How "Kitovu Technology" Improves Small-scale Farming, Food Security In Nigeria

The rapid development of emerging economies across Asia and Africa is lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty - but there is much debate as to how to best structure this growth. If these economies evolve in the same way as in the West - with unchecked, excessive resource consumption and heavy pollution - the planet may be on the fast track to disaster. Earthrise explores how these nations can grow sustainably using improved, eco-conscious technologies like renewable energy and eco-friendly farming practices.

At the Fujitsu factory in Japan, a significant decline in demand for semiconductor computer chips meant the company had large empty factory space sitting unused. A new business approach allowed them to dually address both the need to evolve their business model with a global decline of viable agricultural space needed to grow the world's food. Now, the factory houses indoor vegetable gardens, soil free and less resource-heavy than traditional farmland.

Venture capitalists are increasingly interested in investing in indoor vertical farms as a way to combat supply chain disruptions and grow crop yields in a changing climate. A number of these farms are opening in the coming years throughout the United States and the industry is expected to grow to $9.7 billion worldwide by 2026. However, running an indoor vertical farm does have some technological limits and can result in high energy costs.

A startup in California called Crop Swap LA is converting unused front yards into community gardens that can grow crops like kale, rainbow chard, and tomatoes as a way to feed neighbors. Community members can pay for subscriptions for up to $43 a month to receive a bundle of greens and vegetables from the microfarms and homeowners get a share of the profits. Each garden needs to have the proper maintenance, which can make it difficult to scale, but these gardens can help provide access to food to those who don’t have a grocery store in their area.

While the USPS has seen a drastic decline in revenues and capacity in recent years due to growing competition from the private sector and social changes, First Class Meal is reimagining the role that this institution has to play: improving national access to healthy food. Using the existing USPS app to connect organizations and food banks that struggle to distribute donations, postal drivers out on their normal routes would pick up donations, deliver to food banks or pantries, and store food in post offices with excess capacity.

Vertical Harvest is a vertical farm in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, growing crops in a controlled, indoor environment to provide fresher produce for the community.

Several big food corporations like Danone and General Mills are working with local dairy producers to launch soil health programs that would help reduce their carbon footprint. For example, Danone is supporting 34 dairy farms to transition their operations to more regenerative practices. While it remains unclear if their efforts will reduce carbon emissions from dairy farms, early results show they are reducing soil erosion, improving water retention, and using less synthetic fertilizers.

By 2050 the percentage of the world's population living in cities will increase to two-thirds with significant environmental strains. In Colombia, a company called Conceptos Plasticos collects recyclable plastic material, melts it down and moulds it into bricks used to build houses for the local community. Singapore too, is on the cutting edge of environmentally sustainable urban solutions including vertical farms and living buildings.

The effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and hotter global temperatures, are already having drastic impact on many communities, especially the rural, agricultural regions of countries such as Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Mozambique. Earthrise explores how people in these communities are learning new skills, implementing new techniques, and are striving in every way possible to adapt to these environmental changes while creating hope for sustainable growth in the future.

Aquaponics, a soilless method of farming that combines aquaculture and hydroponic techniques, has provided an affordable and adaptable method for growing traditional cultural Mvskoke foods, such as tobacco, pumpkins, corn, pinto beans, honeysuckle, and minara. Grant funding has enabled tribal members to use aquaponic systems to produce crops and fortify food systems against climate change.