Growing sustainable capitalism: The environmental politics of agri-tech in Singapore

Abstract

This article examines the nexus of the emergence of the agri-tech ecosystem in Singapore and concerns over climate change. In anticipation of supply chain issues due to unstable weather patterns, the Singaporean government plans to intensify its agriculture sector over the next decade. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has set a target – a ‘30 by 30’ initiative – to create a robust, innovative, and sustainable agri-tech industry that will produce 30% of the nation’s nutritional needs locally by 2030. Over the past few years, the state has not only shuttered local farms that hew to conventional farming methods but have also ploughed S$30 million into agri-tech startups that have embraced soilless vertical farming. Investors, too, have been lured by the promise of modern cultivation that purports to grow food in a climate resilient and sustainable way. Drawing on debates centred around ‘green’ capitalism, this article finds that vertical farms often fail to live up to the promise that agri-tech will combat climate change and food insecurity. I suggest that these failures are built into the solutionism of sustainability discourse, as start-ups that are supported by venture capital and state investment funds only need to demonstrate the promise to potentially succeed by articulating aspirational narratives that counter the pitfalls of conventional agriculture. In theorizing why there remains a steady proliferation of agri-tech firms amidst failure, this essay illuminates that what is then being sustained is a form of sustainability capitalism that ultimately does not politically disrupt existing systems of environmental governance.