1. By: Kayla, Avalon, Brendan, and Drew
Aquaponics
By: Kayla, Avalon, Brendan, and Drew

2. What is Aquaponics? Sustainable plant growing system
Consists of plants, water, fish,
and bacteria
A continuous system that works
together to clean and feed each
part

3. Two Kinds of Systems Media-based (gravel bed system)
Water from fish tank circulated through rocks
allows plants to access nutrients
Can either be continuous pump or flood and drain method
Best with rooted plants
Deep water culture
Plants float above the water in foam “raft”
Roots dangle into water
Uses more water, which provides stable water temperature for plants/fish
Best for leafy greens and herbs

4. Why Aquaponics? Uses 90% less water than current agricultural systems
Also allows the growth and
breeding of fish
Ability to grow indoors when
outside environment is not
favorable

5. Conversation with PolyPonics
Deep root (in water) successes: mint, basil, leafy greens
Flood and drain beds successes: tomatoes, green beans, squash
NOT celery, “Aquaponics celery tastes like broken dreams”

6. Ideas of Implementation
Horticulture Therapy
Sustainable and healthy food source for prisons
Sustainable food for developing countries short on water or with difficult weather patterns

7. Aquaponics as Horticulture Therapy
Growing and caring for plants is shown to improve mental health
Aquaponics would be a sustainable way to grow plants as food
Easy to grow
Gives the person a sense of responsibility and purpose

8. Why it didn’t work
When an aquaponics system dies, there is a lot of death
Dead plants
Dead fish
Dirty water
Not a good end result for a horticulture therapy garden

9. Aquaponics as a prison food source
In many prisons across the US, inmates only rarely receive eggs, dairy or meat and fresh fruit and vegetables are sometimes banned altogether.
Aquaponics could be used to grow fresh produce in an easy, sustainable way

10. Why it didn’t work
Conversation with Cal Poly sociology professor Dr. Alaniz
Difficult to get permission from the warden
Too much potential for weapons to be made from the system’s parts
Not likely much funding

11. Final decision: Aquaponics in Ethiopia
Studies were done in Shewa Robit and Hawassa and found that these areas suffered the most from food insecurity and the diet that they did have was very low in protein and lacked vegetables.
Hope to increase the production of fish and vegetables while saving on scarce resources such as water
Business models are being produced to establish aquaponics systems can be produced without external funding

12. Nutrition/Health in Ethiopia
Twenty-nine percent of Ethiopian women are malnourished
44 percent of children suffer from chronic under-nutrition
Undernutrition is an underlying cause of 53 percent of infant and child deaths
Lack of dietary diversity and micronutrient-dense food consumption contribute to the high rates of child undernutrition
One quarter of women of reproductive age are undernourished,
Causes: low birth weight, short stature, lower resistance to infections, and higher risk of disease and death

13. Development Model Charity Grassroots
The supplies to get started will be given including the pumps, piping, seeds, and constructible beds
What will not be supplied - Fish, Water, continued support of system
Grassroots
Once the system has been built the systems will be maintained by the community
This will include changing water, monitoring the fish and health of plants, making sure the system stays running

14. Why Ethiopia
population growth has led to water shortages and land degradation
5 case studies found that aquaponics do actually reduce water and land use compared to conventional agriculture
current difficulties is the lack of quality fish – feed
Black Soldier Fly Larvae could be helpful in producing a renewable source of food for the fish

15. Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL)
The potential benefits are: reduction of costs, independency of waste reduction
downsides are the difficulty of the breeding process, insufficient breeding quality, fear for disease and the amount of labor needed for the breeding process to occur

16. If we had more time…
Do more research on ways to reduce the cost of material for an aquaponics system
Get in touch with organization or local people on the ground