Tag: food security
Feeding the Future of Agriculture with Vertical Farming
Field farming requires labour, amenable weather conditions, adequate sunshine for photosynthesis, irrigation, and often pesticides to protect crops.
Vertical farming, a term coined by Dickson Despommier, is the practice of producing food in vertically-stacked layers. These “farms” make use of enclosed structures like warehouses and shipping containers to provide a...
Changing Lives, Gaining Respect – Urban Farmers of Nairobi (Video)
This is a 15 minute overview of Nairobi's urban farmers. Mazingira Institute provides training to young urban farmers on efficient use of urban spaces, job creation, organic crops, livestock and health issues. Women and youth farmer hubs have formed a platform and network for community practice advancing food security...
Why We Should Be Urban Farming (Video)
In our recent history, we have removed the growing of food far away from the places where more than half of humanity today lives - the cities (UN statistics from 2014 show that 54 per cent of human population is now in urban areas).
This video (below) makes a strong...
The Astonishing Scale Of Food Waste
There is one statistic in particular that might make us think when it comes to tidying up after the festivities: roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption gets lost or wasted every year.
At the same time, 795 million people around the world were...
Gurgaon’s Urban Farmers
Dheeraj Garg is a busy IT professional but he finds time to engage in a 'hobby' every weekend. Every Sunday, Dheeraj drives to Badshahpur on the outskirts of the city, where he - along with over a hundred other Gurugrammers - works as a farmer in his own farm,...
Paris: An Organic Farm In An Underground Car Park
An underground parking garage may seem like a strange place to grow food, but the start-up Cycloponics has installed a farm in the second basement of a car park in Paris, Porte de la Chapelle. "The Cave", as this farm is called, grows organic crops including mushrooms, micro-shoots and...
This Swedish Underground Farm Will Heat The Building Above It
Underneath a 26-floor office tower in Stockholm, an underground space will soon become a farm and, because of a unique business model, the new farm will "pay" for the space in heat.
The Plantagon CityFarm will grow greens in vertical towers under LED lights. By capturing the heat from the...
Africa Needs Its Version Of Vertical Farms To Feed Growing Cities
Vertical farms use high tech lighting and climate controlled buildings to grow crops like leafy greens or herbs indoors while using less water and soil.
Because it's a closed growing system, with controlled evaporation from plants, this farms use 95% less water than traditional farms.
At the same time, most vertical...
The Variety of Our Food Crops is Declining
Potatoes are native to the Andes, and over 4,000 varieties are grown there now. They come in numerous shapes, sizes and colors – red, yellow, purple, striped and spotted.
This wide array of types is an example of agrobiodiversity – a genetic legacy created by natural selection interacting with cultural...
Indian Woman Sets An Example for Neighbours With Rooftop Farm
A woman named Pushpa Sahu is setting an example with her unconventional way of farming on her home’s rooftop in Raipur, India. Ms. Sahu has converted the rooftop into a mini-farm. She is using waste from her house and recycled water to grow fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. She...