Reference no: EM133633791 , Length: 4 pages

Ideation Management: Introduction to Design Thinking, Tools and Frameworks

Opportunity Recognition, Idea and Innovation Management

Topic:
Innovations for Singapore's Food Security

Challenges for the Agriculture Industry
A burgeoning agricultural industry in the tiny city state of Singapore would have been almost unthinkable. In one of the world's most densely populated cities where skyscrapers dot the skyline instead of arable land, agriculture would not be an efficient use of expensive real estate. Today, only 1% of the total land area of 721.5km2 is used for farming purposes; while less than 0.5% of the population is employed in the agriculture industry1. The challenges of land and manpower scarcity are obvious. Coupled with weather and environmental constraints, how can Singapore develop the agricultural sector to ensure food security for its growing 5.6 million population?

While 90% of food is currently sourced from overseas, Singapore aims to increase food self- sufficiency from less than 10 per cent today to 30 per cent by 2030 - the "30 by 30" Target2. The only solution to ensure self-sufficiency is to develop the local agriculture industry through innovations. Since the traditional farming model is not viable, Singapore needs to adopt advanced farming technologies that are energy and water conservative, and which enable small footprint cultivation. Commercial adoption and scalability of new agricultural methods are also crucial to development. Thus, an innovation framework and with public-private partnerships to seed innovative enterprises will facilitate the revival of a new urban agriculture industry.

Summarized Recommendations to Meet '30 by 30' Food Security Target

Agricultural entrepreneurs can:

• Identify core business innovation which would fall under one of the three Food Security Roadmap Strategies
• Capitalize on use of funds and grants provided by relevant agencies for innovation development
• Establish their space in local and international ecosystem of innovative agri-tech companies10
• Grow industry expertise through partnership with tertiary institutions11
• Utilize newly released land plots / alternative spaces for food production
• Collaborate in international and regional conferences (Exchange of research capabilities and best practices)