Urban Farming

One of the greatest problems of the world is food shortages.

If you are living in a rich country this may not be a big problem. It can buy and import whatever its people wants.

Famines and food shortages are not your concern and only affect other countries.

Supply chain disruptions because of Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict has has caused food shortages in countries which did not face such shortages before.

Singapore imports 90% of its food requirement. Shortages faced by its foreign suppliers has reduced the amount exported and in some cases banning of the export of certain food items.

For instance, in 2022, Malaysia  banned the export of chicken to Singapore. Chicken is a major source of protein and chicken rice is a meal that almost every Singaporean eats.

Food shortages in 2022 was a wake up call for Singapore.  In 2009 its government  had already  implemented  a policy called LUSH or Landscapping for Urban Spaces and Highrises

LUSH requires greenery to be part of developers plans. Because of this Singapore is a beautiful city with a lot of greenery.

However the greenery is to make Singapore beautiful to keep it cool and help to maintain  the level of oxygen  compared to carbon dioxide. The greenery hardly contribute to food supply.

In 2017 LUSH was amended to include  rooftop farming. In order to insulate itself from supply chain problems, Singapore has adopted  a 30-30 policy. Produce 30% of its food requirements by 2030.

Land is so scarce in Singapore. Rooftops make a small area compared to the area of the huge number of floors of its highrises.

In order to achieve its 30-30 policy, urban farming must also include indoor farming.

This allows many floors to be used for farming using artificial  sunlight and carefully  controlled environment of temperature and humidity. Ideal environment can be created and different climates simulated.

Using water instead of soil reduce disease. Compared to traditional farming where fertilisers are wasted or contribute to pollution going into the ground, vertical hydroponics allow nutrients to feed multi levels and still be able to be used after that by being pumped.

Aquaphonics combines the rearing of fish with growing crops. The poop of fishes provide nutrients to plants.

Compared to cheap imports, the price of the urban farm products is higher. Sunlight for the imports is free whereas the artificial light of indoor farms require energy. Energy is also required to maintain the environment within the farm and for pumps.

As a consumer are you prepared to pay more for indoor farming products?

Will the quality of the products affect your decision?  Various  factors are involved here. Indoor farming can produce clean organic products. On the other hand there are questions of whether natural sunlight  is better and whether hydroponics food has health issues.

Rooftop farming has the advantage of natural sunlight. It is also not restricted by a ceiling and so verticle farming with layers going 5 or more meters  up is possible.

Carbon footprint is a measure  that is frequently  used to judge the impact on climate change. What do you think of food production indices? Should the use of such food indices (how much proteins and how much carbohydrates are produced per hectare or per sq meter) be encouraged and adopted globally?

Can the adoption of the technology being used and tested in Singapore by many countries overcome the problem of global foodļ shortage? 🦋