I met Felix for the first time in Shenzhen, China, in 2017, where I presented Aquaponcs for a wide audience of a local equivalent to IMPACT HUB. Felix came to see the presentation and since then we have been in constant contact. Felix is a very active and hard-working person. On the roof of his apartment in the middle of China's Shenzhen agglomeration, he has been running a little aquaponic farm since 2014. In 5 years of tilapia breeding and cultivation of vegetables and herbs, he has become an expert in the right balance of the system, problem solving and operation, maintenance and overall aquaponics handling. It is unbelievable how complex Felix's knowledge is. This knowledge he has put into the book "Aquaponic Garden", which is currently being translated into Czech. The book is a very detailed guide for small home and garden systems and will certainly be a very useful guide for all beginning hobby aquaponists.
At the moment, Felix is about to leave China after a long 7 years and to set off for a global aquaponic tour. The first stop will be Bali, where he and his friend are going to build an ecological hotel with an aquaponic restaurant. Soon afterward, Felix and us are going to build farms in Africa, where he wants to focus on the long-term development of food self-sufficiency in African countries. Our Association is a proud supporter of his activities and together we want to help poor people in places where they are at home. We both think it is not the solution to move half of Africa to Europe in hope it all goes well. We are going to build aquaponic farms in schools where students themselves make their own meals. Thus they will acquire aquaponic skills and, after leaving school, they can build their own small farms at home and secure the supply of food for themselves and their family. This is our philosophy and that is how we want to help Africa.
Felix was brought to Aquaponics by the unavailability of organic products in China. "The situation is a bit better nowadays, but a few years ago, melons exploded here because they were stuffed with fertilizer. I do not like chemicals, and healthy food is the basis for me, so I started to grow it myself." he says.
Felix speaks German, English, Chinese, and Thai. He has traveled around the world and from this year on he wants to focus only on spreading of the ideas and philosophy of Aquaponics. He wants to build eco-villages and so-called "Food Forests", which are semi-wild permaculture gardens producing a diverse range of foods where he intends to integrate aquaponic principles. If you rule German language, check out his Youtube channel "Go Aquaponics". In the future, Felix wants to build a global network of ecological villages and aquaponic farms. His motivation is mainly the environment, as well as his interest in improving the living conditions of people born in poor and desolate countries. Our Association will cooperate very closely with Felix and help him in his efforts. Soon the crowdfunding project HUNGER FIGHTER is coming to life. So far I am not allowed to talk about it, but it will be the beginning of our common journey to save the world.
Felix follows a simple proverb that allowed him to do great things. "If you can dream about it, you can do so, so start with Aquaponics and build your dream."
The original is better: "If you can dream it, you can do it so go Aquaponics and build your dream"
Michal "FoFun" Fojtik
