Goals

The world is urbanizing. In 2030 60% two third of the world population will live in cities, with increasing purchasing power, demanding for a more divers and protein rich diet. Many of these cities are typical Delta metropoles usurping the space most suited for agricultural production. Metropolitan Foodclusters are the system innovations that answer the food demand for the growing urban middle class and do no longer build on the traditional agriculture that is declining in the rural areas.

Details of current status

The design of the complete Agroparks has been completed and Letters of Interest have been signed by a considerable number of Indian and Dutch entrepreneurs and submitted to the Key Investor (IFFCO). The next steps are now for the government to enable the implementation of these innovative businesses and for the private sector (IFFCO and interested entrepreneurs) to implement their businesses. Based on the actual Agropark design, its implementation, support and facilitation will be continued.

Details of project plan

A Metropolitan Foodcluster is an intelligent agrologistic network, that is not only a new perspective of metropolitan agriculture but also offers access to markets for modernising existing farmers.
It contains three vital appearances:
• Rural Transformation Centre: combining collection and storage of farmers products with rural development services
• Agro Production and Processing Park: combining production, processing, collection, R&D, trade and social functions. The Agropark applies principles of industrial ecology and delivers its products throughout the year as independent as possible from season and land
• Consolidation Centre: serves the metropolitan markets in a consumer responsive way throughout the year. Seasonal products not available from local producers are being supplied from storage or by trade.

Impact

The Nellore Agropark will provide employment to about 10,000 people within the park and another 15.000 in the vicinity of the park. In addition the business set up of the Agropark will also provide market access to a huge number of small farmers through the improved agrologistics, farmer extension and transport, cooling and processing facilities on the Agropark. The demand for high quality products as generated by the park will stimulate modernisation and productivity of exisiting local farming practises.

Spin off and market impact

The MFC around Nellore will flourish when a number of agroparks and their sourcing RTC's as well as the consolidation centers that regulate access to the markets will be developed. It acts as a pioneer park and role model. Through the MFC, the region around Nellore will get connected to the food markets of the nearby metropoles (Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad) as well as to the world export market.

Lessons learned

A metropolitan foodcluster as a knowledge-driven system innovation realises lower costs, more added value and reduced environmental pollution per unit of output and surface area and in so doing makes a significant contribution to sustainable development.

A metropolitan foodcluster can only come into being on the basis of an integral design of hardware, orgware and software at both the global scale of Intelligent Agrologistics Networks and the local scale of a landscape.

The design and implementation of system innovations like metropolitan foodclusters necessitates the participation of knowledge institutions, enterprises, NGOs and governmental organisations and a positive outcome from an integral test on sustainable development. It is a transdisciplinary process in which the explicit knowledge of knowledge institutions and the tacit knowledge of the other partners are developed in a process of continuous iteration.

Design of the agropark orgware with knowledge institutions, enterprises, governments and citizens from the local area, where the park is to be implemented, can only take place once sufficient trust has been built up between these parties on the basis of an appealing matterscape design, in which there are still many open options.

Technologies used

Designing metropolitan foodclusters and agroparks is based on an integrated approach of chain development and regional development in a creative research by design process.

The design should not only be oriented on the hardware of the MFC (its buildings, zoning and physical aspects) but also on the more complicated orgware aspects (co-operation between stakeholders, business development, juridical aspects) and on the software aspects that are the most critical succes factor (training and education, communication), determining the duration of the implementation time.

It is co-design in which Knowledge Institutes, Entrepreneurs, Non Governmental and Governmental Organisations co-operate to realise the necessary system-innovations in a tailor made process that takes into account the specific uncertainties of each case.