Who's afraid of a chocolate-less world?
Author: Sudhanshu Sarronwala, Chief Impact Officer at Infarm
In, ‘Livin’ La Vida Local’, we discussed the numerous advantages of controlled environment agriculture's (CEA) “climate machines”. And indeed there are many: from reducing waste and improving quality to cutting down food miles and reducing the risks embedded in a lengthy supply chain.
For some, enjoying the multiple advantages of vertical farming might seem like a futuristic luxury. They likely believe that they could well live without it. And perhaps they are correct for now. Because there are still areas on Earth where you can find the perfect climate conditions to grow tasty, nutritious crops. The operative, important word here is "still".
According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "there is no single answer to the question of whether it is feasible to limit warming to 1.5°C and adapt to the consequences". Sadly, we know that within this century, according to the science, this figure could be well over 2°C. And to limit the warming "would require unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society.”
"Climate change is moving faster than we are" (UN Secretary-General António Guterres)
The implications of the planet's rapid warming are enormous, starting with your breakfast. Let’s say that you have a sweet tooth and can't start the day without some mouth-watering chocolate toast spread or chocolate muesli. In that case, you won't be very pleased to learn that "climate change is one of the major challenges confronting the sustainable productivity of cocoa in the world today".
If chocolate is not your favourite treat, but avocado toast is a must on your breakfast table, we can talk about the numerous ways climate change affects the avocado industry.
And let us not forget about everyone's favourite stimulant, good old coffee: according to a recently published study, thanks to changes in weather and temperature, coffee may very soon become harder to grow and much scarcer. But not only breakfast staples are at risk. A large percentage of all edible crops are at risk. Two in five of the world's plant species are estimated to be threatened with extinction according to the "State of the World's Plants and Fungi", published in 2020.
"Never before has the biosphere, the thin layer of life we call home, been under such intensive and urgent threat"
Even the slightest agricultural changes driven by climate change have enormous social consequences. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the short and long-term effects of climate change have significant impacts on agricultural productivity, rural livelihoods and, indirectly, migration flows. Therefore, climate change is a cause of rural migration and intensifies other socio-economic drivers of migration, such as rural poverty and food insecurity.” 26.4 million people were displaced annually by natural-hazard-induced and climate-related disasters between 2008-2015 and about 150 million people are likely to be displaced in the current decade because of climate change.
Building a climate-resilient food system
Migration is one of the ways to deal with climate change's devastating direct and indirect effects on agriculture - a disruptive and harsh way. Unfortunately, most of those ways people deal with the agricultural consequences of climate change do not offer a long-term solution. In addition, they are usually forced and not planned. When we discuss creating modern tools for a modern food system, we must create future-proof solutions, and lately, future-proof has become synonymous with climate resilience. It would also be wrong to suggest that climate change is the only threat to our biosphere while neglecting other threats like deforestation and land degradation. Therefore, we also have to create sophisticated solutions that address a plethora of challenges.
I see Infarm’s climate machines as one of the most promising future-proof solutions since, on top of its many advantages, it provides us with a growing system that is entirely indifferent to climatic changes, weather events, droughts and floods. Since we use 95% less land and water than open farming and no chemical pesticides, we already tread lightly on the planet.
In the future, should we start growing staple crops in our vertical farming facilities, the absolute control over the climate conditions would allow us to harvest several times a year, leading to much higher yields compared with staple crops grown in the field.
A necessity, not a luxury
If you happen to watch The Matrix Resurrections, you might have noticed an Infarm farming unit in the ‘garden’ scene (pictured above). Although our farms indeed fit well in a science fiction movie, climate machines are not science fiction, nor are they a luxury of the few. Vertical Farming technologies hold the key to successfully facing many of the most significant challenges humanity has ever faced. Our climate machines hold the key to a brighter future.
In closing, the immortal words from the great Carl Sagan reverberate in my head, as he warned Congress about climate change back in 1985.
"If you don't worry about it now, later it's too late… we are passing on extremely grave problems for our children when the time to solve the problems (if they can be solved at all) is now".
Well, we didn’t solve the problems then. The world now needs to rapidly adapt with promising, proven solutions.