Aquaponic System

Climate change and agriculture are two interrelated processes where changes in temperature, rainfall, extreme climatic fluctuations, changes in pests and diseases, changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and near-surface ozone concentrations, changes in the nutritional quality of some foods and changes in the surface level of the sea, all these changes affect of the agricultural. Climate change affects agriculture. These impacts appear unevenly across the world, negatively impacting crop production and increasing the risk of food insecurity for some vulnerable groups.

As a result of the aforementioned factors, many countries, institutions and farmers were interested in searching for solutions to overcome the factors that affect food security. Research and experiments began focusing on modern agricultural patterns that preserve and enhance agricultural production in light of all climatic changes. One of those patterns or models is soilless agriculture and agriculture, Isolated system or Aquaponic system.

Within the urban system, there are many mixed farming systems in which two or more of the plant production and livestock farming systems are combined together. Aquaponic is another urban farming system. It is similar to the hydroponic in which vegetables are grown without soil but with a nutrient solution, by connecting the system to a fish tank/farm. The vegetables are planted in tubs filled with rocks and connected to nutrient-rich wastewater from the fish tanks. This eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers for plant growth. Aquaponic is very environmentally friendly as it allows for the removal of most environmental factors impairing soil root growth (soil compaction, shortage of water, insufficient soil aeration and soil temps). These systems are not spread widely in the Gaza Strip. Many NGOs/INGOs have conducted a test rig for this system to check its feasibility, however, the systems were not replicated on a commercial scale nor within a humanitarian response setting.

In order for the experiment to be more realistic and touch the agricultural reality in the Gaza Strip, it was necessary to study all the different technical and practical aspects that would affect the application of the Aquaponic system, as field visits were conducted to some agricultural areas and meetings were held with a group of farmers to find out the problems they face in production. The aim is to select the most appropriate areas and the ones most in need of such systems.