Possibilities for South Wales and farming
Late last year, the Growth and Competiveness Commission, said that connectivity would be important in the success of the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) City Deal.
The deal, covering 10 local authorities in South East Wales (Here’s a list), is an opportunity to invest in long term innovation and creating a joined up economy for the region.
One of the perennial criticisms of Cardiff — although certainly this is not unique to Cardiff as a capital — is that it is too inward looking. Many critics of the city say that wealth is created within and does not spread into the region itself.
Largely, the critics cite slow moving job creation programmes and failures in administering EU funding.
Whether these are valid criticisms or not, the CCR City Deal offers a focal point for innovation in Wales over the next 10 years looking forward to the next 40.
One of the key problems in Wales is the high level of unemployment in the South Wales Valleys.
And this is where we find ourselves: high levels of post-industrial unemployment with a large infrastructure project aiming to connect highly progressive urban areas with quasi-rural areas nearby.
In my view, Wales has several great opportunities for solving some of these problems:
- A huge amount of green space — “The south Wales valleys forest is the largest urban forest in western Europe, with 1.5 million people — 60 per cent of the population of Wales living in or around it.” (1)
- A booming technology sector — “The GVA growth for the sector is up 94% from 2010 to 2014, with £369m total GVA, minus value of imports. And the average digital salary in 2015 was £42,926” (2)
- A major transport project on the horizon — “Metro will bring benefits to passengers, link communities together and help transform the economy. It will have a positive social, economic and environmental effect. It will also shape our region’s identity.” (3)
- A wonderful receptivity to third sector/social business models — “The survey revealed a robust and dynamic sector, confident about the future. The total value of the sector is valued at £1.7 billion and it employs 38,000 people. Trade is the single most important source of finance for social businesses, with the general public the most important trading partner.” (4)
Where is this going?
Agriculture has always been a key industry for Wales. Given the availability of natural resources, this is hardly surprising.
Recent advances in technology mean that some of the work that could previously only be done with specialist agricultural knowledge or a lot of room is becoming more accessible to amateurs.
Techniques such as robotic farming and hydroponic farming enable vertical rather than horizontal farming (demo video below).
In a part of Wales where there will be an increasing demand for food over the next 40 years due to the growth and development of towns and cities, there is more impetus than ever to ensure that we capitalise on the demand.
Rather than losing money to farms outside of Wales, it makes more sense to invest in agricultural technologies which will help meet our needs within the borders.
What do I mean?
Let me explain like this: It is 2030. I live in Gabalfa, Cardiff. When I wake up in the morning, I realise that I have planned to invite some friends over for dinner in the evening but haven’t thought about what kind of food I need. I ask my Echo to find me some good recipes and to send me a list of ingredients for the one I like.
Going to my fridge, I see that it is fairly sparse. I pull out my phone and order the vegetables I don’t have for the recipe through a web interface.
In Abercynon, a farmbot picks the ingredients from a local grower. However, it’s missing some of the vital ingredients. It goes ahead and puts the vegetables it does have into a box. The Abercynon resident who manages the farmbot I just ordered from pops the box onto a train platform where a messenger (both previously unemployed) is waiting to collect. The messenger rides with my ingredients until Treforest where another farmbot has collected the rest of the necessary ingredients.
At 5pm, I get back to my house to find that the messenger has dropped off the ingredients. Funds from my account are sent to the co-operative that employs both the messenger and the farmbot managers.
The co-operative’s business model allows for new farmbots to be created when the demand increases. A Fab-Lab based in Aberdare cuts all of the open source parts for a new farmbot and a messenger arrives to collect them and drop them to a new manager in Penrhiwceiber the next day.
What does this mean for South Wales?
While the possibilities of farming may not be immediately exciting to some, they certainly should be. Within the right context, the constituent parts form a wonderful opportunity.
- More jobs for the South Wales valleys created through management of a farming network. Additionally, there is the need for sales and logisitics at the larger vertical farms.
- Capitalising on the metro, there is the possibility to create service carriages and reduce traffic on the roads. Connecting the cities with towns and villages encourages meaningful investment.
- Development of the software and technology sector will be inevitable once useful business models are established so close to home.
- Food waste and associated environmental impact is positively affected by production of local on-demand produce.
- Possibilities for Welsh Government subsidies of locally farmed produce ensure that healthier lifestyles become normative where previously unhealthy diets created strain on health services.
- Collaboration between Cardiff, Newport and the wider region.
