A recent example to enhance space maximization and allocation of earth’s resources comes in the form of a fully functioning dairy farm which floats on the water. Netherlands-based company Belado has initiated a project which it refers to as a Floating Farm. The farm will house a total of 40 cows, which means that a total of 800 liters of milk can be obtained on a daily basis. The company has chosen the port city of Rotterdam as the first urban location for the innovative initiative. Another advantage of selecting this area is that it is hurricane-resistant.
Such projects are blurring the lines between what we call as the urban space vs. the agriculture space. At the same time, they are also providing a roadmap for how to tackle the increasing challenges of global food production in the coming decades. Peter van Wingerden, the co-founder of the team behind the project, believes that these projects are just a beginning. He said, “We can potentially deliver 320,000 litres of milk a year, 7,000 eggs per day and million crops per year. Rotterdam is a perfect test location for this alternative farm, but the real demand is in Asia and Africa, continents that are still rapidly growing and have a demand for alternative food production.”
As global independence, be it economic or technological, is increasing, countries understand much more about the importance of looking to their neighbors for dynamic solutions. Similar is the case for agricultural practices. More people, increased life expectancies, and crowded urban spaces mean that the area to grow food will eventually decrease. Interestingly, these projects can have a ripple effect in other countries as well. The creators and engineers behind it are hoping that once they develop and move off the ground, interest will grow to modify the version and adapt it to local spaces. This way the food revolution envisioned by several industries and government leaders can become a reality. This is one of the reasons that Floating Farm is a very optimistic option.
Van Wingerden talked about the project saying, “…we do many other water projects in big cities. We were recently invited to exhibit our projects in Singapore and also work together with the Olympian committee, to supply fresh local products to the athletes during the Summer Olympics in 2020 in Tokyo. And we were approached by the government of Nicaragua to clean up the polluted city lagoon in the capital in a sustainable way.”