Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
721 results(18 / 29)
The underutilized role of community gardens in improving cities’ adaptation to climate change: a review
2019Mysha Clarke, Melissa Davidson, Monika Egerer, Elsa C. Anderson, Nakisha Fouch · People Place and Policy Online · United States
This paper argues that community gardens should be a prioritized element of green infrastructure to improve cities' adaptation to climate change. Community gardens can reduce urban heat islands, provide ecosystem services, and increase stormwater retention. However, a qualitative analysis of 18 policy documents for Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City, U.S.A., found that green infrastructure for climate change adaptation prioritizes rain gardens, bioswales, and green roofs, but seldom acknowledges the role of community gardens.
Governance failureCommunityClimate changePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceDiagnostic Agronomique de la Riziculture Périurbaine dans la Commune de Ziguinchor au Sénégal
2019Maurice Dasylva, Ngor Ndour, Bienvenu Sambou, Sara Danielle Dieng · European Scientific Journal ESJ · Senegal (Ziguinchor)
In Ziguinchor, Senegal, the peri-urban rice farming system contributes to food security but is ignored by decision-makers and suffers from urbanization and physicochemical changes in rice field soils. An agronomic diagnosis, based on 180 yield squares (1/4m side) installed in 4 peri-urban valleys, showed average yields of 4.79 ± 0.35 t.ha-1. However, urbanization, silting, acidification, and progressive salinization of soils are the main limiting factors for this production system.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyUrban gardening and the quest for just uses of space in Europe
2019Chiara Certomà, Martin Sondermann, Susan Noori · Manchester University Press eBooks · Europe
This chapter critically analyzes the relationship between urban gardening and socio-spatial justice, exploring whether and how urban gardening practices can tackle social and spatial injustices. Urban gardening points out less visible sides of urban governance and planning, unveiling different forms of power, dominance, and resistance to the unequal distribution of benefits and burdens in space. The analysis questions the contradictions in the constitution of urban spaces and their capability to mitigate material, political, and social exclusions, unfairness, and inequalities.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceThe foreseen future of urban gardening
2019Efrat Eizenberg · Manchester University Press eBooks · Global
This concluding chapter reviews the literature on urban gardening, outlining both enthusiastic approaches that focus on its transformative potential and critical approaches that analyze it as greenwash or a strategy of neoliberal development. The chapter discusses how the book's chapters address this gap in understanding urban gardening and the resolutions and new directions they offer. It states that urban gardening is sometimes analyzed as a form of greenwash and a strategy of neoliberal development.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justicePotencialidades da produção de alimentos nas cidades: experiências de agricultura urbana no município de Pirapozinho – São Paulo
2019Daiara Batista Mendes · Geografia em Atos (Online) · Brazil (Pirapozinho)
This article identifies the potentialities of urban agriculture in Pirapozinho, São Paulo, focusing on food and economic use. Based on field research and interviews, the study found that urban agriculture provides quick access to quality products and fosters close farmer-consumer links. However, it also found that urban agricultural practices have not received due governmental attention at national or local scales, despite their potential.
Governance failureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicy“Plant Some Plants, Plant Some Hope, Plant Some Future”. Urban Gardening at Lingnan University of Hong Kong: An Interview with Prof. Kin-Chi Lau
2019Rainer Einzenberger, Michaela Hochmuth · Digital Commons - Lingnan (Lingnan University) · China (Hong Kong)
An interview with Professor Kin-Chi Lau was conducted in March 2015 regarding the Urban Gardening Project at Lingnan University of Hong Kong. The interview portrayed the project's history, structures, and organizational characteristics, focusing on the challenges and difficulties participants faced in realizing the project.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyFood educationPERLINDUNGAN HUKUM TERHADAP MASYARAKAT DI SEKITAR KEGIATAN USAHA PT PERTAMINA GEOTHERMAL ENERGY (PT PGE) HULU LAIS DI KABUPATEN LEBONG DITINJAU DARI ASPEK HUKUM LINGKUNGAN
2019Tri Andika, Waryenti Deli, P.E.Suryaningsih P.E.Suryaningsih · University Of Bengkulu Law Journal · Indonesia
Residents in Lebong Regency, Indonesia, experienced anxiety due to a landslide at PT PGE's Hulu Lais cluster A site. This landslide resulted in 6 deaths, sinking fish ponds, rice fields, and community gardens, and crop failure. Additionally, residents' drinking water sources were polluted, and drilling caused loud sounds, ground vibrations, hot steam, and dried plants. The drilling also drastically reduced water discharge from the Mubai river, impacting residents who relied on it.
Environmental trade-offsCommunityClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceThe ‘fluid governance’ of urban public spaces. Insights from informal planning practices in Rome
2019Chiara Certomà, Lorenzo Chelleri, Bruno Notteboom · Urban Studies · Italy (Rome)
This paper investigates informal planning practices and "fluid governance" in urban public spaces, using the case of Parco delle Energie in Rome, Italy, and a comparative analysis of international cases. It found that politically progressive urban gardening challenges traditional governance networks and redefines public space functioning by transforming green spaces into food production and collaboratively managed areas through informal planning. This demonstrates that urban gardening worldwide challenges traditional planning perspectives and governance, turning citizens' dissensus into a productive force.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceTECHNICAL-PRODUCTIVE AND SOCIOECONOMIC LIMITATIONS TO THE ADOPTION OF URBAN AGRICULTURE. THE CASE OF THE URBAN AND PERI-URBAN AGRICULTURE NETWORK OF XALAPA, VERACRUZ
2019Guadalupe Del Ángel-Lozano, Martha Elena Nava-Tablada · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Mexico
This study analyzed technical-productive and socioeconomic limitations to urban agriculture adoption within the Urban and Periurban Agriculture Network (RAUP) in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. Based on 25 questionnaires from active members and 10 from sporadic participants, both groups agreed that the main constraints are socioeconomic, such as lack of space and limited free time, which are linked to urban lifestyles. Technical-productive limitations were not considered relevant.
Economic viabilityEconomicsCommunityUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceFood production and gender relations in multifunctional landscapes: a literature review
2019Lisa Westholm, Madelene Ostwald · Agroforestry Systems · Africa, Asia, Latin America
This literature review of 104 scientific articles across Africa, Asia, and Latin America examined food production and gender relations in multifunctional land use systems. The review found that the specific role of landscape multifunctionality for women's food security opportunities is rarely explicitly studied. It also showed that products controlled by women are often secondary and far from markets, risking neglect by policymakers, and efforts to increase their value may adversely affect women's empowerment if powerful actors appropriate benefits.
Equity & displacementWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyThe potential of urban agriculture towards a more sustainable urban food system in food-insecure neighbourhoods in Cape Town and Maputo
2019Nicole Paganini, Stefanie Lemke, Inês Raimundo · ECONOMIA AGRO-ALIMENTARE · Sub-Saharan Africa
This research explored the potential of urban agriculture in Cape Town, South Africa, and Maputo, Mozambique, through two baseline surveys among urban farmers and home gardeners, as well as qualitative in-depth interviews. Findings indicated that urban farmers and home gardeners add nutrients and diversity to their diets and can partly contribute to their income. However, in Cape Town, main challenges included access to local and external markets, fair pricing, and sovereignty in production.
Economic viabilityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareEconomicsCommunityMultitemporal Geospatial Evaluation of Urban Agriculture and (Non)-Sustainable Food Self-Provisioning in Milan, Italy
2019Giuseppe Pulighe, Flavio Lupia · Sustainability · Italy (Milan)
A spatiotemporal quantification of urban agriculture in Milan, Italy, assessed its food self-provisioning potential using Google Earth images from 2007 and 2014. The study found that even in the best-case scenario, the current urban agriculture production (98 ha of vegetable gardens, 2539 ha of arable land) is insufficient to meet the vegetable and cereal consumption needs of over 1.3 million city residents. It could only satisfy approximately 63,700 vegetable consumers and 321,000 cereal consumers.
Limited or null effectFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsIs urban gardening a source of wellbeing and just freedom? A Capability Approach based analysis from the UK and Ireland
2019Alma Clavin · Manchester University Press eBooks · United Kingdom
A study using qualitative, visual methods and Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach in five community garden sites in the UK and Ireland examined their potential for human agency and ecological sustainability. While positive agency and wellbeing benefits were observed, the gardens were found to be limited in their ability to truly enhance political freedoms and overcome asymmetric power relations. The research indicates that these initiatives may perpetuate neoliberal forms of unsustainable and uneven development, alongside ongoing issues of tenure insecurity.
Equity & displacementCommunityHealthPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeSocio-political dynamics of alternative food networks: a hybrid governance approach
2019Alessandra Manganelli, Pieter Van den Broeck, Frank Moulaert · Territory Politics Governance · Global
This theoretical paper points out that Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) encounter governance challenges stemming from organizational growth pains, the search for cultivable land, and confrontation with urban planning policy and state structures that have a low affinity with urban agriculture. As AFNs develop, various governance tensions arise both within their organization and in their institutionalization processes. The paper redefines hybrid governance to elucidate these dynamics, suggesting that existing agro-food literature insufficiently addresses the complexity of AFNs' governance.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceRe-conceptualizing urban agriculture: an exploration of farming along the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi, India
2019Jessica Cook, Kate Oviatt, Deborah S. Main, Harpreet Kaur, John Brett · · India (Delhi)
This paper explores market-oriented urban agriculture along the Yamuna River in Delhi, India, from the farmers' perspective. Using a multi-method Rapid Assessment Process, the study investigates how urban agriculture is practiced and what factors influence farmers' livelihood decisions. The research argues against assuming the sustainability of urban agriculture, emphasizing the need to understand city-level conditions and their impact on farmers' economic viability.
Economic viabilityCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageOn the Path to a Resilient Urban Food System in a Rural State: A Mixed-Method Needs Assessment of Urban Producers and County Extension Agents in Arkansas
2019Catherine Dobbins · Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science · United States (Arkansas)
This mixed-method needs assessment in Arkansas investigated urban agriculture, using interviews with 16 urban farmers and a quantitative survey of County Extension Agents (CEAs) with a 57% response rate. Farmers expressed varied needs, and while they viewed the Cooperative Extension Service (CES) positively, CES lacked specific resources for small-scale sustainable farming. The survey revealed that 70.2% of CEAs reported low or nonexistent concentrations of urban farming in their counties, indicating potential barriers for agents to work with urban farmers.
Economic viabilityEconomicsCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageUrban family agriculture
2019Annelise Caetano Fraga Fernandez, Almir Cezar Baptista Filho · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
This article describes the obstacles to implementing public policy for family agriculture in urban areas of Brazil. Representations associated with rural-agricultural concepts have shaped the classification criteria of rural technical assistance technicians, limiting the policy's application in urban settings. Social movements in Rio de Janeiro highlighted the lack of access for urban family farmers to agrarian policies, leading to the recognition of urban family agriculture as a public problem.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityUrban–rural linkageTrade‐offs in the performance of alternative farming systems
2019Navin Ramankutty, Vincent Ricciardi, Zia Mehrabi, Verena Seufert · Agricultural Economics · Global
A review was conducted on the production, environmental, and socioeconomic performance of three alternative farming systems: organic, smallholder, and urban agriculture. Organic agriculture offers environmental, livelihood, health, and nutritional benefits but is hampered by lower yields and higher prices. Smaller farms exhibit higher yields and biodiversity but result in lower incomes for farmers. Urban agriculture can alleviate pressure on rural landscapes, provide nutritional benefits to the urban poor, and engage urban dwellers in food system challenges, but it cannot scale up to be a substantial solution on its own.
Limited or null effectUrban–rural linkageHealthEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban soil management of marginalized lands: recognizant of history
2019Nicolette Tamara Jonkman, Boris Jansen · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability · Sub-Saharan Africa
This literature review on urban agriculture (UA) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) identifies a significant constraint: conflicting stakeholder perceptions of UA, which hinders its development into a sustainable business. Some view UA as illegal and unsustainable, while others see it as a means to food security and employment. The review highlights a knowledge gap regarding land-use history and its effect on UA soil composition and nutrient status, proposing that UA sustainability requires understanding this historical context to build inclusive business models.
Governance failureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyLa agricultura en los periurbanos de Buenos Aires (Argentina) y Santiago (Chile): Territorios en transición
2019María Carolina Feito, Sofía Boza, Santiago Peredo · Repositorio Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (Universidad de Buenos Aires) · Argentina
This study focused on the reality of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (AUPU) in Latin America, comparing cases in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area and the Santiago Metropolitan Region. Both cities form complex territories strongly related to their periphery, but the debate regarding AUPU's future development model remains open, reflected in contradictions even in public policies. The strong link between family farming and AUPU further complicates the situation due to the intrinsic limitations of family farming.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsA feminist political ecology of food justice in Iowa
2019Carrie Chennault · Iowa State University Digital Repository (Iowa State University) · United States
This three-year feminist ethnographic study examined the Growing Together Iowa community donation gardening and food rescue program, focusing on its institutional and community partners. The research aimed to understand how solutions to food insecurity emerge from social relations and socio-historical contexts. Findings demonstrated that uneven power relations permeate even well-intended efforts to address food insecurity within such initiatives.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyEconomicsNature, Technology, & the Pursuit of Justice: Urban Agriculture Networks in San Diego County
2019Blaire O’Neal · · United States (San Diego County)
This research investigates the significance of soil in distinguishing urban agriculture forms in San Diego County and examines how soil-based and soilless growing methods relate to justice. The results illustrate that while the way food is grown is important for urban agriculture organizations' identity and practices, it is only one of many factors influencing justice, such as socio-spatial context. Justice is an ongoing process that evolves as urban agriculture commodities travel through their circuits and interact with placed networks filled with intentions, actions, discourses, objects, actors, and forces.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceDigital agricultureLa cara oculta de la seguridad alimentaria - Estudio de caso del sur del Estado de Jalisco, Occidente de México
2019Peter R. W. Gerritsen, Víctor Sanchez Bernal, Georgina Torres Rodríguez · Brazilian Journal of Development · Mexico
This study analyzed food security in two medium-sized cities in Western Mexico using secondary data and field research. It found that while these highly globalized cities had a low degree of food security, extensive domestic backyard agricultural activities significantly raised family-level food security. A critical finding is that this potential for urban food security is not valued by governmental institutions.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageFood for all?
2019Michael Hardman, Mags Adams, Melissa Barker, Luke Beesley · Manchester University Press eBooks · United Kingdom (Todmorden)
The Incredible Edible Todmorden (IET) movement in Todmorden, UK, was investigated using a qualitative approach. The scheme was found to have an overwhelmingly positive impact on the town, providing social, environmental, and economic benefits and contributing to a more just food movement through its "free for all" philosophy. However, negative aspects were also highlighted, including maintenance issues and a lack of perceived inclusivity in some parts.
Equity & displacementCommunityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Agriculture as Livelihood Strategy
2019Ashenafi Tilahun Hailie · IGI Global eBooks · Global
This chapter assessed the benefits of urban agriculture in a study area, using qualitative and quantitative analysis aligned with a sustainable livelihood framework. Findings indicated that urban agriculture is sustained by sex indiscrimination, migrant dominancy, poor educational status, and agricultural background. While assets like land access and fertile soil were promising, skills, knowledge transfer, labor ability, and good health were found insufficient. Identified vulnerabilities included population explosion, absence of good governance, frequent natural calamities, land tenure insecurity, and seasonality of prices.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicy