How to Grow Your Own Food in the Time of a Water Crisis

Water is still a critical talking point in conservation right now due to the current water crisis facing the Windhoek central region. However many are stepping up to share their potential solutions to curbing water wastage. One such origination is the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia, who has built aquaponics systems at schools in the South of Namibia.

Namibia Future Farming is another such non-profit organization that is looking to spread the word on why we should all be looking at aquaponics systems if we wish to provide our homes with fresh food that does not use a lot of water.

Aquaponics is farming of the future. It produces both fish and organic vegetables, in a dynamic, natural, pond-type ecosystem that can either feed you and your family or scaled up to feed many commercially.

The best part about aquaponics systems for Namibia is that they use 90% less water than traditional farming. This is because water and nutrients are recycled in a closed-loop which conserves water. Another benefit of these types of growing systems is that no harmful fertilizers are used so no harmful fertilizers can run off and make their way into our water system.

This is not the only benefit of these types of systems, Aquaponics also can grow more produce compared to produce grown conventionally in the ground. Vegetables usually grow significantly faster, and at three to four times the density, without ever depleting the nutrients.

What’s more, you don’t need to possess extraordinary growing skills or have a lot of space to make use of this type of farming system. You can build your system to be as big or as small as you need it to be and it requires very little attention once set up.

Namibia Future Farming has established a demo site in Windhoek for interested members of the public to view the system and have their questions answered by a Namibian aquaponics system specialist. The demonstration site is open every Tuesday between 2pm and 5pm where a specialist is standing by to answer your questions about aquaponics could work for you.

So if you are looking for a way to become self-sufficient, grow food for your family in a way that is cost effective and contributes to reducing our water consumption because of wise water usage, then take a listen to the MYD Earth show from this week with Bernadette Shalumbu from the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia and Antje Schidlowski from Namibia Future Farming.

Below you will also find links to find out more about the Windhoek Aquaponics demo site and how aquaponics is working here in Namibia.

Listen to the MYD Earth show where we talk aquaponics, here :

https://soundcloud.com/99fm/myd-earth-aquaponics

Click here for the Namibia Future Farming website : NFF

Click here for the Namibia Future Farming Facebook page : NFF