pMap is a project designed to approach the solution of Food supply problems caused by the Covid-19 crisis through Rooftop Farming. Our area of study scope of the project is up to our country Nepal. Our project aims to fulfill the demands locally and focuses rather on the local response/solution to the food supply problem. As the nation goes to complete lockdown, the supply from the far farms and agricultural areas is not possible. In the situation, Rooftop Farming in the community can sustain life and also fulfill the local demands if done on a larger scale, effectively.
Kathmandu Valley is covered by many houses and has basically become a concrete jungle. The population density is 20,288 people per sq. km.[1]. Open space here is very much difficult to find. So the concept of small backyard farming is not possible here. There are a lot of houses with flat roofs getting enough sunlight but empty. As Nepal has gone to complete lockdown, the food supply has really been a great problem. Terai region is the agricultural region lying in the southern part of our country. The soil temperature and the surface temperature is very suitable for different crops [2][3]. Food supply from the Terai region (farming region of our country) has been reduced. Also, people prefer to buy vegetables from local suppliers. We hear from the news that the vegetables are getting rotten due to lack of market. In this situation developing a local supply mechanism is effective and important.
As previously said, there is a lack of space for farming. But one of the places that can greatly be utilized is the rooftops. Rooftop farming is done in Kathmandu and the trend is growing. This thing might greatly solve the problem of the food supply by supplying the products in the market so that the market can withstand the demand during the disruptions caused due to COVID-19.
Back in 2015, India imposed a blockade over Nepal. During that time there was a difficult situation regarding food. This situation led us to think about a possible alternative for the dependency of foodstuffs (mainly vegetables). Also in this pandemic, we are facing a similar problem. So, we found out that rooftop farming could fulfill the supply for vegetables in the market by a significant percentage and the rest could be fulfilled by agricultural production from Nepal itself.
Nepal is considered an agricultural country as the maximum people depend on agriculture. The majority of them are into subsistent agriculture. Though the production of storable cereals is somewhat adequate, Nepal is even more dependent on other countries on vegetables. Moreover, due to this pandemic, both Nepal and India are currently in lockdown. So, the transportation of foodstuffs and vegetables has been a difficult task due to the Covid-19 risk of the workers as well as consumers.
World Food Programme (WFP) Nepal and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) have produced the second joint mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mappings (mVAM) Market Update through a detailed assessment of the price of essential commodities in 68 districts in the first round, and 62 districts in the second round during the COVID-19 national lockdown [4]. In Nepal, despite COVID-19 physical limitations and lockdowns, WFP used mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mappings (mVAM) tools such as SMS and phone calls to assess the markets and track food-security trends in real-time.
As per the report of WFP Nepal (12 May 2020), Marginal increase was seen in the prices of the basic food commodities in 15 major markets compared to the first week of March and April 2020. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, food availability was low and declining, as reported by a majority of interviewed traders. Food availability in markets was considered to be insufficient by 53 percent of traders which was supposed to be due to transportation problems.
Moreover, rooftop farming would not be effective in many of the houses due to two problems. These are inadequate sunlight and rainfall. Due to uneven sunlight periods as well as due to the fact that small buildings get shadowed by taller buildings, adequate sunlight required might not be received by the farms [5]. The suitable temperature required for the crops to grow is much higher than it is in Kathmandu Valley as it has a more moderate climate (refer to the temperature maps here [6][7]). So, a greenhouse is added which will helps us adjust the temperature up to the suitable temperature.
As this project comprises of artificial farms, irrigation systems could be installed but the fact that most urban cities do not have adequate water supply had to be considered. 20% of households have no access to a domestic water source and two-thirds of the urban households live with inadequate water supply in Kathmandu Valley [8]. So, rainwater should be considered rather than the supplied household water. We have integrated rainwater harvesting with rooftop farming. The rainfall is powered by the monsoon winds from the Bay of Bengal through the southeastern side [9]. The maximum rainfall occurs from June to August [10]. For the farming in Kathmandu Valley, rainwater will be collected in the roofs and then used the farm. Not only that groundwater can also be used if necessary [11].
The ground soil is not very moist, so the artificial farm has great need here [12]. The prototype of this project can be used in roofs as well as a ground-based farm. pMap focuses mostly on artificial factors on farming along with the rainfall as a key component. It can easily be used in many urban areas even in the very developed cities. Our team firmly believes in developing an ecological city. An ecological city can greatly reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect which will be the major issue if not solved.
We have covered the scientific analysis as per our knowledge. Our team wanted to calculate the rough factual data on the efficiency of the project as well as the percentage of the market demand that could be fulfilled by this project. We will be calculating the area covered by feasible rooftops. Also, other data that we have used might have some errors. We will try to correct them as much as we can and approach experts to help us as well. Due to insufficient time and lack of digitalization of data by the government of Nepal (GoN), we were not able to do so.
Our further plans include activities that can enhance the efficiency of the project, scientifically and economically. Different satellite data from space agencies (GPM, Sentinel, and Landsat) can greatly provide data about rainfall, sunlight, and other agricultural variables in that area. We are planning to further foster this project once lockdown eases and we will be able to contact Subject Matter Experts (SME) in this regard.
Through NASA Space App Challenges, our team made a giant leap in handling space-based data. The fact that space-based data can be handy in drawing out solutions to different problems led us to an innovative franchise of problem-solving. Moreover, the boot camps and rocket chat let us make new contacts and further enhance our understanding of the event. Getting in touch with the space agency representative, subject matter experts (SME) and other participants was really fruitful. Throughout the event we were able to share our knowledge with different people through collaboration.
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