Sustainable urban and vertical farming

Urban farming  and vertical farming (VF) can contribute to building sustainable food systems. However, UF and VF face technological, sustainability and social challenges in need of further research. VF is highly energy intensive, and its automation and monitoring are costly. Conversely, urban farming and agriculture have been largely an informal sector, not well-integrated into agricultural policies or urban planning.

Between 2020 and 2021 the SFN funded four scoping projects and one Proof of Concept project exploring the different challenges around UF and VF. Solutions explored include improving its circularity and developing data analysis methods to improve food security, growing efficiency and most usefully exploiting vacant spaces.