Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1063 results(15 / 43)
Toward Evidence-Based Local Food Policy: An Agroecological Assessment of Urban Agriculture in Rome
2023Davide Marino, Francesca Curcio, Francesca Benedetta Felici, Giampiero Mazzocchi · Land · Italy (Rome)
This paper proposes agroecological assessment as a tool for formulating evidence-based local food policies, adapting the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) model on a sample of 20 farms in the city-region food system of Rome, Italy. Data analysis showed that agroecological principles are not fully adopted by the majority of farms considered in Rome. Additionally, farms with the highest agroecological level are mainly driven by social factors and have a lower propensity for innovation, which could hinder the transformation process of food systems.
Limited or null effectPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityEconomicsEcosystem services of urban agriculture and prospects for scaling up production: A study of Detroit
2022Joshua Newell, Alec Foster, Mariel Borgman, Sara Meerow · Cities · United States (Detroit)
A study in Detroit's Lower Eastside (~15 sq. miles) examined the spatial extent, characteristics, and residents' perceptions of urban gardens using spatial analysis and interviews. Gardens covered less than 1% of vacant land and were often ephemeral. Primary obstacles to scaling up urban agriculture in Detroit include uncertainty over land tenure, environmental pollutants, potential ecosystem disservices, and a lack of government support and capital investment.
Governance failureCommunityBiodiversityPolicyEconomicsClimate changeHealthA review on urban agriculture: technology, socio-economy, and policy
2022Grace Ning Yuan, Gian Powell B. Marquez, Haoran Deng, Anastasiia Iu, Melisa Fabella, Reginald B. Salonga, Fitrio Ashardiono, Joyce A. Cartagena · Heliyon · Global
This review examined urban agriculture (UA) across technology, socio-economy, and policy, noting that supporting UA expansion in cities is challenging due to its poor economic profitability. The study highlighted UA's value beyond profitability, including social, health and well-being, disaster risk reduction, and environmental benefits. It also presented advancements in UA technologies and plant biotechnology as potential solutions for increasing the future profitability of commercial UA.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyHealthClimate changeDigital agricultureLandscape Change Analysis: Ecosystem Services in the Peri-urban Agriculture of Bangkok
2022Fa Likitswat, Alisa Sahavacharin · Journal of Architectural/Planning Research and Studies (JARS) · Thailand (Bangkok)
This research analyzed landscape transformations, specifically agricultural landscape structures and functions, in eight selected sites in the urban fringe of Bangkok from 1952 to 2018. The study found that the significant loss of agricultural landscape in Bangkok's peri-urban areas resulted in the loss of seasonal water retention areas, productive landscapes, and urban wildlife habitats. It concludes there is a research gap regarding the lack of policies and practices to promote ecosystem services linked to preserving peri-urban agriculture in Bangkok.
Environmental trade-offsPeri-urban agricultureClimate changeBiodiversityPolicyThe loss of peri-urban agricultural land and the state-local tensions in managing its demise: The case of Greater Western Sydney, Australia
2022Amy Lawton, Nicky Morrison · Land Use Policy · Australia (Greater Western Sydney)
This study examines the drivers of peri-urban agricultural land loss in Greater Western Sydney, Australia, with a focus on the role of government agencies. It found that competing housing priorities and private market interests continue to take precedence over protecting agricultural land. The research indicates that this trend will persist unless the current pro-urbanization narrative and associated political priorities are altered.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageGreen City or Urban Countryside?; An Analytic Review of the Urban Sprawl Phenomenon in the Algerian City N’Gaous
2022Imen Bendjemila, Salah Chaouche · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Algeria
Urban sprawl in N'Gaous, Algeria, expanded its land area by over ten times (from 33.7 to 379.7 hectares) and its population by over six times (from 4,887 to 33,515 persons) over 60 years. This rapid growth creates significant issues, particularly for peri-urban orchards, which are the primary economic activity. The study used an analytical approach with Geographic Information Systems to assess the agronomic potential of soils and quantify agricultural land consumed by construction, aiming to achieve an optimal agri-urban balance rather than merely avoiding urban expansion.
Environmental trade-offsPeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicySeeds and the city: a review of municipal home food gardening programs in Canada in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
2022Janet Music, Lisa Mullins, Sylvain Charlebois, Charlotte Large, Kydra Mayhew · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · Canada
This study compared 19 municipal urban home food gardening programs in Canada in 2020, which provided free gardening supplies and instructions. It found a complicated relationship between municipalities, gardening programs, and food security, and determined that gardening somewhat alleviated social and emotional challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, municipalities are limited in their policy capacities to adequately address food insecurity in Canada.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityHealthThe Specter of Enclosure in School Gardens
2022Graham Slater, Robert G. Unzueta, Clayton Pierce · · Global
This chapter argues that much scholarly literature on school gardens is based on problematic assumptions or ignores histories of violence and dispossession. Without an ecocritical approach, school gardens risk replicating systems of domination, extraction, exploitation, and human supremacy. The authors propose integrating theoretical reflection into emancipatory action within a historical materialist framework to address colonization, land dispossession, labor exploitation, and anthropocentrism.
Equity & displacementFood educationCommunityPolicyLand Tenure Security and Urban Agriculture: Focusing on the Vegetable Cultivation in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania
2022Betty Mntambo · Huria Journal of the Open University of Tanzania · Tanzania (Morogoro Municipality)
This study examined land tenure security in urban agriculture among 69 male and female vegetable farmers in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania, using snowball sampling and a cross-sectional design. Findings revealed that farmers access land informally by renting from legal landowners, with social relationships determining tenure security. Land tenure insecurity negatively affects vegetable cultivation and generates uncertainty and animosity between farmers and landlords.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCultivating inclusive public space with urban gardens
2022Melissa Anna Murphy, Peter E. Parker, Margot Hermus · Local Environment · Global
This article aims to unpack how urban settings, organizational forms, and municipal enabling affect urban gardening (UG) practices towards inclusion in public space. It draws on urban commons theory and research on inclusion in public space to understand multi-faceted UG governance and its exclusionary aspects. A comparative analysis of UG initiatives in three Northern European municipalities explores both municipal enabling and the co-production of inclusive public space.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyHealthCommercial Urban Agriculture in Florida: Needs, Opportunities, and Barriers
2022Catherine Campbell, Jorge Ruiz‐Menjivar, Alia DeLong · HortTechnology · United States (Florida)
This research characterized commercial urban agriculture (CUA) operations in Florida, United States, and explored urban farmers' perceptions of needs, barriers, and opportunities for CUA development. A cluster analysis identified three distinct groups of urban farmers with differing perceptions of barriers, opportunities, and informational needs. The study notes that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture does not report data on CUA operations, limiting knowledge about their status, including barriers to business operations and profitability.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyCommunityIntegration of Urban Farming into City Infrastructure Development
2022Ayobami Abayomi Popoola, Bolanle Wahab, Hangwelani Hope Magidimisha, Lovemore Chipungu · CSID Journal of Infrastructure Development · Nigeria (Ibadan)
This mixed-methods study in Ibadan, Nigeria, surveyed 236 urban farmers across five local government areas to determine patterns of integrating urban farming into city infrastructure development. Findings indicated that old age limited farmers' travel distance and farm produce theft was detected, highlighting challenges in current urban farming practices and infrastructure.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceExploring the Sustainability of Urban Leisure Agriculture in Shanghai
2022Jianyun Nie, Akira Kiminami, Hironori Yagi · Sustainability · China (Shanghai)
This study analyzed the sustainability status of 22 urban leisure farms in Shanghai using the IDEA method. Farms' average sustainability scores were 25.72 on the agroecological scale, 32.5 on the socioterritorial scale, and 46.5 on the economic scale. This analysis revealed that while urban leisure agriculture in Shanghai has high sustainability at the economic scale, its overall sustainability was low, indicating a need for further strengthening.
Limited or null effectEconomicsPolicyOrganic cycleCommunityDeterminants Affecting Public Intention to Use Micro-Vertical Farming: A Survey Investigation
2022Yiming Shao, Zhugen Wang, Zhiwei Zhou, Haojing Chen, Yuanlong Cui, Zhenghuan Zhou · Sustainability · Global
Vertical farming faces challenges such as high energy consumption, costs, and a lack of social acceptance. This study investigated public acceptance of micro-vertical farming using a deconstructed theory of planned behavior model. Results showed that the overall mean of public behavioral intentions to use vertical farming was 3.9, which is above neutral (3.00) but less than positive (4.00).
Economic viabilityDigital agricultureEconomicsCommunityPolicyLand Take Processes and Challenges for Urban Agriculture: A Spatial Analysis for Novi Sad, Serbia
2022Jelena Živanović Miljković, Vesna Popović, Aleksandra Gajić · Land · Serbia (Novi Sad)
A study conducted in Futog, Novi Sad, Serbia, investigated land take (LT) processes and challenges for urban agriculture, focusing on the role and implications of land use planning. Quantifying LT for 2000–2018 using CORINE Land Cover and Urban Atlas datasets revealed that a significant portion of agricultural land in Futog, registered as a Geographical Indication (GI) for Futog cabbage, was planned for conversion into construction land. The study concluded that current land use planning in Serbia is inadequate to ensure the protection of either urban agriculture or GIs.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomics"What we raise ourselves": Growing food sovereignty in the Mississippi Delta
2022Emily A. Holmes, Mary F. Campbell, Ryan Betz · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
This study used the concept of food sovereignty to assess the level of local control over food production, distribution, and consumption in the Mississippi Delta. Research involved site visits, participant observation, focus groups, and surveys of communities affiliated with the Delta EATS public school garden program. Findings demonstrated low levels of food sovereignty, though high levels of agency and ingenuity in accessing desired foods were observed.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationPolicyFood aid and neoliberalism: an alliance built on shared interests?
2022Maddy Power · Policy Press eBooks · United Kingdom
In the UK, food banks and other food aid providers expanded significantly in parallel with welfare reforms and benefit cuts initiated after 2010. This contemporary phenomenon occurred within a historical context of long-standing community-based responses to poverty and hunger in the UK.
Equity & displacementWelfareCommunityPolicyReaping the Fruits of Informal Urbanism: An Ethnography of Tactical Gardening in Limassol, Cyprus
2022Theodoros Kouros · Built Environment · Cyprus (Limassol)
This ethnographic study in Limassol, Cyprus, examines tactical gardening as a form of informal urbanism. It found that, contrary to common perceptions of guerrilla gardening as community-building, these interventions by home and business owners often serve private gain by expanding into public spaces and can exclude other community members from using those public spaces. The research highlights a negative aspect of tactical gardening, where it contributes to the privatization of public areas.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyContradictions in the collective practice of urban agriculture: a Bourdieusian analysis
2022Ana Clara Aparecida Alves de Souza, Fernando Dias Lopes · Cadernos EBAPE BR · Brazil (Porto Alegre)
This article analyzes an urban collective garden, Horta da Formiga, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, through a two-year participatory investigation using Pierre Bourdieu’s framework. The study found that the more protagonists of Horta da Formiga align with capitals considered legitimate by the state, the more they can reconcile contradictions in this field. However, despite individual agency, participants face structured conditions that do not allow for more organic and diverse forms of contradiction reconciliation.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsChallenges and Sustainability Dynamics of Urban Agriculture in the Savannah Ecological Zone of Ghana: A Study of Bolgatanga Municipality
2022Elias Danyi Kuusaana, Isaac Ayurienga, Joyce A. Eledi Kuusaana, Joseph Kwaku Kidido, Ibrahim Abu Abdulai · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Ghana (Bolgatanga)
A study in Bolgatanga Township, Ghana, used field surveys, key informant interviews, and GIS mapping to examine urban agricultural practices. It found that agricultural lands significantly decreased in size and contiguity since 1996 due to urban sprawl, forcing farmers to use segregated plots and undeveloped residential areas which are easily lost to development. The study concluded that urbanization exacerbates food production challenges without policies to protect agricultural lands.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkage'Cultivating and fighting at the same time': an immigrants innovative entrepreneurial journey in the agricultural scene in Norway
2022Norma Wong, Marte C. W. Solheim · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · Norway
This case study details Tugushan Alp's entrepreneurial journey in Norway, where he pioneered hydroponic lettuce production in a bomb shelter. Alp faced multiple hurdles, including battling regulatory bodies for a legal premise. Despite these challenges, he achieved success and recognition for his innovative urban farming method.
Governance failureDigital agricultureEconomicsPolicyThe effect of poorly controlled physical development on urban food production in Ibadan, Nigeria
2022Umar Usman Jimoh, Kolade Victor Otokiti · South African Journal of Geomatics · Nigeria
This study in Ibadan, Nigeria, examined the effect of poorly controlled physical development on urban food production using a longitudinal survey and geographical/remote sensing methods. It revealed that Ibadan's urban area expanded significantly from 70.3584 ha in 1986 to 411.8877 ha in 2019, leading to the loss of agricultural land, depletion of water bodies, and agricultural land conversion. This expansion negatively impacted urban food production.
Governance failureUrban–rural linkagePolicyNot a ‘Peripheral’ Connection
2022Raktima Ghosh · · India (Kolkata)
This study examined the roles and emergent risks of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India, using a mixed-method approach combining empirical findings and geospatial techniques. Field observations and land use land cover (LULC) mapping validated land conversion patterns and the spatial shrinkage of UPA in the Kolkata metropolis. The study revealed current socioecological changes and governance patterns in the context of UPA, indicating that UPA faces multiple challenges arising from land-use transformations, privatization of lands, and changing social equations in the city.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsPolicyGuerrilla gardening as normalised law-breaking: Challenges to land ownership and aesthetic order
2022Andrew Millie · Crime Media Culture An International Journal · United Kingdom
This article considered guerrilla gardening, which involves taking on other people’s land without permission. A qualitative study of guerrilla gardeners from the North West of England found that guerrilla gardening is a normalised form of law-breaking. Despite not necessarily being to everyone’s taste and gardeners having an autocratic view of property, it is broadly accepted and welcomed, even by those who enforce the law.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyDIYChinese Residents’ Perceived Ecosystem Services and Disservices Impacts Behavioral Intention for Urban Community Garden: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior
2022Can Wu, Xiaoma Li, Yuqing Tian, Ziniu Deng, Xiaoying Yu, Shenglan Wu, Di Shu, Yulin Peng, Feipeng Sheng, Dexin Gan · Agronomy · China (Changsha)
This study investigated the impact of perceived ecosystem services (ES) and disservices (EDS) on behavioral intention towards urban community gardens (UCGs) among 1142 residents in Changsha, China. While government decision-makers often refuse UCGs, residents' attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms positively impacted their behavioral intention towards UCGs. Perceived ES had a direct positive impact on behavioral intention, whereas perceived EDS had a direct negative impact.
Governance failureCommunityBiodiversityPolicy