{"id":13059,"date":"2018-02-22T19:48:58","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T19:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hnews.hult.edu\/?p=13059"},"modified":"2026-05-06T11:05:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T10:05:27","slug":"vertical-farming-mark-esposito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hult.edu\/blog\/vertical-farming-mark-esposito\/","title":{"rendered":"Vertical farming: A tech-driven solution for food security"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Average global food prices have gone up by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fao.org\/worldfoodsituation\/foodpricesindex\/en\/\">2.6 percent annually<\/a> in the past two decades. If that trend continues, not only does it threaten a baseline quality of life as more disposable income goes toward food, it also threatens our overall food security.<\/p>\n<p>Hunger and malnutrition issues persist, especially in developing countries. Food scarcity problems have also been linked to political unrest and violence. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, <a href=\"https:\/\/ourworld.unu.edu\/en\/food-insecurity-and-the-conflict-trap\">record-high food prices<\/a> in 2008 prompted riots in 48 countries, including fragile states like Somalia and Yemen.<\/p>\n<p>Rising food costs reflect underlying trends leading to failures with traditional agriculture. Vertical farming, a technology-driven model of agriculture, may offer a means to address farm output and food security in the years to come, even if it may not impact food prices in the many months ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Vertical farming, a term coined by Dickson Despommier, is the practice of producing food in vertically-stacked layers. These \u201cfarms\u201d make use of enclosed structures like warehouses and shipping containers to provide a controlled environment to grow crops in a hydroponic or aeroponic system. Electronic sensors ensure that crops receive the right amount of LED light, nutrients, and heat. The benefits include independence from arable land, year-round growing capacities, less water consumption, and improved crop predictability.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>If you would like to find out more about our business programs,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hult.edu\/en\/brochure\/\">download a brochure here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>This article was written by\u00a0Hult\u00a0Professor\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/markesposito\/\">Mark Esposito<\/a>, Terence Tse, Khaled Soufani, &amp; Lisa Xiong for the Stanford Social Innovation Review<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Read the full article, originally published\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ssir.org\/articles\/entry\/feeding_the_future_of_agriculture_with_vertical_farming\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Take a masterclass with Mark<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019d like to hear more from Dr. Mark Esposito, please join us for an upcoming\u00a0<strong>Experience Hult\u00a0<\/strong>event in Asia. Mark will be delivering masterclasses throughout May in cities including\u00a0<strong>Tokyo<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Seoul<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Taipei<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Manila<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Jakarta<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>Bangkok<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Grow your leadership capabilities with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hult.edu\/mba\/\">MBA in international business<\/a> at Hult. To learn more, take a look at our blog <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hult.edu\/blog\/a-new-model-for-leadership-development-in-the-21st-century\/\">A new model for leadership development in the 21st century<\/a>, or give your career a boost with our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hult.edu\/masters\/international-business\/\">Masters in International Business<\/a>. Download a brochure or get in touch today to find out how Hult can help you to learn about the business world, the future, and yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Average global food prices have gone up by 2.6 percent annually in the past two decades. If that trend continues, not only does it threaten a baseline quality of life&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":13061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[114],"tags":[181,180,175,242,205],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vertical farming: A tech-driven solution for food security<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rising food costs reflect underlying trends leading to failures with traditional agriculture. 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