The social isolation imposed by governments to control the spread of the Coronavirus is driving more city dwellers to grow their own fruits and vegetables at home, the Reuters agency quoted architects and food experts as a source.

Confirmed cases of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, total more than 7 million as of April 1,3, with around 74.000 deaths worldwide, according to a Reuters count.

The panic caused by social isolation has emptied supermarket shelves, and caused a considerable increase in the purchase of seeds, the agency reported.

"More and more people are thinking about where their food comes from, how easily it can be interrupted and how to reduce interruptions," said landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom, who designed Asia's largest urban rooftop farm in Bangkok.

“People, planners and governments should rethink how land is used in cities. Urban agriculture can improve food security and nutrition, reduce the impacts of climate change and decrease stress, ”he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

According to the United Nations, more than two-thirds of the world's population is forecast to live in cities by 2050.

According to a 2018 study published in Earth's Future magazine, urban agriculture can produce up to 180 million tons of food per year, about 10% of the world's production of legumes and vegetables.

The coronavirus outbreak is not the first time that concerns about food safety have led to the construction of more orchards. During World War I, the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, asked the Americans to plant the "Gardens of Victory" to avoid food shortages. The effort continued throughout World War II, with gardens in courtyards and schoolyards, on unused land, and even on the front lawn of the White House.

In recent decades, the rapid pace of urbanization in developing countries is causing urban malnutrition, said the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and asked planners to become "nutritional partners »And pay attention to food security.

Despite pressure on land to build houses and roads, there is more than enough urban land available in UK cities to meet the fruit and vegetable requirements of their population, said researchers at the University of Sustainable Food Institute. Sheffield in Britain last month.

In little Singapore, one of the wealthiest nations in Asia that imports more than 90% of its food, urban agriculture, including vertical and rooftop farms, is becoming very popular.

The city-state, located at the top of the global food security index according to The Economist Intelligence Unit in 2019, aims to produce 30% of its nutritional needs by 2030 by increasing the local supply of fruits, vegetables and meat proteins and fish.

Recently, Singapore legislator Ang Wei Neng said that during the coronavirus outbreak, "it would be wise to think about how to invest in homegrown food."

For Allan Lim, CEO of ComCrop, a commercial urban farm in Singapore, the pandemic is a reminder that food supply disruptions can occur at any time. “It has definitely sparked more interest in local products. Urban farms can be a buffer during outages like this, ”he said.