Urban and Home-Based Vegetable Gardening Practices in Ethiopia: A Review on Challenges, Opportunities, and Perspectives

Urban Farm DB summary

A PRISMA-based review synthesising peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025 on the status, challenges and opportunities of home and urban vegetable gardening in Ethiopia. It frames urban and home-based gardening as a practical response to food insecurity, malnutrition and environmental degradation in rapidly urbanising areas where the search for better opportunities has driven rising unemployment and limited access to nutritious, affordable food. The barriers it identifies — limited access to land and clean water, gendered barriers to women, limited technical knowledge, inadequate extension services and weak institutional support — all hinder production and sustainability. It further notes that widespread irrigation with untreated wastewater poses significant health and environmental risks through heavy-metal contamination and soil-transmitted infectious disease. Opportunities such as using vacant urban lots, promoting vertical gardening and supporting local seed production remain untapped; government support for urban gardening has grown recently but its implementation remains inconsistent. The review also identifies a significant geographical gap within the existing literature.