The transformation of agri-food systems is a key focus at COP27. The climate convention sees local, national and global actors including farmers and youth convening to seek solutions on transforming agri-food systems to make them more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable and make sure that no one is left behind in the effort to eradicate hunger and malnutrition. Climate change cannot be fully addressed without building food systems that nourish both people and the planet. Infarm provides a sustainable solution to feed a growing population in a way that is far more flexible in the face of climate uncertainty, food insecurity and supply chain disruption. Suds Sarronwala is the Chief Impact Officer at Infarm.
Suds Sarronwala on looking at a climate resilient way of growing food
InParma is a network for cloud connected vertical farms. We are really a subset of controlled environment agriculture operating in Western Europe, North America and Japan. What we are bringing to the table is a new form of production in terms of resilience, because we are looking at a climate resilient way of growing food for the future, and that’s what vertical farming provides. Then the second is in terms of the supply chains, because we grow in urban areas, we completely crash the supply chain from the point of growing to the point of distribution and consumption. These are the two aspects of resilience that we are looking to bring to COP.
On success in vertical farming
In the ten countries where we operate, we’ve got more than a thousand different points of sale. We work with 30 of the world’s largest retailers. The distribution chain is pretty much like any food system – we supply to the retailer, who then sells to the consumer. We’ve been selling tens of millions of plants every year.
On the crops being deployed into vertical farming
We started out with herbs and leafy greens, which is probably standard for hydroponics and vertical farming. And that trajectory has now grown to include mushrooms, tomatoes, strawberries, and we are now looking at the next generation, which is staple crops. So, we like to term it as moving from the side of the plate to the centre of the plate.
On impacting food systems globally
In terms of the actual fruit and vegetable basket, that is very much on the horizon. The market is estimated to be $30 billion by 2030. We are talking about within this decade, what’s going to have an impact in terms of supplying cities and making cities more self resilient. In terms of staple crops and in terms of some of those products, like rice and cereal, we are probably looking at a slightly longer time frame, maybe in the next decade.
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