THE ADVANTAGES OF USING URBANFARM

1. Extremely low cost and ideal for use in developing countries.


2. It’s organic, uses only tiny amounts of water to maintain and is perfect for growing vegetables and fruits particularly in arid climates.


3. It can provide a valuable source of food for an Urban Farmer. If there are expensive local crops such as chillies or strawberries they can be grown and sold providing funds for a family to buy basic foods.


4. The root system of the crop can be easily felt on a daily basis to check the moisture content. This produces optimum watering.


5. Food can be grown without the need for land, just any urban or rural area in which to hang the bags will be fine.


6. Locally available bags e.g. a plastic shopping bag, recycled cement bag (but not one made of paper) or a bag made from offcut or recycled garment material may be used. A material bag may support a thin plastic bag placed inside to reduce water loss.


7. Such a simple system is very easy to understand and provides quality employment for unskilled workers or as an educational tool for schools or colleges. Only very basic training is needed.


8. An UrbanFarm may be set up on almost any surface such as a concrete, stone, or flagged surface, a flat concrete roof strong enough to carry the weight of the bags, on a fence, on a tree, a wall, a rope line, or on a frame made of bamboo or any discarded timber. Contaminated land may be used e.g. following a sea water flood or on a land fill or brown field site. To increase the crop yield several rows of bags can be hung vertically.


9. Only local materials that are free or available at ultra-low cost will be needed. Almost any materials can be adapted to do the job for example river silt, coconut husk or old newspapers in the compost. With the ultra-low set up cost and set up time UrbanFarm will change the lives of the poorest and most disadvantaged people on earth.


10. The bags can be hung above the height of grazing animals such as goats, chickens or rabbits. This also makes access difficult for ground pests such as slugs.


11. The height of the bags can be set for ease of access to suit disabled Farmers, children and older people.


12. When used on a large scale UrbanFarm can produce crops that can be sold commercially.


13. UrbanFarm promotes independent living particularly for women. It encourages enterprise and trade and can also help with disaster relief.