At Aerobloom we believe the solution to a global food crisis is the widespread implementation of non-traditional agricultural techniques, such as aeroponics that use less water and do not require the need for fertile soil.
Climate change is causing increasingly severe weather conditions & droughts making it difficult for farmers to produce enough food using traditional methods. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (“FAO”) is citing a food security crisis that will get worse over the next 30 years.
In order to keep up with rising demand due to population growth, it is necessary to find an alternative that uses less water and does not rely on fertile soil to produce crops. While some competitors have suggested growing crops hydroponically as a solution, the Aerobloom system uses 45% less water than hydroponic systems and is capable of consistently producing higher yields.
Traditional Agriculture is not Enough
Climate change is causing increasingly severe weather conditions and droughts that are making it difficult for farmers to produce enough food using traditional methods. This is creating a food security crisis that is expected to get much worse over the next 30 years. 90% of human’s land use is for agricultural purposes. 70% of the freshwater we consume is used to grow crops. Society must rapidly adopt new agriculture technology that addresses the effects of climate change on a large scale in order to avoid widespread famine.
Several companies have attempted to create effective aeroponics systems. They utilize inferior technology, usually based on a modified lawn-sprinkler system to distribute water and nutrients to the roots suspended in air. Those systems may be more water-efficient than hydroponics. However, because they are not capable of out-producing top hydroponics systems and are notorious for reliability issues most growers have avoided them. Yet, aeroponics is used in some commercial agriculture operations around the globe to generally produce leafy greens such as lettuce and basil. Most controlled environment agriculture companies are using hydroponics cultivation methods.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the gross value of global agricultural production at just over $5 trillion
According to AgFunder, global investments in food and agritech reached $17 billion USD in 2018 – a 43 per cent increase from 20177
A new study from Juniper Research has found that the total value of the AgTech market (Agricultural Technology) will reach $22.5 billion by 2025. This represents a growth rate of 150% over the next 5 years8
Global Food Shortages
The reason for these shortages: Russia and Ukraine make up more than 30% of the global wheat market and are considered the breadbasket of Europe.
The Affects of Climate Change
Food production around the world will suffer as global heating reaches 1.5C, with serious effects on the food supply in the next two decades, scientists have warned, following the biggest scientific report yet on the climate crisis.
The less developed parts of the world where soil quality is decreasing do not have the resources to compensate for this with fertilizers.