SRU helps Ugandan school launch aquaponics system

A university in Uganda successfully implemented a soilless system for growing plants thanks to a partnership with Slippery Rock University.

Joseph Ssekandi, a professor at Uganda Martyrs University, visited Slippery Rock in June 2017 to learn how SRU built an aquaponics prototype that combines raising fish and growing plants in a sustainable system. UMU later added its own experimental aquaponics systems that have already produced five harvests of spinach, one of which was donated to UMU's kitchen with subsequent harvests sold to community members. The system benefits not only UMU students, but it can potentially help farmers and the economy in Uganda, an African country often stricken from drought conditions.

SRU's aquaponics prototype was created through the Sustainable Enterprise Accelerator, a University-owned, student-run business consultation firm. Ssekandi and the UMU students received technical support by collaborating with SRU students from the SEA and the University's Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research. UMU also received financial support exceeding $10,000 for the project through private donors and one of the SEA's clients, Real Uganda Partners.