THE FUSE

Gugulethu Mahlangu, founder and CEO of House Harvest in Makhanda, is demonstrating how innovation can create new possibilities in agriculture while addressing some of the sector’s most pressing challenges. Through an innovative aquaponics farming system, her youth-owned and female-led enterprise produces vegetables, herbs, indigenous crops and fish while using about 90 percent less water than traditional farming. The approach combines food production with resource efficiency, creating a model that is particularly relevant in areas where water availability can limit agricultural development. Mahlangu is also using House Harvest to create employment and provide young people and women with practical knowledge about sustainable farming. Her work shows that agriculture can offer opportunities for entrepreneurship, skills development and economic participation when producers are willing to embrace new approaches.