Understanding the Vertical Farming Landscape through the UAE and Australia

Kale

Published Dec 27, 2021

The immense capital flow rolling into the emerging vertical farming market is a nod to novel urban agriculture models; it is an acknowledgment of vertical farming as both a viable and essential solution to current supply chain disruptions and growing uncertainties in climate. Less susceptible to the whims of mother nature and infectious diseases, vertical farming offers a clearer value proposition for present times: an uninterrupted and self-sufficient food supply. Coupled with its topical advantages, vertical farming's optimization of harvest productivity per land unit gives nations an alternative to importing food without much arable land. Typically architected to space growing crops 24 to 36 inches apart in stacked layers, vertical farming offers the flexibility to grow crops in any type of confined space with access to artificial lights and temperature controls.

UAE's Vertical Farming Ecosystem

In mid-December, Dutch vertical farming business Infarm completed a $200 million Series D funding round supported by Doha-based Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). The vertical farming firm announced their intentions to utilize funding from this round towards their preexistent vertical farming operations and their beachheads in the Middle East. Expressing its goals to diversify its now leafy greens-based product portfolio to "the entire fruit and vegetable basket" by 2030, Infarm is on track to increase its product share on retailers' shelves and consumers' plates.

Source: i3 connect, Corporate and Venture Capital Activity in Vertical Farming.

Abu Dhabi, too, has taken wide strides to tackle its precarious food security issues while seeking to secure its reputation as the hub for Agtech. With just 5% of the country being considered cultivable, the UAE currently imports as much as 90% of its food from abroad. As such, UAE has spared no time in preparing for solutions, particularly in light of the country's geological and climatic conditions – water shortages, infertile soil, high temperatures – that render the cultivation of crops challenging. According to Mariam Almheiri, Minister of State for Food and Water Security, UAE aims to increase domestic food production by "30 to 40 percent in the next ten years," cutting down the 90% food import share significantly.

US-based AeroFarms is currently constructing an R&D center in Abu Dhabi. Their research and development practices plan to cover plant science, vertical farming, and automation, accelerating innovation cycles, and commercializing products.

Alongside product portfolio expansion, AeroFarms CEO David Rosenberg seeks to optimize the growth cycle of plants specific to Middle Eastern dietary habits, such as mint and parsley, for heightened quality, yield, and nutritional value. In an interview with the Spoon, Rosenberg also remarked that the Middle East region aligns well with AeroFarm's value proposition, given the region's lack of food security and the provision of relatively cheap energy to power its control of light and temperature.

Emerging Vertical Farming Efforts in Australia

As the second driest continent on Earth, Australia has similarly placed significant top-down efforts to cultivate its Foodtech and Agritech sector. Working under the banner "Australia for Agriculture 4.0," the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) has spearheaded efforts to showcase Australia's competitive advantages in agtech and foodtech to a global audience. In particular, the country's status as a world-leading producer and exporter has been put forward as one of its unique advantages in its Agriculture 4.0 initiatives. With its well-established trade channels and free trade agreements, the country's strategic location is stated to provide international enterprises an ideal base to build sustainable export businesses. Austrade has also been presenting Australian agritech's track record of innovation as a value proposition the country's industry can offer, citing developments such as drought-resistant crops and technologies that recommend optimal pastures and stocking density.

Such noteworthy innovations were reflected in their presentations during this year's Agra Middle East (AgraME) Conference run from December 8-9 in Dubai. The most prominent piece of innovation was from land-based aquaculture farm River Stone Fish Farm and Lab, which developed an award-winning biofertilizer, Swift Grow. The biofertilizer is derived from fish manure sustainably farmed in a pristine natural environment and is said to increase plant yield by up to 500% based on controlled field trials. Not only sold and used within Australia, but Swift Grow is also exported to global markets, including the UAE, where it has recently found market success. Australia's active role in this year's AgraME is reflective of the collaborative efforts that will continue to be made between UAE and Australia. In acknowledgement of the UAE and Australia’s shared environmental plights in agriculture and pursuit of agritech, NSW Trade and Investment Commissioner in the Middle East Moin Anwar remarked, "With innovation driving solutions to the increasing climatic challenges, there is no better time for Australia and the UAE to work together in the agrifood sector."

Alongside the rapid influx of investment capital, vertical farming efforts require global collaboration to truly materialize as both an environmentally sustainable and productive solution. For instance, despite being advertised as using "95% less water" than traditional farming, vertical farming consumes 30-176 kWh per kg more than greenhouses. Found behind such metrics that embellish vertical farming is also the reality that we don't have clear answers to questions like: “What would a plant need when taken away from their natural habitats?” or “What is the microbiological composition of soil that helps cultivate a wide variety of nutrient-rich crops?” Without solutions and answers, vertical farming's value proposition will fail to extend beyond its ability to produce an abundance of leafy greens. Hinting at the unbalanced glut of greens and relative paucity of other foods that will flood our shelves, plant physiologist and vertical farming researcher Paul Gauthier remarks, "You can't feed the planet with lettuce alone." As forecasted to occur between UAE and Australia, collaborations are imperative to allow vertical farming – one that is both sustainable, productive, more than just a mass producer of leafy greens – to come into fruition.