Urban Gardening: From Cost Avoidance to Profit Making — Example from Ljubljana, Slovenia

Urban Farm DB summary

Two economic models of urban gardening, an avoided costs model (ACM) and a business model (BM), were compared among 127 urban gardeners in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Average ACM gardeners achieved savings of 3.38 EUR/m2 (approximately 462.7 EUR per average 136.69 m2 garden). Average BM gardeners sold approximately 107.0 kg of vegetables annually from 32.48 m2 of production area, generating a gross margin of approximately 135.17 EUR/year (4.29 EUR/m2). The study provides evidence that the ACM can be upgraded with the BM for additional income.