Food security will be one of the most important issues in the near future. Is urban farming a feasible alternative?
Source: Pexels [6]
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It is estimated that around 55% of the world's population is living in cities and this figure is expected to rise by 68% in the near future, especially in developing countries such as Indonesia [1].
In the dawn of this population growth, food security will be one of the top concerns considering food products must be mass-produced to meet new demands.
Other demands are also brewing in the face of massive population growth, namely the need to build houses and public facilities.
A losing war for agriculture
A study has estimated that urban areas would likely to triple in size by 2030, expanding into cropland and undermining the productivity of agricultural systems that are already stressed by climate change. Signs of this threat are already showing, especially in Asia and Africa which are estimated to bear 80% of the projected loss [2]. For example, in 2018, Indonesia lost approximately 0,65 hectares of farmland, leaving only 7,1 hectares to feed its 267 million population [3].
Source: Unsplash [7]
Read also: Is Climate Change Racist?
Urban farming as the middle ground
To face the imminent growth of population and importance for food availability, one of the most promising solutions is urban farming, which is growing, processing and distributing food in urban areas. Urban farming enables cities and agriculture to co-exist as food is grown on rooftops, landfills, and abandoned areas [4]. As a result, urban farming brings a halt to the tug war between urban development and agriculture.
Urban farming is also promising to society given that urban farming has been found to foster social interactions and boost economic growth [5].
Urban farming seems to unlock an array of possibilities of how a future city might look like. With the current agricultural system has begun to show its cracks over the years, perhaps it is time to break out of the mould and try other alternatives.
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