Hydroponic Crop Cultivation as a Strategy for Reducing Food Insecurity

Globally, coastal communities and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are most at risk of food insecurity due to a variety of natural and economic factors [1]. Agricultural systems in these areas have a high level of exposure to climate risks including extreme weather and sea level rise [2]. The populations that are most vulnerable to the risk of food insecurity are lower-income, indigenous, rural, ethnic, and religious minority groups, as well as women and children [3]. Hydroponic Crop Cultivation (HCC) is a method of farming in which crops are grown in a nutrient rich solution in order to decrease the amount of resources, time, and space needed to grow. The project seeks to understand the role that HCC can play in mitigating risks to global food security and nutrition (GFSN) through three facets: 1) evaluation of the potential applications for HCC, including: SIDS, refugee camps, food deserts, rooftop gardens and apartment units, 2) ranking HCC against other technologies for GFSN risk mitigation, 3) build and test a floating, storm-resilient HCC system for the special case of GFSN in SIDS. The first two objectives will be ranked by a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method to determine the optimal use case while the last objective will be measured by the construction of a physical prototype. The system will use the Dutch bucket method of HCC to grow larger root crops, as well as enabling the functionality to grow multiple varieties of crops within the same system. The system will float in standing water and be able to withstand a reasonable amount of wind load, to allow the system to survive hurricanes. The HCC system relies on solar photovoltaic power to operate the HCC system, and will be designed to provide up to 72 hours of emergency power for communications and lighting. The functionality of the system will be assessed by testing in a calm water environment as well as simulations of wind loading.