Aquaponics comes to the classroom in Gauteng

Technology and innovation need not be the exclusive domain of mega farmers and multinational organisations. With the right help, even a township school can lead the way.

This is well illustrated by the story of Lesedi la Kreste Anglican Primary, a stateowned school in Orange Farm, a township approximately 45km south of Johannesburg alongside the N1 and R553 highways.

For over a decade, this school’s 1 427 learners have had the opportunity to join the school’s environmental club, where they are taught the basics of recycling, aquaponics and agriculture. The school also has a functioning aquaponics system where a variety of vegetables are grown in gravel with the help of catfish.

Simply put, aquaponics relies on a natural cycle where the waste from the fish serves as fertiliser for the plants, while the plants filter the water, keeping it clean for