After being mislabelled as an aquaponics farmer in a media interview, Mpumalanga-born crop farmer Gugulethu Mahlangu decided to learn about the field and master it. Today, she is among the new farmers who practices aquaponics, which remains in its infancy, across the continent.
Aquaponics is a food production system that combines aquaculture [raising aquatic animals such as fish, snails and prawns in tanks] with hydroponics [cultivating plants in water], meaning the nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to hydroponically grown plants.
Mahlangu started farming informally in 2017 after she found herself unemployed and back at home upon completing a degree in human physiology, genetics and psychology at the University of Pretoria. “This was after the #feesmustfall protests, so I went back home. There was an opportunity for agriculture there. I started crop farming and three years later I officially started my business,” she said.
After deciding to venture into farming, Mahlangu moved to Johannesburg, where she rented a 14ha farm in 2020 at the height of Covid. Despite the pandemic, she managed to continue operating the farm as agriculture was classified as an essential service.
The farm focused on spinach, bush beans and squash, with the intention to sell the vegetables to big retailers. However, she met with multiple setbacks that influenced her move into aquaponics. “I was in a lot of debt when I started out,” she said.
“A lot of things went wrong with my crops, and by the time it was ready to harvest, it was too late to sell to big retailers. I had to sell a bunch of spinach for [as little as] R2 since we had no customers.”
In 2022, the young farmer was interviewed by a local media house for an article in which she was mistakenly referred to as an aquaponics farmer. This ironically attracted investors who wanted to put money into her business. She rejected the offers, but her interest in aquaponics had been piqued. “This is when I decided to learn and find out what aquaponics was. Once I did, I completely changed my business plan and sought to pursue this kind of farming.”
The main thing with aquaponics is that you need to have electricity 24 hours a day and backup power in case of a power cut. This is quite expensive as it means I have to buy inverters for the farm
Starting afresh, Mahlangu spent a year working at a commercial farm to learn how to start an aquaponics operation, which she did at the beginning of 2024. While this meant she would be able to sell her crops all year round, she quickly found that this was an expensive process.
Last year, she moved to Makhanda, in the Eastern Cape, where she leased a farm to launch her business, HouseHarvest, which grows lettuce, spinach, green onions and herbs. The farm also grows indigenous plants such as African rosemary and African eggplant, and cultivates fish, including tilapia, catfish and koi.
The business employs three people, two of them hired on a short-term basis. The business supplies fresh vegetables to the local community and to some restaurants in the area. “Pick n Pay has expressed interest in the products we grow, which will present a huge opportunity for us,” said Mahlangu.
As the process was too expensive for Mahlangu, she relied on grant funding to grow the business. Securing funding was not difficult as investors regard the concept as a good investment, but she did encounter other problems.
“The main thing with aquaponics is that you need to have electricity 24 hours a day and backup power in case of a power cut. This is quite expensive as it means I have to buy inverters for the farm. We are partly off the grid, but we still need more resources to have enough backup power should there be any challenges with electricity.”
Another obstacle is a lack of access to expert advice and mentorship to grow the business. “Aquaponics farming remains a niche in South Africa, and there are not a lot of people who can assist with expert advice on the work that I do. I have taken online courses to try to improve my knowledge, but there’s a need for more farmers to understand this type of farming.”
In the long term, Mahlangu said her goal was to expand operations to eMalahleni, where she grew up, and to teach communities about aqua-farming.
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