2020-2030: THE DECADE OF DELIVERY

Using open-source AgTech, we can achieve Sustainable Development Goal #2 ZERO HUNGER by growing anytime, anywhere, using less resources like time, energy, space, water. And this is crucial to commit to because:

• Climate change wiping out farm land
• Depletion of nutrient rich soil
• 70% of the population of 9 Billion living in cities by 2050
• No urban access to sustainable local agriculture
• 1/3 of the population starving to death even though we produce enough food to feed 10B people RIGHT NOW

The SkyFarms.io open-source AgHub initiative seeks to support global efforts through a participation based community to make agricultural space, information and technology available, accessible, and usable for unrestricted use worldwide. The initiative focuses on building high-level policy and public and private institutional support for open data to repurposing space for farms, leveraging information and technology to grow local food and create sustainable value. The initiative encourages collaboration and cooperation among existing agriculture and open data activities, without duplication, and brings together all stakeholders to solve long-standing global problems of hunger and increasing urban populations without access to a local food production, consumption and distribution system.

Open access to research, and open publication of resources, are vital for future food security, driven by farmers, farmer organisations, researchers, extension experts, policy makers, governments, and other private sector and civil society stakeholders participating in a innovation systems and along value chains. Lack of institutional, national, and international policies and openness limits the effectiveness of agricultural innovation.

Making open-source work for agriculture requires a shared agenda to increase the supply, quality of food while improving the health, and wellbeing of people and the planet.

The SkyFarms.io open-source AgHub initiative is a voluntary association brought together around a shared purpose. Launched in December 2017, the initiative welcomes all those who share this purpose to join as members and to participate in shaping coordinated activities that can deliver on the potential of creating access and incentives to space, information and technology for the expansion of sustainable agriculture. Together, initiative partners seek to support this initiative through the following guidelines and principles.

In line with global movements for sustainability, AgTech and open-access the initiative seeks to:

• advocate for open-source policies by default, in both public and private sectors, whilst respecting and working to balance openness with legitimate concerns in relation to privacy, security, community rights and commercial interests
• advocate for the release of space, information and technology in support of Innovation and Economic Growth, Improved Service Delivery and Effective Governance, and Improved Environmental and Social Outcomes

With a focus on open-source for agriculture the initiative seeks to:

• advocate for new and existing initiatives to set a core focus on local farm-to-fork agriculture democracy
• encourage the agreement on and release of a common set of agricultural opportunities
• increase widespread awareness of ongoing activities, innovations and good practices
• advocate for collaborative efforts on future agriculture open data endeavours
• advocate programs, good practices, and lessons learned that enable the use of open-source particularly by and for the rural and urban underprivileged, impoverished
• advocate for investment in human, social and natural capital as a way of measuring growth
• advocate for the achievement of our 17 Growing Goals 

Seven More Reasons To Get Growing: 

• Supply a growing world population
• Support local economies and farmers
• Sustain healthier lives
• Reduce hunger and poverty 
• Decease fossil fuel dependency
• Conserve and manage precious resources of water, time, space, and energy 
• Minimise pollution and planetary damage