Strategies to improve the productivity, product diversity and profitability of urban agriculture

The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more than 800 million people engage in urban agriculture producing more than 15% of the world's food. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in urban agriculture in many wealthy, developed cities, with new technology and agro-architecture being employed to grow food in cities at commercial scale. This has been accompanied by an increase in media coverage. Big claims are being made, including that urban agriculture can decrease greenhouse emissions, ‘climate proof’ farms, help solve food security for growing urban populations and provide chemical free food with no risk of pests and diseases. Many of these claims need to be rigorously tested to ensure that sound investments can be made in enterprises that are financially viable and capable of delivering on claims of social and environmental benefits. Around the world, traditional broadacre and horticulture farming have been underpinned by years of biological, chemical, physical, economic and social research. Urban agriculture needs similar support as the industry grows and develops around the world. There are opportunities to improve crop yields and quality by pairing advancements in environmental controls, phenomics and automation with breeding efforts to adapt traits for architecture, development and quality (taste and nutrition) allowing a more diverse set of crops to be grown in controlled-environment farms. Urban farms are uniquely placed to take advantage of urban waste energy, water and nutrients but innovations are needed to use these resources safely and economically. This review discusses the technological research and innovations necessary for urban agriculture to meet the nutritional requirements of growing urban populations.