5 tips to ensure your urban farm doesn’t fail
Humankind is facing a lot of environmental challenges. Some of the challenges are increasing population, carbon emission, air pollution, urban heat island effect, shortage of water, and more. All these challenges are the primary causes of diseases and mental health issues. However, urban farming is an excellent solution for all these challenges.
Urban farming will help face these adverse challenges and make the urban areas more human-friendly. Globally 50% of the population lives in urban areas today. And by 2045, the world urban population will increase by 1.5 times. The cities also consume two-thirds of the global energy, resulting in more than 70% of greenhouse gas emissions.
These factors are causing environmental stressors and a greater need for higher food production. To develop a sustainable and healthy city environment, adopt localising food. What does that mean? It means adopting urban farming, one of the most systematic approaches to solving the challenges.
However, one of the challenges people face is financial inability and proper guidance. Nowadays, numerous financial agencies assist with urban agricultural loans, agriculture equipment finance for urban farming, etc. One such agency leveraging the new technologies for sustainable farming is NAFA. We help, guide, and provide financial support through channel financing.
What is Urban Farming?
Urban farming (urban agriculture, urban gardening) is the practice of cultivating food in and around urban areas. It is a system that produces, processes, and distributes food in urban communities.
However, for sustainable urban farming, one must follow certain things to see that their dream of flourishing in urban farming does not collapse. Therefore, let us now find out the fundamental things you should follow to succeed in urban agriculture.
Five Incredible Tips to Ensure Your Urban Farm Flourish.
- Know Your Finances
You should plan your big and small investments minutely and keenly so that you do not struggle in the mid of the production process. Chalk out the plan for farm supplies, your daily spending, and if you need any financial help for significant investments like the automation process. You can approach the agriculture equipment finance agencies, urban agricultural loans, or opt for channel financing. Keep track of all the spending and earnings from season to season, and avoid any loopholes if they exist.
- Know Your Local Market
Knowing your local marketplace will help a great deal. Before starting with your project, it is better to understand the requirements of the local people. And also, you should know what crops are better suitable for the environmental condition. Once you know the demands of the local customers and the crops well suited to grow locally, you can start with sample farming. Do not go for huge plantations initially; opt for required plant samples, and you can grow.
- Make Sure Your Land Agreements are Clear and precise
To avoid any hassles in the future, you should have proper land agreements that give you access to the land to cultivate freely. Having everything in writing gives both parties a clear picture of the terms and conditions. The advantage of having everything in the agreement prevents future conflicts and issues. You have to cover up some essential factors such as tenure of the lease, conditions to vacate the land, water bill, and the responsible party for security.
- Focus on One Thing First and Move On to Next
You should not make urban farming an overwhelming process by putting your hands on many things at a time. You should start with one or two things to make them successful and slowly add on different things. It is a step-by-step process to make it big in urban farming.
- Have the Right Equipment
To start farming, you should have the right equipment at your disposal. You should have all the essential equipment required for farming to make it a success. If you plan to start urban farming without proper equipment, you deem to fail at it. If you do not have sufficient money, you can opt for agriculture equipment finance or agriculture loans through financing companies.
Conclusion
If you follow all the tips mentioned above for your urban farm, it will undoubtedly lead to prosperous urban farming. You can have increased income, run a sustainable business to make money, protect the environment, and have good relations with the community. However, if you want to start urban farming and are still not confident about it, you can approach Netafim Agricultural Financing Agency (NAFA). We are helping people thrive by adopting intelligent technologies and assisting farmers financially through our channel financing.