In an era marked by climate change, resource scarcity, and a rapidly growing population, the need for innovative agricultural solutions is paramount. Water Garden Farms (WGF) is at the forefront of this transformation, leveraging advanced Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) 2.0 technology to address these pressing challenges and ensure a sustainable future for food production. Dennis Levine has found a viable solution to address our planet’s environmental agricultural challenges.
This is a critical time in human history. What are the biggest challenges you see going forward?
This century is turning up to be a critical one for humanity and our planet. Climate change is forcing us to address a host of issues: extreme weather events, resource scarcity, environmental degradation, population growth, supply chain disruptions, income disparity, geopolitical tensions, and eco-anxiety. These challenges are both global in scope and profoundly interconnected.
We’re on the brink of significant ecological shifts due to climate change and at a tipping point in our ability to feed the world. Arable land and freshwater supplies are dwindling, and global deforestation is threatening our remaining biodiversity. We urgently need effective and responsible solutions to address these major issues.
Here are the facts. We must increase global food production by 70% over the next 25 years to feed 9 billion people. Without sweeping solutions, this could equate to clearing out an area of trees as large as the entire Amazon rainforest, which provides 20% of our planet’s oxygen.
These problems are not cyclical, they are seismic. Global food prices, adjusted for inflation, have risen by more than 50% since 1999. Meanwhile, agriculture’s productivity growth globally has dropped by 35% in the last half century, while our soil has been depleted through industrial agriculture and the increasing use of chemical fertilizers that damage our downstream aquifers, drinking water, and ocean ecosystems.
The demand for accessible freshwater – which represents less than 1% of Earth’s water – is set to triple from current levels during this 25-year period. As a result, 2/3 of the planet will face freshwater shortages by 2050 and more than 3 billion people are expected to be trapped in uninhabitable zones in the second half of the century. Without immediate action, the geopolitical impact will be catastrophic, leading to billions of climate migrants seeking basic survival.
Even in our own backyard, the U.S. relies on California and Arizona to supply more than 90% of its fresh produce. The West Coast has been battered by an increasing number of droughts, fires, and floods. Water rights have been a major source of contention among states connected to the Colorado River, a vital water source that has been under unprecedented strain. This has led to huge pressures on our agriculture supply chain. We are now basically shipping water (in produce) from water-starved states to water-abundant states. The situation is worsening and leading to a matter of national security.
How can we ensure food security in a fast-changing world and how Water Garden Farms will help to solve these problems?
I found that the most effective strategy to implement sustainable solutions at scale is through controlled environment agriculture (CEA) in greenhouses. CEA is a proven, high-tech driven approach to indoor farming that optimizes resource use (water, energy, space, and nutrients) by controlling environmental conditions 24/7. This agri-facturing method involves continuous monitoring and adjustment of factors such as light, temperature, humidity, nutrient, and CO2 levels to enhance crop yields and quality, resource efficiency (water, energy), and food safety.
I have spent the last decade investigating, testing, and collaborating on these issues with the world’s leading experts in their respective fields, ranging from agriculture and biology to land and water management, AgTech, artificial intelligence, and greenhouse engineering.
WGF is transforming agriculture by introducing unprecedented crop production yields in the U.S. to grow, harvest, and distribute local organic produce every day of the year. By consolidating the numerous steps of our broken supply chain under one roof, we not only enhance food safety but also ensure that produce reaches the market at its nutritional peak, mere hours after harvesting. This integrated approach also insulates us from the climate-related disruptions that frequently impact traditional open-field farms.
We are now ready to break ground on our new flagship 500,000 sq. ft. facility, an hour away from Washington, DC. This will be the most advanced fully automated CEA greenhouse in the world. Our carbon footprint is 85% lower than California open field farms and we draw less than 2% of the water for a 44x greater production yield per acre and no agricultural runoff. Our facility is 100% solar powered and uses very little energy (unlike vertical farms) as we rely on sunlight for crop production. We are bringing sustainable farming to the frontlines at a lower price point. We are looking at $75 million in revenue in this facility alone, with a 60% EBITDA margin.
Our long-term goal is to expand over the coming years, building more facilities across the U.S. and eventually globally to meet increasing demands for food and resource conservation. We are leading the way with solutions that can ensure food security and can drive capital flows in sustainable agriculture.
Dennis Levine Bio
Dennis Levine began his career on Wall Street in the late 1970s and quickly ascended to become one of the most influential dealmakers of his generation, leading high-profile M&A transactions at firms such as Drexel Burnham Lambert, Lehman Brothers, and Citibank. Over the decades, he continued to be a trusted advisor to some of the world’s most prominent C-suite innovators. His life journey and passion for solving complex problems have led him to become a pioneer in sustainable farming and AI systems innovation. His company, Water Garden Farms, introduces a disruptive business model to tackle some of the planet’s most pressing environmental and economic challenges. Dennis is a recognized authority in the financial and sustainability sectors, providing a new paradigm in agricultural innovation. He frequently lectures at top universities and international forums on business ethics, sustainability, food security, and emerging technology trends.
