veggies, means they are succeeding.
Aquaponics use very little water and the magic is in the fish poop. Water from the Catfish and Tilapia tanks, rich in nutrition and fish poop, is filtered to the lettuce and cherry tomato plants which grow in water. Sihlahla said the process is fast and energy efficient.
Manager for the adaptive agriculture programme, Karah Mashava, said they currently had 5 800 Catfish from the Gariepdam which he feeds three times a day.
“They are my babies. My day usually starts at 08H00 and ends at 17H00 but it can go on for longer. The Catfish can grow to weigh 1.5 kgs in just 10 months. They may look scary but they are very tasty,” he said.
Mashave said the crops they grow take just 30 days from planting to harvesting which makes their entire production system highly effective.
“We can grow 90kg of lettuce in just five weeks. We sell it for R120/kg. We can make up to R100 000 per cycle and we have about 10 cycles per year. The kids come in and they help with the planting and harvesting. They love it,” he added.
Mashave said a seed can germinate after just three days and to this end, Unisa is studying their micro-green (the shoots of salad vegetables such as rocket, celery, beetroot etc) crops.
“They say it even tastes better than soil-grown veggies. At our farms across the country we grow spring onions, kale, eggplants, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and most herbs,” Mashava said.
Veggies that don’t grow well in water include potatoes, radish, onions and carrots.
“Our systems are designed to be easy. It’s basically plug and play. Our cherry tomatoes sell for R130/kg. We are even partnering with the Nelson Mandela Bay University in Gqeberha for our micro-greens which we hope to sell to high-end establishments,” he added.
Sihlahla said aquaponics was now even part of the curriculum and the partners were coming in fast and furious.
“We want to change the lives of communities to stimulate change. Our wish is for every household across SA to have their own miniature aquaponics farms to ensure food security.,” he concluded.