Monika Amunyela
A new chapter in climate-smart agriculture and youth empowerment was marked with the launch of AquaNam, a branch of the Impact Tank Group.
The recent launch of AquaNam brought together stakeholders, farmers, financial partners, and innovators to showcase Namibia’s growing hydroponic and aquaponic farming ecosystems.
It was also an opportunity to highlight the country’s transformative potential for national food security through smart collaboration.
What began as a grassroots initiative in Mariental two years ago, under the name Aquanet, has grown from a small-scale aquaponic kit producing leafy greens into a two-hectare operation.
The facility now serves as a training hub to explore the technical, environmental, and educational needs of hydroponic and aquaponic farming.
Drawing from this hands-on experience, AquaNam was established to offer advisory and support services to farmers, hotels, and lodges looking to implement sustainable and efficient farming methods.
AquaNam’s founders highlighted three foundational pillars of success for this innovative approach, which are addressing water scarcity, driving agricultural innovation, and creating employment through skills development.
With Namibia facing chronic water shortages and high youth unemployment, AquaNam seeks to empower individuals and small businesses in both urban and rural communities with the tools and knowledge to thrive.
Corporate backing has also been a key highlight. Christian Oliver from Capricorn Group spoke about the importance of green financing.
He introduced Capricorn’s sustainability loan product, which was launched as one of the country’s first sustainability bonds. The loan is a way to support high-impact, small-scale ventures like AquaNam.
Dean Spall of Urban Harvest, one of AquaNam’s core partners, shared insights on the entrepreneurial opportunities within aquaponics. He emphasized the importance of reshaping agriculture’s image among young people by demonstrating its links to technology, innovation, and job creation.
Farmers interested in seeing the systems in action are invited to visit Urban Harvest’s demonstration site at The Village in Eros, Windhoek.
Stakeholders are also encouraged to collaborate in building an open, thriving ecosystem to ensure the long-term success of sustainable agriculture in Namibia. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, using nutrient-rich water circulated in a closed-loop system. It uses up to 90% less water than traditional farming and enables faster crop cycles.
Aquaponics combines hydroponics with aquaculture (fish farming). In this system, fish waste provides nutrients for plants, while the plants help filter and purify the water for the fish by creating a sustainable, symbiotic environment.