OPPORTUNITY & URGENCY

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Hosted on Hawaii Island, the inaugural Tropical AgTech Conference brings together key global leaders in agricultural technology, to spur innovation and create solutions to the urgent food system problems in the tropics.

 

Opportunity

Develop creative, technology-based solutions that increase productivity and efficiency for smallholder farms in the tropics.  Innovations must be climate-smart, farmer-friendly to implement and economically viable at small scale production.

 

Urgency

The highest concentrations of hunger already exist in the tropics and climate change is making it increasingly challenging to produce food in the tropics.   

 

Currently approximately 40% of the global population live in the tropics with expectations to reach 50% by 2040.  The highest concentration of “hunger” currently exists in these tropical regions. Climate change is already having a negative impact on existing crops, and it is expected to get worse. 

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Driven primarily by climate change, the tropics are expanding. Developing solutions that allow for agriculture production near population centers in the tropics is vital and potentially very profitable.

 

AgTech is a viable solution but...

AgTech is currently focused on large-scale production when 80% of food consumed globally comes from small-scale farms (~5 acres). Technology solutions are needed to support increased productivity of small farms.

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Hawaii can play a critical role in providing solutions around the world.

Hawaii is an ideal place for incubating Tropical AgTech ideas and solutions given our climate, the research and development already taking place here, and our island’s unique resources.

 

Hawaii can be a leader for stimulating agricultural technologies in the tropics and providing solutions to increase food production to help feed the 3.7 billion people living in the tropics.

 

Join us for the Tropical AgTech Conference, June 22nd and 23rd in Hilo for this exceptional gathering of thought leaders and industry influencers.