Determinants of sustainability in urban and peri-urban agriculture
Andreas Buerkert, Eva Schlecht, Martina Předotová, Rodrigue V.C. Diogo, Katja Kehlenbeck, Jens Gebauer
eScholarship (California Digital Library)
Urban Farm DB summary
This study analyzed urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) systems in major Sub-Saharan African cities, measuring carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fluxes and conducting biodiversity studies. In Niamey, low-input gardens showed annual gaseous carbon emissions of 20-25 t ha-1, predominantly CO2, and high-input gardens irrigated with wastewater had annual CO2-C emissions of 27 t ha-1, with N2O as a major nitrogen loss contributor. Animal manure stored in the open was subject to large carbon and nitrogen losses, indicating environmental tradeoffs. However, UPA gardens in Niamey maintained a large variety of fruit and vegetable species, with richness increasing with garden and household size and commercialization.