Using technology to reinvent the way we grow and consume food

By reigniting the kampung spirit, this urban farming startup wants you to be invested in where your food comes from

Published Mon, Jan 17, 2022 · 09:50 PM

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, may be shaking up the art world at the moment, but maybe one day, this non-interchangeable form of blockchain data can become a way for us to pay or invest in local produce.

It is one of the ideas that Mr Sunny Chin has to transform the way we consume food.

The 60-year-old entrepreneur and engineer co-founded World Paradise Farm (WPF) in 2021 - a Singapore-based urban indoor smart farm builder and agri-food grower and distributor. He believes that when consumers are directly engaged and invested in the things they eat, there is greater awareness about food wastage, one of the root causes of world hunger.

A report by the World Wildlife Fund and British grocery retailer Tesco revealed that about 2.5 billion tonnes of food have been lost on farms or wasted by retailers and consumers around the world. According to the United Nations, an estimated 811 million people were undernourished in 2020 - a jump from 118 million in 2019 - due to severe food insecurity that was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first step towards mitigating an ongoing food security crisis, says Mr Chin, begins with us.

"The production and distribution of food have become so far removed from the consumer that most people have almost no idea where their food comes from, how their food is grown, how it is transported, or who grows their food. We want to focus our business model on re-educating our consumers to be smart and responsible individuals."

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Reinventing the way we grow our food

While changing consumer habits is essential in establishing a sustainable food system, the extensive environmental damage inflicted by over-farming means food production also needs to be revolutionised from the ground up.

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Containerised farming will be part of a holistic food system that World Paradise Farm envisions to be both scalable and inclusive. PHOTO: WORLD PARADISE FARM

[scald=259349:article_inline_image] Containerised farming will be part of a holistic food system that World Paradise Farm envisions to be both scalable and inclusive. PHOTO: WORLD PARADISE FARM

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Containerised farming will be part of a holistic food system that World Paradise Farm envisions to be both scalable and inclusive. PHOTO: WORLD PARADISE FARM

"Due to global warming and climate change, the amount of arable land is diminishing. Soil turns into dust. Close to 40 per cent of land on Earth is used for farming purposes. The only thing is, the yield is no longer there," says Mr Chin.

WPF aims to address these challenges through the use of information-driven agriculture technology that emphasises precision, predictive and environmentally controllable indoor farming. This is done through artificial intelligence and machine learning, a smart farming protocol that allows big data to continuously optimise farming resources such as electrical energy and nutrient consumption. This will allow growers to better plan production, optimise yield and minimise food wastage.

Furthermore, moving crops indoors eliminates dependence on weather, as growers can control and create an ideal artificial growing environment. This frees up growers' time, so they can focus on yield, health and nutritional factors.

When combined with WPF's Smart Recirculating Aquaculture Aquaponics System (Decoupled RAAS) - a sustainable farming technique that integrates the growing of fish and aquatic species with hydroponics, and is used to produce fish and crops organically by mimicking a natural ecosystem - it could pave the way for the digitalisation of indoor agriculture.

"Using Decoupled RAAS, a secure and climate optimisable system and smart operating software, we can track growth with immutable technology to record, track and analyse produce from farms that adopt our patented agritech," explains Mr Chin.

He plans to apply this technology to containerised farming in Singapore, a vertical farming system built inside a 12m-high-cube shipping container, to create a real estate-friendly infrastructure that is portable and requires minimal maintenance.

Ultimately, this infrastructure will be part of a holistic food system that WPF envisions to be both scalable and inclusive.

Says Mr Chin: "We believe in engaging the consumer from farm to fridge. WPF's inclusive farming concept starts from the consumers, and the best way to develop smart and responsible buyers is by showing consumers how their health can be maintained and enhanced by consuming the right amount of naturally grown food of known nutritional factor with the right way of cooking without wasting money unnecessarily via WPF's super app dashboard."

WPF's efforts earned the company a Distinction in the Brands for Good 2021/2022 awards, under the Technology for Good category.

Containerised farming to bring the community together

As a start, he intends to make the farming containers - which will likely be located in a leased industrial space in Singapore - accessible by allowing the public to purchase them with WPF NFTs. The company plans to deliver the first 40 containers from the second quarter of 2022.

Consumers will be able to buy a number of crops before they are harvested, with the option of receiving their weekly share of harvested produce. They can also trade their NFT tokens with others on the WPF Farm-to-Fridge Marketplace.

Accessible via an app, it is a digital community for customers to track their household consumption and spending, share healthy cooking recipes with fellow users, and track the growth of their produce in the containers. They can also create a Farm-on-Demand wish list, where produce can be pre-selected according to individual preferences before they are grown.

By bringing different communities together, Mr Chin wants to bridge the socio-economic divide where 'neighbours' can choose to share, donate or sell produce they do not need to others. Once the containers are NFT-listed, any consumer can buy the NFT, starting with one "tray" of leafy greens. Each 12m-high-cube container can accommodate 64 to 80 trays.

"This community-supported agriculture initiative will change the ownership structure of farms, putting the power of production in the hands of the consumers and localising food economies."

Mr Chin is also exploring the possibility of personalising each container with a unique piece of artwork by emerging artists and eventually transforming these containers into an art gallery space which the community can visit.

"We plan to work with regional artists, such as those under curation by Hatch Art Project, a contemporary art gallery in Tiong Bahru. In time to come, we hope to work with other curators in the region," he says.

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World Paradise Farm plans to deliver the first 40 containers from the second quarter of 2022. PHOTO: WORLD PARADISE FARM

[scald=259068:article_inline_image] World Paradise Farm plans to deliver the first 40 containers from the second quarter of 2022. PHOTO: WORLD PARADISE FARM

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World Paradise Farm plans to deliver the first 40 containers from the second quarter of 2022. PHOTO: WORLD PARADISE FARM

Empowering growers in Singapore

WPF aims to produce 10 per cent of Singapore's local supply of food fish and 20 per cent of local supply of leafy vegetables by 2026 - ahead of the Republic's 30:30 goal to produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs domestically by 2030.

Mr Chin is confident that 1,500 of his 12-metre high-cube farming containers will be able to produce 12,000kg per annum base on a wide range of selected lettuce varieties a year - enough to feed 120,000 families of 4 people daily.

"With just 30 sq m of space, we can produce the same quantity of crops that traditionally requires a 600 sq m field-based farm to produce. Our yield is more than 100 times that of conventional farming. At the same time, our technology greatly reduces our dependency on water and land," he says.

The Singapore Food Agency reported "an average vegetable farm in Singapore occupies around 2 ha of land and produces about 130 tonnes/ha/year. In contrast, a hi-tech, high productivity vegetable farm has the potential to produce over 1,000 tonnes/ha/year with less than one ha of land." For WPF container farms, they can produce approximately 4,000Mt per year per Ha space, four times more than a high-tech farm as reported.

Eventually, Mr Chin wants to help change and boost the farming landscape in Singapore by sharing WPF's agriculture and farming technology with local growers.

"We cannot depend on the dwindling farmers' community to fulfil Singapore's 30:30 mission. We need more tech savvy growers to join the ranks to build a strong ecosystem in urban farming. To contribute to the entire food chain, we need growers, plant scientists and agronomists, as well as technology partners to come together. It takes many to make urban farms a sustainable concept.

"Most of all, we need to promote inclusiveness among our consumers and create a healthy food system where 'we eat what we grow together'."

Read more about World Paradise Farm's work here. Visit this page for more stories on the Brands for Good 2021/2022 winners.

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