These Entrepreneurs Think Farmville Could Inspire The Future Of Urban Gardening
According to Samrat, hydroponics allow people to grow anywhere between 30 and 300 times more food in the same area of land compared to conventional farming methods.
By Marty Swant
Forbes Staff
Sept 29, 2020
Excerpt:
As a part of the Forbes Under 30 Agtech+ Hackathon this past weekend, a group of Forbes Under 30 alumni from around the world split into teams to develop new ways to improve the future of food and agriculture in Indiana. One team came up with a concept that would both raise awareness about the opportunities and challenges of urban agriculture while also creating a way for people to make money and feed their neighbors.
The concept, Jungl, would use social media and gamification to get young people involved in hydroponics. For anyone new to urban gardening, Jungl’s recommendation engine would suggest seeds for them based on their region, space and level of experience.
They could also then sign up to be matched with more experienced growers and join leagues of growers that would help incentivize participation. Growers would then upload their garden’s progress and ultimately list and sell real produce on Jungl’s marketplace. Meanwhile, veteran gardeners could sign up to not just grow and also produce but also train others along the way. Jungl would also sell equipment at a variety of price points and also take 1.5% commission.
“The bigger picture of the problem is getting to see there is a lot of food shortage especially because of Covid-19,” says Bright Jaja, the founder and CEO of Nigeria-based iCreate Africa. “A lot of people don’t even understand where their food comes from. You know? There’s this whole journey, or this whole ecosystem that produces our food. But we don’t even know where it comes from. And at this time, we need lots of people to not just be consumers but also part of the process.”
