Research & reports

Jaime Pizarro‐Araya, Fermín M. Alfaro, Francisco Gómez, Roberto Villablanca · Anthropocene Coasts · Chile

A 2022 study characterized the taxonomic richness and abundance of terrestrial arthropod fauna at the Aguada de La Chimba urban coastal wetland in the Antofagasta Region, Chile, using multiple survey methods. From a total of 1,874 specimens, it identified 109 terrestrial arthropod species, with Insecta the most represented taxon (85 species, 47 families, 15 orders); by origin, communities included 24% native, 22% naturalized, and a smaller proportion of endemic species. The study reports that urban coastal wetlands are fragile ecosystems subject to serious disturbance in structure, function, and diversity from advancing urban, agricultural, foraging, and drainage activities, including displacement of endemic species by invasive ones, and discusses the major threats to this wetland alongside the importance of public-private partnerships with the local community for biodiversity conservation.

Despal Despal, Claudia Faresty, Rika Zahera, T Toharmat · Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity · Indonesia

An observational study of 36 dairy cattle in the Kebon Pedes area of Bogor City, Indonesia, tracked feeding, rumination and resting behavior over 12 hours (6 am–6 pm) alongside temperature, humidity, temperature-humidity index (THI), nutrient intake and milk production. The cattle were found to be in mild-to-severe heat stress (THI above 78), with reduced dry matter intake (11.17 kg) and deficient energy and crude-protein intake that led to lower milk production (11.01 L/head/day), though milk fat content was comparatively higher (5.44%); the authors recommend improved forage quality to increase eating and rumination time and reduce resting time.

Michel Shengo Lutandula⃰, Fabien Ilunga Mpanga · The Global Environmental Engineers · Democratic Republic of Congo (or Africa)

In Katuba municipality, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, irrigation water, soil, and harvested amaranth from an area of urban amaranth cultivation were analyzed for chemical and microbiological pollutants. Water and amaranth were polluted on both mineral and microbial fronts, while soil was not; water samples contained Paramecia, Entamoeba histolytica eggs, fecal contamination indicator germs, mesophilic flora, and pathogens including Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Amaranth cobalt concentrations exceeded quality standards and the plants were contaminated with Paramecia, Entamoeba histolytica eggs, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella planticola, leading to the conclusion that consuming these amaranths poses health risks to the population.

Pastory Salvatory Thomas, Wilbard Kombe, Aldo Lupala · International Journal of Social Science Research and Review · Tanzania

In-depth interviews with 60 purposefully selected respondents in the Daraja Mbili and Lemala wards of Arusha City, Tanzania, examined how diverse stakeholder perceptions of urban agriculture affect its governance. Farmers and agricultural officers viewed urban agriculture positively because their livelihoods and professional interests were tied to it, while urban planners and environmental officers were skeptical, citing a lack of evidence for its value, and implementation and enforcement of related policies and bylaws had not succeeded. Farming in environmentally sensitive areas violated bylaws, yet encroachment by farmers with no alternative land continued. The study concludes that urban agriculture cannot be effectively governed, even where policy and bylaws exist, as long as the actors involved perceive it negatively.

Peter Sanjo Adewale, Sunday Clement Olubunmi Makinde, V. Kusemiju, Olawole O. Obembe · Journal of sustainability and environmental management · Nigeria

This study measured and compared lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and manganese (Mn) concentrations in soil and leafy vegetables (Amaranthus hybridus, Celosia argentea, Corchorus olitorius) using atomic absorption spectrophotometry at Urban Expressway Farms (UEF) and Peri-urban Road Farms (PRF) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It found the highest Pb concentration (0.93+/-0.06) in Celosia argentea at UEF, and the highest Cd (0.51+/-0.11) and Mn (0.98+/-0.02) concentrations in Amaranthus hybridus at UEF, with Pb in Celosia argentea 5 m from the expressway and Cd in Amaranthus hybridus 10 m from the expressway exceeding WHO/FAO permissible levels; heavy metal residue levels were driven more by farm location than by vegetable type, and the study calls for regular monitoring to prevent consumption of contaminated leafy vegetables and recommends farmers cultivate fields farther from expressways.

Rahmad Hendra, Firdaus Firdaus, Samariadi Samariadi · UNIFIKASI Jurnal Ilmu Hukum · Indonesia

A descriptive qualitative study of land disputes between oil palm plantation companies and Indigenous communities in Bencah Kelubi and Subarak villages, Kampar Regency, Indonesia. In Subarak, the plantation investor applied the Free, Prior and Informed Consent principle (locally PADIATAPA) before investing and built a garden for the Indigenous community. By contrast, the other company covered in the study failed to honor its commitment to build community gardens and disregarded the PADIATAPA principle. The study concludes that applying PADIATAPA at the outset could substantially reduce conflict between plantation companies and Indigenous people.

Michael Hardman, Andrew Clark, Graeme Sherriff · Agronomy · United Kingdom

Using a qualitative approach across the UK's largest urban farm and a range of other urban agriculture (UA) sites, this study examined the barriers to upscaling city farming. Evidence pointed to urban soil contamination and hesitation about growing crops in cities as a core issue preventing UA from scaling up, alongside public hesitancy and financial barriers, despite the practice's potential social, environmental and economic value through job creation, biodiversity enhancement and shorter food supply chains. The paper concludes that public hesitation, financial barriers and soil quality prevent development, and calls for a more pragmatic approach to these barriers.

Sandra Boatemaa Kushitor, Shawn Alimohammadi, Paul Currie · PLOS Sustainability and Transformation · South Africa

An ethnographic study using in-depth interviews and participant observation, conducted April to November 2020 with thematic analysis, examined the role of the informal food sector in food flows in Cape Town, South Africa, during the COVID-19 lockdown. The informal food sector has historically been subject to exclusionary urban policies, and lockdown regulations caused food flows through the sector to cease, resulting in job loss and increased food insecurity. The sector subsequently reshaped food flows through urban agriculture, food aid programmes and community change, though it can also hinder urban modernisation. The study concludes regulatory frameworks need to be more inclusive of the sector.

Hadaro Hando Filmon, Alemu Legesse Mitke · African Journal of Agricultural Research · Africa

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a household survey, interviews and case analysis of beneficiary women, using 10 indicators of women's empowerment in agriculture, assessed the effect of a program-based sustainable urban agriculture intervention. 80% of beneficiary women were empowered (to a score of 0.93), while the remaining 20% were not; disaggregating the "empowered" group by intersectional differences revealed further unintended negative impacts. While urban agriculture contributed to women's empowerment, the study found that a lack of tailored support and a uniform program approach excluded segments of women beneficiaries, and it calls for a rights-based approach and feminist gender analysis to address these intersectional barriers.

Danielle Purkiss, Ayşe Lisa Allison, Fabiana Lorencatto, Susan Michie, Mark Miodownik · Frontiers in Sustainability · United Kingdom

A citizen-science study invited 9,701 UK residents to test how biodegradable and compostable plastics actually degrade in home composting. Many items, including certified products, failed to fully break down; 60% of TUV OK Compost Home-certified items were still clearly visible afterward. The authors conclude home composting is not an effective or environmentally beneficial disposal method for these materials in the UK.

Bárbara Corneli Colombatto · enREDando · Argentina

Built around interviews with huerteros (urban gardeners), this piece presents both the achievements and the limits of Rosario's urban agriculture: 7 Park Gardens and 6 group gardens involving over 250 people, 25 hectares producing 2,500 tonnes a year, and a $250,000 international prize won in 2021. It also documents organizational fragmentation among gardeners, a lack of secure land-loan agreements (comodatos), the absence of sustained public investment matching the programme's international recognition, and unresolved conflicts with neighbors that the municipality does not intervene in. It cites a regional statistic that only 18% of farms in Latin America and the Caribbean are run by women.

Helen Toxopeus, Friedemann Polzin · Journal of Environmental Management · Global

A systematic review of academic literature identified key barriers and strategies for financing urban nature-based solutions (NBS), including urban agriculture. Two overarching barriers were found: a lack of coordination between private and public financiers, and difficulties in integrating NBS benefits into valuation and accounting methods. The review concluded that an integrated accounting and valuation framework for NBS is currently lacking, and strategies often focus on encouraging co-financing from private beneficiaries.

Barbara Sowińska-Świerkosz, Malwina Michalik-Śnieżek, Alicja Bieske-Matejak · Sustainability · Poland

This study analyzed the potential of allotment gardens (AGs) in Poland to be considered nature-based solutions (NBS), examining their use of green/blue infrastructure, problem-solving capabilities, benefits, and economic efficiency. The study identified institutional barriers, irregular distribution of benefits, and deficiencies in economic efficiency as significant obstacles. It concluded that AGs, while a type of unsophisticated NBS, have limited effectiveness.

Dominika Dymek, Agnieszka Wilkaniec, Leszek Bednorz, Magdalena Szczepańska · Sustainability · Poland

This study in Poznań, Poland, examined the significance of allotment gardens in the urban green space system and developed a classification method for urban planning. While over 30% of allotment gardens were found to be of high significance, urban planning documentation indicates plans to reduce their area. Even highly significant gardens are slated for liquidation, highlighting a conflict between their ecological value and current urban development plans.

Ambrogio Zanzi, Valentina Vaglia, Roberto Spigarolo, Stefano Bocchi · Land · Italy (Milan)

This study assessed the sustainability of eight agri-food start-ups in a peri-urban area of Milan, Italy, using the FAO's Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems (SAFA) framework. The application of SAFA indicators revealed positive aspects but also some limitations typical of unstructured enterprises.

Chethika Gunasiri Wadumestrige Dona, Geetha Mohan, Kensuke Fukushi · Sustainability · Global

This systematic literature review analyzed 54 articles on urban agriculture, examining socio-economic context, agriculture models, opportunities, and challenges. The review found that academic literature favors community gardens in developed countries and gives comparatively less attention to identifying challenges, benefit groups, and government support for urban agriculture.

Carlos Tapia, Linda Randall, Shinan Wang, Luciane Aguiar Borges · Sustainable Cities and Society · Denmark (Aarhus)

This study presents a novel indicator-based evaluation framework for urban agriculture, tested in Fællesgartneriet Brabrand, a community garden in Aarhus, Denmark. The framework aims to capture the contribution of gardening practices to urban sustainability, acknowledging that urban agriculture may also have social and environmental externalities depending on prevalent farming practices.

Victoria Schoen, Chris Blythe, Silvio Caputo, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Kathrin Specht, Agnès Fargue‐Lelièvre, Nevin Cohen, Lidia Poniży, Konstancja Fedeńczak · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global North

This 2021 paper, based on data collected in summer 2020 from five Global North countries (France, Germany, Poland, UK, USA), examined the effects of COVID-19 on urban farms and gardens. The pandemic presented multiple challenges, including loss of support services, lost income, and reduced output due to labor supply issues. It also created opportunities like new local markets and increased community cohesion, demonstrating how gardens adapted to become more resilient.

Christina Ergas · · Cuba

This chapter examines Cuba's urban agricultural food production, which developed through top-down government initiatives that later decentralized and subsidized local efforts in response to resource scarcity. While Cuban urban farmworkers' cooperatives enable local residents to sell produce at low costs, the program still faces social environmental stumbling blocks despite its successes in achieving high human development with a small ecological footprint.

Jamie Wang · Humanities · Singapore

This article explores the rise of urban farming in Singapore, following small- to medium-scale urban farms, including rooftop gardens, community farms, and organic farms, through the politics of localism and the notion of care. It investigates how localism, in some contexts, has been reduced to a narrow sense of geographic location. The study also examines what is being cared for in urban farming and how it might transform bio-cultural and social-technological relations.

Gabriela de Azevedo Marques, Iara Rafaela Gomes · Boletim Goiano de Geografia · Brazil

This empirical study analyzed the socio-spatial development of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (AUP) in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, examining both spontaneous agricultural activities and municipal institutional actions. While AUP holds significant relevance in the city, particularly in peripheral areas, governmental initiatives were found to be sporadic and discontinuous, lacking a broader institutional agenda. The study concluded that despite recent municipal efforts, legal and institutional support for AUP remains weak, leading to the rapid disappearance of productive spaces and indicating that institutional actions have not effectively fostered the socio-spatial development of spontaneous initiatives.

Elly Rasmikayati, Anton Eisa Putra, Bobby Rachmat Saefudin · MIMBAR AGRIBISNIS Jurnal Pemikiran Masyarakat Ilmiah Berwawasan Agribisnis · Indonesia (Bandung City)

This study used descriptive statistics to examine urban farming-based TOGA plant cultivation activities and their obstacles in Rancabolang Village, Bandung City. The program has not run optimally, with cultivation activities not reaching the production stage for economic use, as most harvests are only for PKK group members and harvesting is not routine. Key obstacles include limited land and seed needs for cultivation, unscheduled harvesting, small production for marketing, and low member participation and irregular meetings for organization.

Harniati Harniati, Reni Suryanti · Jurnal Penyuluhan Pertanian · Indonesia

This study investigated urban farmers' accessibility to agroinputs in intra-urban (Situ Gede, Margajaya) and peri-urban (Pasir Buncir, Pasir Eurih of Tamansari) areas in Indonesia. The findings revealed that land, labor, feed concentrate, fertilizer, and seeds are difficult for farmers to access. Specifically, peri-urban paddy land ownership is less than 0.2 Ha, intra-urban farmers are landless, outside labor is limited and expensive, and feed concentrate for sheep is rarely available and unaffordable. These limited accessibilities present problems and challenges for urban agribusiness development.

Anjali Mistry, Manfred Spocter · · South Africa (Cape Town)

A study in a middle-class suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, investigated edible cultivation and garden waste management in domestic gardens. While potential gardening space averaged two-thirds of residential plots, 129 respondents primarily cultivated lawns, not food, with minimal vegetable production. Residents often used private gardening services for waste disposal, and on-site garden waste disposal techniques need promotion.

Zerrin Mercan, Büşra BİLİR, Nilüfer Darıca · Cukurova University Faculty of Education Journal · Turkey

This qualitative study examined the gardens of 27 preschool education institutions in Gaziantep province as physical learning environments. Findings showed that while physical and social areas existed in school gardens, they required qualitative support. Silent areas were very limited and located within vocal areas, and creative and sensory areas were not present in the school gardens.