Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
1204 results(23 / 49)
Urban Agriculture in Arusha City, Tanzania: Misconceptions and Realities
2021Pastory Salvatory Thomas, Wilbard Kombe, Aldo Lupala · Urban and Regional Planning · Tanzania
This qualitative study examined perceptions of urban agriculture among 60 urban farmers and officials in Arusha City, Tanzania, through interviews, observation, and literature review. Findings revealed that negative effects of urban agricultural activities influenced negative perceptions, which city officials seldom managed. While urban agriculture is acknowledged in policy, the critical effects of negative perceptions among stakeholders are considered less crucial in policy implications and formal governmental proclamations, despite their real-world impact.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsClimate changeIncorporating user preferences in rooftop food-energy-water production through integrated sustainability assessment *
2021Susana Toboso‐Chavero, Cristina Madrid‐López, Xavier Gabarrell, Gara Villalba · Environmental Research Communications · Spain (Barcelona)
Implementation strategies for food-energy-water production systems on urban rooftops were evaluated in a typical housing estate in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, comprising 201 buildings and 13,466 inhabitants. Residents tended to choose strategies providing energy and water over the food production potential of rooftops. However, environmental assessment indicated that vegetable production alternatives were the least impactful, meeting 42-56% of residents' fresh produce demand and reducing environmental impacts by 24-37 kg CO2 eq m-2 per rooftop per year. This suggests residents were primarily concerned with energy expenses rather than food insecurity or social cohesion.
Limited or null effectDIYCommunityClimate changeEconomics12. On Empty Spaces, Silence, and the Pause
2021Rebecca Amato · Amsterdam University Press eBooks · United States (New York City)
This chapter discusses the historical production and perception of "empty space" in New York City, from settler colonialism to gentrification, driven by techniques like filtering and declaring vacancy. It highlights how the acceleration of development to maintain world city status threatens alternative visions like cooperative centers and community gardens. These alternative uses are presented as models for inclusive cities, despite being under threat.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsA Multi-Sectoral Approach Improves Early Child Development in a Disadvantaged Community in Peru: Role of Community Gardens, Nutrition Workshops and Enhanced Caregiver-Child Interaction: Project "Wawa Illari"
2020Doris González-Fernández, Ana Sofía Mazzini Salom, Fermina Herrera Bendezu, Sonia Huamán, Bertha Rojas Hernández, Illène Pevec, Eliana Mariana Galarza Izquierdo, Nicoletta Armstrong, Virginia Thomas, Sonia Vela Gonzáles, Carlos Gonzáles Saravia, Marilyn E. Scott, Kristine G. Koski · Frontiers in Public Health · Peru (Lima)
In peripheral settlements of the Pachacámac district of metropolitan Lima, Peru, community health promoters delivered a sequence of (1) home and community gardens, (2) 'conscious nutrition' and (3) parenting workshops (ICDP), comparing 113 children aged 0–3 in intervention communities with 127 in control communities at baseline, 8 and 12 months. The interventions significantly reduced the risk of food insecurity (adjusted risk ratio 0.20, 95% CI 0.08–0.51) and of language delay (0.39, 0.19–0.82), but did not significantly improve motor or social/cognitive delay. Multiple micronutrient supplement use lowered motor delay risk (0.12), while households with more pets had higher risk of motor delay (3.24), social/cognitive delay (2.72) and food insecurity (1.73). Because gardens were bundled with nutrition and parenting components, the contribution of the gardens alone cannot be isolated.
Limited or null effectHealthFood educationCommunityWelfareNature-based solutions as discursive tools and contested practices in urban nature’s neoliberalisation processes
2020Panagiota Kotsila, Isabelle Anguelovski, Francesc Baró, Johannes Langemeyer, Filka Sekulova, James J. Connolly · Environment and Planning E Nature and Space · Spain (Barcelona)
This paper analyzes nature-based solutions (NBS) as discursive tools that create an inviting space for nature's neoliberalization processes, examining two city-initiated projects in Barcelona, Spain: the Passeig de Sant Joan green corridor and the Espai Germanetes community garden. The study found that urban nature can serve elite economic players at the expense of widespread socio-ecological benefits. It also noted that outcomes regarding neoliberalism and its contestation were very distinct between the two projects due to different forms of governance.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageReflecting on the Potential and Limitations of Urban Agriculture as an Urban Greening Tool in South Africa
2020Elizelle Juaneé Cilliers, Louis Lategan, Sarel S. Cilliers, Karla Stander · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · South Africa
This paper investigates urban agriculture (UA) in South Africa as a citizen-led urban greening strategy, reviewing case studies and the national policy framework. Key limitations include many UA initiatives not being self-sustaining or fully citizen-driven, a cultural stigma, limited national support due to the absence of a dedicated UA policy, and South African spatial planners' limited knowledge of UA. These issues hinder the broader implementation of UA.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageNærum Allotment Gardens
2020Phoebe Lickwar, Roxi Thoren · · Denmark
The Nærum Allotment Gardens in Denmark are publicly owned and privately leased and managed. A national Allotment Garden Association provides gardeners with a forum to counter the inherent vulnerability of these allotments to land use change. This structure indicates a persistent vulnerability of the gardens to changes in land use.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceO reflexo da ausência de políticas de incentivo à agricultura urbana orgânica: um estudo de caso em duas cidades no Brasil
2020Larissa Maas, Rosane Malvestiti, Leila Amaral Gontijo · Cadernos de Saúde Pública · Brazil
This study assessed the main difficulties faced by seven urban organic farmers in two Brazilian cities without policies encouraging urban farming, through semi-structured interviews conducted from July to December 2018. The research revealed challenges such as a lack of trained labor, inadequate machinery and equipment for small areas, and insufficient financing, indicating that the absence of policies hinders the development of urban organic farming.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity“Sow, Grow, Know, and Show”: The Impact of School Gardens on Student Self-Perception in the Mississippi Delta
2020Emily A. Holmes, Mary F. Campbell, Wesley James, Karen Matthews · Ecology of Food and Nutrition · United States (Mississippi Delta)
This research evaluated the impact of school garden programs on fifth-grade students' garden knowledge, self-perception, and standardized test scores in the Mississippi Delta. The study found no effect on standardized test scores, but students showed increased garden knowledge and reported positive feelings about their future, teamwork, and leadership ability, supported by observations of joy and confidence.
Limited or null effectFood educationHealthCommunityUnearthing the entangled roots of urban agriculture
2020Jonathan London, Bethany B. Cutts, Kirsten Schwarz, Li Schmidt, Mary L. Cadenasso · Agriculture and Human Values · United States (California)
This study, based on 24 interviews with urban agriculture (UA) leaders in Sacramento, California, identifies three "taproots" of UA projects: justice, health, and market. The analysis reveals how these roots interact differently with racial capitalism, creating disparities in their growth trajectories. Specifically, UA projects associated with the justice taproot are historically underrepresented and undervalued.
Equity & displacementCommunityEconomicsHealthFood sovereignty & justice"Don't Just Come for Yourself": Understanding Leadership Approaches and Volunteer Engagement in Community Gardens
2020Jeffrey Gilbert, Christina Chauvenet, Brett C. Sheppard, Molly De Marco · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global
This study investigated leadership styles and volunteer engagement in community gardens through interviews with 13 garden managers and six focus groups with 48 volunteers. Findings revealed that managers struggled to recruit and retain volunteers capable of maintaining gardens. Garden managers exhibited either collaborative or directive leadership styles, both of which were acknowledged and appreciated by participants.
Governance failureCommunityHealthFood educationTerritorializing the Urban-Rural Border in Medellín, Colombia: Socio-Ecological Assemblages and Disruptions
2020Colleen Hammelman, Alexis Saenz-Montoya · Journal of Latin American geography · Colombia (Medellín)
In Medellín, Colombia, large infrastructure projects by the local government, intended to transform the city, have contributed to a neoliberal sustainability agenda. Data from community meetings (2015-2017) with displaced people engaged in subsistence urban agriculture revealed that these projects exclude marginalized residents from newly valued "natural" commons. This territorialization strategy controls peripheral spaces by including approved actors while dispossessing less powerful residents of their right to the city.
Equity & displacementUrban–rural linkageCommunityPolicyWelfareUrban agriculture and food security: a case study in Maringá, PR, Brazil
2020Paulo de Oliveira Neto, Andréa Rossi Scalco, Ana Elisa Bressan Smith Lourenzani, Sandra Cristina de Oliveira · Ciência e Natura · Brazil
This study analyzed the impact of urban agriculture on food security in community gardens in the city of Maringá, Brazil. The research was carried out using the EBIA method, with descriptive statistical analysis and multiple linear regression procedures. The results indicate that the activity did not contribute to the food security of people who depend on the resources generated, whether for consumption or income.
Limited or null effectCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHealthEconomics“There is food we deserve, and there is food we do not deserve” Food injustice, place and power in urban agriculture in Cape Town and Maputo
2020Nicole Paganini, Stefanie Lemke · Local Environment · South Africa (Cape Town)
This study, conducted from 2017 to 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa, and Maputo, Mozambique, explored urban agriculture's contributions to livelihoods and food availability through a food justice lens. In Cape Town, NGO-led urban agriculture regulated production and market access, serving wealthy consumers, with only 15% of farmers consuming their produce. In Maputo, urban agriculture contributed to local food availability, with 99% of farmers eating their produce, but farmers depended on intermediary-determined prices and faced unequal access to inputs. The study revealed stark structural inequalities and uneven power dynamics in both contexts.
Equity & displacementFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsCommunityRacial capitalism and a tentative commons
2020Rachael Baker · · United States (Detroit)
Farming on Detroit's vacant land has been used for blight reduction and food cultivation since the 1970s, supported by initiatives like Farm-a-Lot. However, in 2015, the mayor’s office directly transferred 40 acres of city-owned land to a for-profit urban agriculture business in Detroit’s east Poletown, raising concerns about equitable resource distribution.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceRemediation Strategies to Reduce Heavy Metal Uptake in Lettuce Grown in Contaminated Urban Soil
2020R. Holm Thomas · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · United States (Lincoln)
This study investigated remediation strategies to reduce heavy metal uptake in soil from a potential community garden lot near a railroad in Lincoln, NE, where elevated concentrations of lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) were detected. In a greenhouse experiment, romaine lettuce was grown. Biochar amendment resulted in the lowest concentrations of Pb and As in lettuce leaves and stems, whereas coffee grounds amendment led to the highest concentrations across all tested plant parts.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityASSESSMENT OF THE SUSTAINABILITY OF SCHOOL FOOD GARDENS: A CASE OF CHRIS HANI DISTRICT, SOUTH AFRICA
2020Harry Kasumba, M. Mashologu, Patrick W Bwowe · · South Africa
An investigation into the sustainability of school food gardens in Chris Hani District, South Africa, used a mixed-methods approach with a purposive sample of six schools. Findings revealed significant bottlenecks hindering sustainability, specifically inadequate funding and a lack of proper planning for school food gardening activities.
Governance failureFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyUne ferme urbaine multifonctionnelle : maîtrise foncière publique pour un projet d’agriculture innovant à Rovéréaz, Lausanne.
2020Françoise Jarrige, Cyril Mumenthaler, Joëlle Salomon Cavin · IRIS · Switzerland (Lausanne)
This chapter described and analyzed the implementation of a new agricultural project on a domain in Lausanne, Switzerland. The innovative process was built through confrontation between stakeholder strategies, with negotiations and adjustments. It appeared that powerful economic and legal constraints limited some expected innovations, particularly regarding land contracts. Ultimately, the anticipated multifunctional agricultural project was implemented through three coordinated structures: an association, a cooperative, and an agricultural enterprise.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsCommunityTINGKAT PARTISIPASI WARGA DALAM PEMBANGUNAN PERTANIAN PERKOTAAN BERBASIS MASYARAKAT
2020Sulistiya Sulistiya · Jurnal Pertanian Agros · Indonesia
This qualitative study in Indonesia investigated citizen participation in community-based urban agriculture, finding that while overall participation was high, the decision-making stage showed the lowest level of engagement. Most citizens had low group experience and had lived in their housing for less than 30 years. Age, education, income, and family burden were not significantly related to participation, but group experience, length of stay, activity methods, and service quality were significant factors.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyMemory, waterways, and ecocultural identity
2020Jeffrey Alan Hoffmann · · United States
Hoffmann examined oral histories and interviews (1995-1996, 2014, 2017) with elders of multiple ethnicities in a working-class urban agricultural neighborhood in the U.S. Southwest. The study found that while ecocultural memory fosters trust in shared water relationships, historical anxieties stemming from urban development violence can impede communities' ability to organize to protect and restore ancestral waterways.
Equity & displacementCommunityUrban–rural linkageHeirloom & landraceUrbanization does not affect green space bird species richness in a mid-sized city
2020Dávid Korányi, Róbert Gallé, Bettina Donkó, Dan Chamberlain, Péter Batáry · Urban Ecosystems · Germany (Göttingen)
This study in Göttingen, Germany, investigated the effects of green space (GS) types and surrounding urbanization on bird communities. Bird observations were conducted using the point-count method in allotments and parks, with urbanization levels measured by the percentage of impervious surfaces. Increasing levels of urbanization around green spaces had no effect on bird species richness, functional traits, or community composition.
Limited or null effectBiodiversityCommunityHeat Treatment Reduces Bacterial Contamination of Medicinal Plants Grown in A Community Garden
2020Cleusa Fernandes Ramos, Andréia Assunção Soares, Isabela Carvalho dos Santos, F. Ramos, Odair Alberton, Luciana Kazue Otutumi, Lidiane Nunes Barbosa, Ricardo de Melo Germano, Daniela Dib Gonçalves, Luiz Sérgio Merlini · Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology · Brazil
This 2020 study in Brazil evaluated the bacteriological quality of six medicinal plants from community gardens, including Cymbopogon citratus and Aloysia citriodora. Analysis of cold extracts revealed bacterial contamination, with Plectranthus barbalus showing the highest aerobic mesophile count and Aloysia citriodora the highest coliform count at 45°C. However, the study concluded that heat treatment (boiling for teas) can significantly reduce or eliminate this bacteriological contamination, making the plants safe for consumption.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthFood educationWhat Constraints the Expansion of Urban Agriculture in Benin?
2020Mawuna Donald Houessou, Mirte van de Louw, B.G.J.S. Sonneveld · Sustainability · Benin
To identify the main constraints to the expansion of urban agriculture (UA) in Benin, a systematic literature review, a survey among experienced urban gardeners, and in-depth interviews with stakeholders were conducted. The synthesis revealed five predominant constraints: lack of land and tenure insecurity, insufficient government support, restricted market access, limited access to productive factors, and inequality issues. Specifically, the survey indicated a political unwillingness, which was explained by the unperceived benefits of investing in UA and the lack of enforcement of urban development plans.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunityNebraska School Gardens and the Potential for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Learning
2020Erin Ingram, Jenny Keshwani · Journal of Extension · United States (Nebraska)
A survey of Nebraska schools characterized existing school-based growing spaces and identified challenges limiting garden-based STEM learning. The study confirmed the use of these spaces for K-12 STEM instruction, particularly in sciences. However, opportunities for technology and engineering experiences were found to be limited, indicating a need for additional professional development support to expand garden-based STEM learning.
Limited or null effectFood educationCommunityFormalizing Objectives and Criteria for Urban Agriculture Sustainability with a Participatory Approach
2020Paola Clerino, Agnès Fargue‐Lelièvre · Sustainability · France
This study used a participatory approach with French urban agriculture stakeholders to identify sustainability objectives and 21 criteria for professional intra-urban farms. Six objectives were established, and agro-environmental and socio-territorial criteria were deemed more important than economic ones, with food production not being mentioned. A critical finding was that decision-makers focused more on projects' external sustainability and urban farmers' agricultural background, suggesting a reliance on farmers for internal sustainability rather than direct assessment.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsClimate change