Hydroponics Fights Hunger

Food shortages and food inaccessibility due to economic reasons are problems common to countries around the world.  Land unsuitable for traditional farming contributes to food shortages, as do urban conditions preventing self sufficiency.  Hydroponics gardening and farming techniques are being used around the world to help fight hunger.

Hydroponics in Inhospitable Locations
In areas of Pakistan, traditional farming methods are expensive and impractical.  Water, a precious commodity in the arid landscape, is lost at an alarmingly high rate with traditional methods.  Water evaporates into the air, drains through the soil and is taken up by weeds, making farming in the soil unaffordable for farmers.  Inability to farm, and no money with which to purchase fresh food leaves many in Pakistan hungry.

The government of Pakistan is beginning to see the value of hydroponics farming to help fight hunger. A test project overseen by a Dutch expert in hydroponics recently began in Islamabad.  Five acres of land are producing tens of thousands of kilograms of tomatoes a week.  With such huge results on very little space, the possibility of hydroponics making an impact on the economic situation in Pakistan is real.  Because hydroponics farms require infrastructure in the form of water and electricity, before the farms can become a reality, infrastructure around the country will need improvement.

Hydroponics Beats Disease
In North Korea, potatoes are a staple crop.  Producing tubers, or potatoes from which new potatoes are started is a lengthy process fraught with failure.  Potatoes are susceptible to a wide variety of diseases and producing disease-free starter stock presents a challenge.  To counter effects of potato diseases, a philanthropic organization “World Vision” has partnered with the North Korean government to start hydroponics potato seedling farms.

North Koreans suffer from hunger due to inhospitable growing conditions, lack of free trade, poor weather and poverty.  The ability to grow more potatoes will help improve overall health conditions. World Vision is also experimenting with farming methods to grow cucumbers and other produce to help enhance the nutrient-deficient diet of North Koreans.

Hydroponics Helps
Even within nations traditionally considered “developed,” poverty prevents thousands of individuals from consuming fresh produce and gaining necessary nutrients.  In Penfield, New York, Freshwise Farms, a hydroponics greenhouse grows tons of produce each year for the local community.  The farm is owned by Foodlink, a program devoted to fighting hunger in the region surrounding the farm.  Profits from sales go to help fight hunger locally, while produce grown at the farm makes affordable fresh foods available to local residents.

Whether in far-flung desert locations in Asia or temperate climates of North America, hydroponics gardening can contribute to the greater heath of a population.  Look for hydroponics to revolutionize agriculture around the world in years to come.