Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
833 results(19 / 34)
Peri-Urban Agriculture in the Metropolitan Area of Rabat, Morocco: Potentials and Constraints
2020Fatiha Hakimi, Mohamed Brech · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Morocco
This study assessed the practices, potentials, and constraints of peri-urban agriculture (PUA) in Rabat Metropolis, Morocco, using field observation, interviews, and surveys with 50 randomly selected farmers. While PUA contributes to economic development, employment, and food supply, the study found significant legal constraints, including the absence of regulating laws and the obligation for some farmers to pay housing taxes. Technical constraints such as insufficient workforce, high labor costs, difficult access to irrigation water, and lack of training also hinder PUA growth.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsPolicyDocumentation of Edible City Solutions in Follower Cities (D4.3)
2020Maximilian Manderscheid, Valentin Fiala, Bernhard Freyer · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global
This report D4.3 describes the status quo analysis and documentation of Edible City Solutions (ECS). Over 300 ECS were identified in Berlin and Montevideo, and online research was conducted in Carthage and Lomé, after which a total of 84 ECS were documented in detail using a mixed-method approach (online survey, interviews, workshops, etc.). Most documented ECS take the form of urban gardening and focus on social benefits like providing education and fostering social cohesion, but the report does not detail specific challenges or limitations regarding governance.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsClimate changeHeavy Metal Uptake of Lettuce and Ryegrass from Urban Waste Composts
2020Remigio Paradelo, Antía Villada, María Teresa Barral · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global
A two-month pot experiment studied heavy metal transference from five metal-rich urban waste composts and a manure vermicompost to lettuce and Italian ryegrass under controlled conditions. Plant concentrations of Zn, Cu, and Cd increased with their concentrations in compost, while no such relation was observed for Pb. The study found that the ratio of element concentration in plant to compost was much higher for Zn, Cd, and Cu than for Pb, indicating lower bioavailability of Pb.
Contamination & food safetyCompostHealthOrganic cycleControlled Environment Food Production for Urban Agriculture
2019Celina Gómez, Christopher J. Currey, Ryan W. Dickson, Hye‐Ji Kim, Ricardo Hernández, Nadia Sabeh, Rosa E. Raudales, Robin G. Brumfield, Angela Shaw, Adam K. Wilke, Roberto G. López, Stephanie E. Burnett · HortScience · Global
This review discusses the application of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) techniques to urban agriculture (UA), driven by increased market demand for local produce. While CEA offers opportunities for year-round production and resource-use efficiency, significant challenges remain due to the high costs of production in urban settings. The review emphasizes that for urban growers to benefit, studies evaluating CEA for commercial food production must consider economic viability.
Economic viabilityDigital agricultureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeCommunity gardens and wellbeing amongst vulnerable populations: a thematic review
2019Pernille Malberg Dyg, Søren Christensen, Corissa Jade Peterson · Health Promotion International · Global
A thematic review of 51 articles published between 1980 and 2017 examined the effects of community gardens on wellbeing among vulnerable populations. Findings suggested positive impacts on physical health and individual/social wellbeing, but food security enhancements were inconsistent. Two articles raised potential food safety concerns in urban community gardens, recommending attention to minimizing these risks.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthWelfareFood educationROOFTOP FARMING: AN ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL FARMING FOR URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
2019Jha Ritesh Kumar, Bhattarai Natasha, KC Suraj, Shrestha Arjun Kumar, Kadariya Manahar · Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agricultural · Nepal
This research inspected existing practices and obstacles in rooftop farming in Nagdhungha and Birauta, Nepal. Two practitioners were interviewed and 60 non-practitioners were surveyed. Results show that rooftop farming can benefit the environment by reducing atmospheric carbon and assist urban areas by reducing stormwater management costs, with a high willingness to practice rooftop farming among urban dwellers.
Economic viabilityDIYCommunityBiodiversityClimate changeEdible urbanism 5.0
2019Alessio Russo, Giuseppe T. Cirella · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · Global
This comment examines "edible urbanism 5.0," noting that urban and peri-urban agriculture can have negative effects on city ecosystems, which urbanists and planners have largely overlooked. It highlights the need for a concept that considers trade-offs between ecosystem services and disservices, especially given current unsustainable industrial intensive farming. Edible urbanism aims to integrate food security, resilience, and social inclusion through edible green infrastructure and modern food production.
Environmental trade-offsPolicyEconomicsClimate changeBiodiversityUrban agriculture: boon or bust?
2019Martin Stuchtey, Tilmann Vahle · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · Global
This paper discusses different types of urban agriculture (UA) to assess its potential for future food production. Conventional open-air farming is found to be rarely commercially viable for meaningful food production, though it offers community, educational, psychological, and environmental benefits. High-yielding Controlled Environment Farming (CEF), while potentially contributing substantially to food output, is highly capital and knowledge-intensive and likely to develop at city fringes due to economic considerations.
Economic viabilityEconomicsCommunityFood educationClimate changeMotivation and satisfaction of volunteers for community‐based urban agriculture programmes
2019Leelanayagi Ramalingam, Juwaidah Sharifuddin, Zainal Abidin Mohamed, Fazlin Ali · International Social Science Journal · Malaysia (Klang Valley)
This study analyzed data from 375 volunteers in Community-based Urban Agriculture Programmes in Klang Valley, Malaysia, to determine the relationship between motivation and satisfaction. It found that volunteer satisfaction was primarily influenced by external factors like campaigns, support groups, extension departments, community, and government policy, followed by love of farming, social referents, and values. The program faces problems in attracting and retaining enough volunteers, indicating a governance challenge for sustainability.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsDirect and indirect effects of urban gardening on aboveground and belowground diversity influencing soil multifunctionality
2019Simon Tresch, David Frey, Renée‐Claire Le Bayon, Paul Mäder, Bernhard Stehle, Andreas Fließbach, Marco Moretti · Scientific Reports · Switzerland (Zurich)
A study in 85 urban gardens across Zurich, Switzerland, investigated the impact of gardening on five soil functions and the relationship between plant (600 spp.) and soil fauna (18 earthworm spp., 39 springtail spp.). High plant diversity positively affected soil fauna and multifunctionality, but intense garden management decreased plant diversity. This indicates a trade-off where intensive gardening, while potentially beneficial for some aspects, can negatively impact overall plant diversity.
Environmental trade-offsBiodiversityOrganic cycleCommunityDiagnostic 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 changePolicyPollutants in Urban Agriculture
2019Camille Dumat, Antoine Pierart, Muhammad Shahid, Sana Khalid · · Global
Urban agriculture, while a strategy for sustainable food production, faces a serious threat from natural and anthropogenic pollution sources in urban and peri-urban environments. These sources release hazardous organic and inorganic contaminants, leading to a high likelihood of human exposure. Consumption of vegetables grown on polluted urban soils or those that have intercepted metal-rich atmospheric particles represents a potential route of pollutant exposure and human health hazard.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPeri-urban agricultureThe Role of Urban Agriculture in Alleviating Poverty Facing Women in Tanzania: A Review
2019Emmanuel Patroba Mhache, Elna Lyamuya · Huria Journal of the Open University of Tanzania · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)
This review paper examined the role of urban agriculture in alleviating poverty for women in the Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It found that women's participation in urban agriculture contributes to food security, increases household income (average net income Tshs 58,356.2 per month), offers employment, and reduces poverty. However, numerous bottlenecks hinder women's involvement in urban agriculture, including poor markets, water shortage, land shortage, seed unavailability, lack of capital, lack of government support, crude working tools, lack of water pumping machines for irrigation, poor storage facilities, and lack of agricultural extension services.
Equity & displacementWelfareEconomicsBiodiversityClimate changePolicyUrban Allotment Gardens for the Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Trace Element Pollution
2019Miguel Izquierdo‐Díaz, Peter E. Holm, Fernando Barrio‐Parra, Eduardo De Miguel, Jonas Duus Stevens Lekfeldt, Jakob Magid · Journal of Environmental Quality · Global
This study evaluated air pollution in urban green areas using edible plants. Analysis of 36 unwashed leaf samples showed that plants exposed next to roads had higher contents of traffic-related elements, and outdoor samples were enriched in marine aerosol ions. Cadmium and lead concentrations did not exceed European legal maximum levels for vegetables, indicating their consumption would be safe.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityEvaluación de la gestión de proyectos de inversión en la agricultura urbana
2019Milagros de la Caridad Mata Varela, Johana Meza Salvatierra, Ana Yilian Santana Mata · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global
This research evaluated investment project management in urban agriculture through its life cycle, applying eighteen indicators and a management index. The study concluded that an agroecological farm development project exhibited economic inefficiency during its first two years of operation due to an imbalance between income and expenses, preventing high management values.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyThe 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 & justiceMeasuring the Fate of Compost-Derived Phosphorus in Native Soil below Urban Gardens
2019Gaston E. Small, Sara Osborne, Paliza Shrestha, Adam D. Kay · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ·
This study measured phosphorus (P) concentrations in native soil below four- and six-year-old urban garden plots, collecting soil cores from five plots of each age. It found that inorganic weakly exchangeable P was significantly elevated in native soil below garden plots (>35 cm deep) compared to reference profiles, indicating accumulation of excess P from compost. This suggests that while urban agriculture can recycle P, over-application of compost may contribute to soil and water pollution.
Environmental trade-offsCompostOrganic cyclePower-shifts in the organizational landscapes of transport provision
2019Nadine Appelhans, Sabine Baumgart · · Morocco
An analysis of documents related to planning and agriculture and interviews with experts in Morocco indicated that urban and rural issues were treated as separate areas. Urban development affects daily travel distances as urban expansion changes distances between cultivated land and dwelling places. Data from Morocco show a lack of serious support for urban agriculture and animal husbandry in expanding urban agglomerations.
Governance failureEconomicsUrban–rural linkagePolicyCommunityHow Will We Eat and Produce in the Cities of the Future? From Edible Insects to Vertical Farming—A Study on the Perception and Acceptability of New Approaches
2019Kathrin Specht, Felix Zoll, Henrike Schümann, Julia Bela, Julia Kachel, Marcel Robischon · Sustainability · Global
Nineteen qualitative expert interviews were conducted to identify perceptions of sustainability, social acceptability, and ethical aspects of new urban food production approaches. While major perceived benefits included educational effects and efficient resource use, significant conflicts involved negative side-effects, legal constraints, and high investment costs. Acceptance barriers were largely tied to the "unknown," encompassing a lack of understanding of new approaches, uncertainty about benefits, health risk concerns, unfamiliarity with products, and ethical doubts about animal welfare. The study concluded that adapting the unsuitable regulatory framework, which discourages investors, is a crucial first step to foster dissemination of urban food production approaches.
Governance failureDigital agricultureEconomicsPolicyFood educationMapping and Characterizing the Green Belt of Córdoba: Land Dynamics and the Urban-Rural Transformation Process
2019Nicolás A. Mari, Nicolás A. Mari, Beatriz Giobellina, Beatriz Giobellina, Alejandro Benítez, Alejandro Benítez, Victoria Marinelli, Victoria Marinelli, Victoria Marinelli · Journal of Agronomy Research · Argentina (Córdoba)
A study mapped and quantified urban growth and land use in Córdoba, Argentina's Green Belt. Using remote sensing and GIS, it evaluated urban growth between 1974 and 2014 and land use in peri-urban and rural areas in 2015. The study revealed a 46.5% urban area growth over nearly 40 years, alongside an increase in farm plot size, indicating land ownership concentration and a reduced number of producers. This transformation highlights a conflict between peri-urban horticulture, industrial agriculture, and urban development.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkagePolicyBiodiversityExpanding the Contribution of Community Gardens to City Sustainability through Family Education Programs
2019Stavrianakis, Farmer · Children Youth and Environments · Global
This study investigated the impacts that gardening education workshops in community gardens can have on family members and their environmental behaviors. Participants reported a variety of positive impacts from the gardening workshops, including socializing, health benefits, and acquired knowledge. However, there was limited evidence of pro-environmental behavior change beyond gardening.
Limited or null effectCommunityFood educationHealthClimate changeAgricultural intensification and urbanization negatively impact soil nematode richness and abundance: a meta-analysis
2019Satyendra Kumar Pothula, Parwinder S. Grewal, Robert M. Augé, Arnold M. Saxton, Ernest C. Bernard · Journal of Nematology · Global
A meta-analysis of 111 published articles assessed the impact of human interventions on soil nematode richness and abundance in urban, agriculture, and disturbed grassland ecosystems compared to natural grassland and forest ecosystems. The study found that overall nematode richness was higher in forest ecosystems than in natural grassland, disturbed grassland, urban, and agriculture ecosystems. The meta-analyses concluded that human interventions, specifically agricultural intensification and urbanization, adversely impact both the richness and abundance of nematodes, which serve as soil health bioindicators.
Environmental trade-offsBiodiversityUrban–rural linkageThe potential for heavy metal pollution in crops from urban and peri urban horticultural farms in the Gaborone environs: a review
2019L.C. Obuseng · Botswana Journal of Agriculture and Applied Sciences · Botswana (Gaborone)
This review highlights the potential for heavy metal accumulation in soil and crops from urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) around Gaborone, Botswana, due to the intensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, wastewater, sludges, and industrial effluents. A literature review showed that fertilizers contain heavy metals, and the use of treated or untreated sewage water by UPA farmers can lead to heavy metal accumulation in soil and crops, posing a danger to human health. Information on heavy metal accumulation in soils is limited in Botswana, despite high agrochemical use in UPA vegetable production.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPeri-urban agricultureOrganic cycleAsesoría para la conformación de una fundación de agricultura urbana
2019Wendy Johanna Murcia Gulumá, Óscar Andrés Pérez Soler, Sindy Rodríguez Rodríguez · · Colombia (Bogotá)
This study provided advisory support to an urban garden in Bogotá, Colombia, named "Guerreros y Guerreras Unidos en Accion," which had been operating empirically since 2005 without formal legal status or strategic planning. The garden, primarily involving individuals over 50 without formal employment, sought to formalize its activities by establishing a foundation. The intervention aimed to guide the garden's members through the legal and administrative steps for formalization.
Governance failureCommunityWelfareOrganic cyclePolicyInfección por Angiostrongylus cantonensis (Nematoda: Metastrongylidae) en Rattus rattus (Rodentia: Muridae) en una localidad de La Habana, Cuba
2019Ariamys Companioni, Jennys Peraza, Zulema Menéndez Díaz, Aileen González, Ledy X López, Ana Elisa Rodriguez, Jorge Cantillo, Fidel Ángel Núñez · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Cuba
A descriptive study in La Lisa Municipality, Havana, Cuba, examined 63 Rattus rattus rodents for Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection in an urban farm field. The study found that 46.03% of the captured rodents were infected with A. cantonensis, with infection rates increasing in adult individuals (59.46%) and during the rainy season (55.88%). This demonstrated the circulation of A. cantonensis in its definitive host in the area, indicating an increased risk of transmission to humans.
Contamination & food safetyHealthUrban–rural linkage