Britain’s Hummingboy Farms (HBF) has announced it is leasing four islands in the Maldives in what the country’s agriculture minister states will be an historic agricultural investment, marking “the largest agricultural project in Maldivian history.”

 

The company announced in a statement that it signed a contract on October 12 for the 21-year lease of Dhoonirehaa, Golhaallaa, Hulhuvaarulaa and Menthandhoo – a cluster of four uninhabited islands in the Gaaf Dhaal atoll, on which the company will invest US$10 million for the development of environment-controlled agricultural production through temperature-controlled greenhouses for the production of European variety salad crops and berries.

 

With the exception of fresh tuna and coconuts, the Maldives imports the bulk of its food supply, spending US$260 million per year to meet the food demand of its local population and the country’s tourist resorts. Some fresh vegetables and fruits, however, are locally grown including papayas, bananas, watermelons, mangoes, and eggplant. This high dependence on imports leaves the country susceptible to climate-related disruptions to the agricultural systems of other countries, and leaves the country in a tenuous state in regard to food security.

 

The greenhouse project has been in development for four years in collaboration with Canada, Hawaii, Turkey, Australia, the UK, Germany, and the UAE. HBF explains that in addition to aiding the Maldives toward import replacement, the project will employ environmentally renewable systems for climate control within the greenhouses, including a seawater air conditioning system to cool the growing environment and photovoltaic solar panels to provide power for the project with diesel engines as a backup source of power.

 

The project will also be a positive development for local smallholders. “Local farmers will benefit from selling their produce direct to the market under the HBF brand via a regular, low-cost distribution network, enabling a potential ‘picking-to-plate’ of 36 hours or less,” the company said.