Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1022 results(38 / 41)
An Evaluation of the California Instructional School Garden Program Grants
2010Eric L. Hazzard, Elizabeth Moreno, Deborah Lane Beall, Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr · The FASEB Journal · United States (California)
This study evaluated the effectiveness of the California Instructional School Garden Program (CISGP) grants by surveying 749 grantee schools. It found that the development, sustained use, or expansion of gardens was less than expected (p=.01), and fewer schools than expected reported using gardens for instruction (p<.001) or to teach academic subjects (p<.003). Less than 40% of schools reported accomplishing all their garden goals with the funds.
Limited or null effectFood educationPolicyEconomics都市农业视角下“西（安）咸（阳）—体化”发展路径研究
2010杨卫丽, 李同昇, 陈波 · 经济导刊 · China (Xi'an)
The promotion of integration in China's Xi'an-Xianyang metropolitan area, while bringing urban economic prosperity, has also created unprecedented pressure on the ecological environment and social problems. Specifically, the "urban-rural dual structure" and "three rural issues" are the biggest bottlenecks encountered during the urbanization process.
Equity & displacementUrban–rural linkageEconomicsClimate changePolicyUrbana odlingsrörelser återbrukarträdgårdsstadens visioner
2010Lisen Hendeberg · · Sweden
This study compared Ebenezer Howard's garden city ideals with contemporary urban farming movements in Sweden through a literature review and analysis of three active movements. It found that when garden city ideas were implemented in Sweden between 1905 and 1930, much of the original ideological basis for self-sufficient small towns and collectively owned land was lost. While similarities exist in ideological starting points, their approaches to change differ.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageOral History Interview: Krishna Ramanujan (1163)
2010Emma Schroeder, Krishna Ramanujan · · United States
In his 2010 interview with Emma Schroeder, Krishna Ramanujan shared his memories of the Eagle Heights Community Garden. Mr. Ramanujan discussed the ethnic diversity of the gardeners, the tensions between the Gardens and the University, and balancing graduate school while raising a young family in the Eagle Heights community. This interview was conducted for inclusion in a Master's thesis on the Eagle Heights Community Gardens.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyOn the past and the future of the urban agriculture movement: Reflections in tribute to Jac Smit
2010Diana Lee-Smith, L. J. A. Mougeot, Michael Levenston, Peter Mann, Katherine Brown, Jerry Kaufman · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global
This reflection on the urban agriculture movement notes that 19th and early 20th-century urban reforms, including urban gardens, aimed to improve living conditions in industrial cities. However, these initiatives also shifted the burden of sustenance from industrialists and fair-wage policies onto urbanizing families, particularly women. Despite this, garden spaces provided nourishment and retreats in densely populated areas.
Equity & displacementPolicyCommunityWelfareUrban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Developing Countries Studied using Remote Sensing and In Situ Methods
2010Kwasi Appeaning Addo · Remote Sensing · Ghana (Accra)
This paper discusses the need for sustainable management of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Accra, Ghana. A lack of reliable data on the extent of urban/peri-urban areas used for farming has hindered the development of sustainable policies to manage urban farming in Accra. Ground-based survey methods are problematic and prohibitively expensive, making accurate assessment of urban farming's future role difficult.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyPeri-urban agricultureTransitie duurzame tuinbouw: lokale initiatieven in internationaal perspectief: Analyse van een aantal cases in ontwikkeling
2010C.J.M. van der Lans · Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling · Global
This study analyzes the sustainability of international horticulture initiatives, including those by Dutch businesses and Wageningen UR, particularly questioning their continuity if foreign support withdraws and their viability given limited foreign currency in developing countries. Using the Multi-Level Perspective framework, two cases were examined: an Integrated Pest Management project in Ethiopia's floriculture sector and the transition to large-scale urban agriculture in Detroit, USA. The report raises concerns about the long-term economic viability and self-sufficiency of these initiatives.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageOral History Interview: Julie Schneider (1166)
2009Emma Schroeder, Julie Schneider · · United States (Eagle Heights)
Julie Schneider's 2009 interview discusses her five years at the Eagle Heights Community Garden. She described vegetables grown, organic gardening, rules and restrictions, and tensions with the university, as well as changes in the community gardens since the early 1990s. This interview was conducted for a Master's thesis on the Eagle Heights Community Gardens.
Governance failureCommunityOrganic cyclePolicyGarden of Eden? The impact of resettlement on squatters' ‘agri-hoods’ in Fiji
2009Alec Thornton · Development in Practice · Fiji
This article examines the impact of Fiji's squatter-resettlement scheme on the livelihoods of 'farming squatters' engaged in urban agriculture. Interviews with key informants and squatter residents revealed contrasting attitudes and approaches, indicating that the scheme threatens these livelihoods. The article suggests a more participatory process to address the needs of 'farming squatters'.
Equity & displacementWelfarePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityUrban–agricultural water appropriation: the Hyderabad, India case
2009Mattia Celio, Christopher A. Scott, Mark Giordano · Geographical Journal · India (Hyderabad)
A study in Hyderabad, India, examined urban water capture and its impacts on pre-existing claims, particularly agriculture. Urban water appropriation often leads to conflict with existing water uses. The findings indicate that the magnitude and direction of impacts from urban water transfer on agriculture vary spatially and temporally, depending on location-specific rainfall patterns, existing water infrastructure and institutions, and farmers' adaptive capacities, including recourse to groundwater.
Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkagePolicyEconomicsStudy on the Development of Urban Agriculture in Dingxi City
2009Liang Wei · Anhui nongye kexue · China (Dingxi)
This study analyzed the advantages, disadvantages, and existing problems in the development of urban agriculture in Dingxi City, China. Strategic concepts and countermeasures were proposed to provide consultation for urban agriculture development in Dingxi City and similar regions.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsResource use efficiency in urban agriculture in southwestern Nigeria.
2009Remi Adeyemo, F. Kuhlmann · Tropicultura · Nigeria
This paper evaluates the efficiency of resource use in urban food crop production in five districts of two cities in southwestern Nigeria, based on an effective sample of 120 respondents. The analysis showed that urban food crop production is profitable, with an average revenue of N51,294 per hectare and a gross margin of N23,688. However, there was disequilibrium in resource use, with planting seeds and agrochemicals used efficiently, but land and labor used inefficiently, indicating that urban food crop production has not yet attained an optimum level of resource combination.
Economic viabilityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicyCultivating Just Planning and Legal Institutions: A Critical Assessment of the South Central Farm Struggle in Los Angeles
2009Clara Irazábal, Anita Punja · Journal of Urban Affairs · United States (Los Angeles)
This qualitative case study analyzes the destruction of the 14-acre South Central Farm in Los Angeles in July 2006, arguing it was a landscape of resistance against discriminatory legal and planning practices. The study contends that environmental justice and planning ethics provided a substantive rationale for the city to prevent its dismantling. This case highlights a failure in governance to protect community gardens threatened by dismantlement in capitalist societies.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceTenure and Land Markets for Urban Agriculture
2009Mark Redwood · Open House International · Global
Urban farmers often produce food on land with limited or no security of tenure, exposing them to the risk of being evicted for more profitable land uses. Without legal status, most forms of credit are inaccessible to farmers, pushing them to the margins. Recent projects suggest that banking systems need to develop a methodology to value informally controlled lands and indicate that advocacy groups can increase security and access to land for urban farmers.
Governance failureEconomicsPolicyEvaluating the Modernization of the Urban Agriculture——take the case of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and other 8 cities
2009XU Hua-me · Technoeconomics & Management Research · China
This article evaluates the level of Urban Agriculture Modernization in China's major cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method. It finds that modern urban agriculture has developed rapidly based on urbanization and agricultural modernization, but disparate development is obvious in China. The article analyzes the reasons for this disparity and various factors for Urban Agriculture Modernization, revealing the mechanism and path for its realization.
Equity & displacementPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageThe Cluster of Urban Agriculture: Case of Bartın-Turkey
2009AÇIKSÖZ Sebahat · Tarım Bilimleri Dergisi · Turkey (Bartın)
This study investigated whether urban agriculture activities in Bartın, Turkey, could be organized as a cluster according to Cluster Growth Theory, and examined its cluster characteristics as part of the TR-26 Bartın Regional Development Project. While urban agriculture in Bartın was identified as having cluster characteristics and growth potential, the study found that a fundamental problem for its future development is weak coordination and cooperation among stakeholders. It proposes a model for urban agriculture activities for a "Bartın Urban Initiative" at the city level.
Governance failureEconomicsCommunityPolicyUrban food security in South Africa: Case study of Cape Town, Msunduzi and Johannesburg
2009Bruce Frayne, Jane Battersby, Robert Fincham, Gareth Haysom · · South Africa
This study examines urban food security in South Africa, focusing on Cape Town, Msunduzi, and Johannesburg, and includes a critique of the City of Cape Town's urban agriculture policy. The abstract indicates that the policy was found to have significant shortcomings, particularly concerning local production and access to food. The research highlights various policy issues related to food access, dietary diversity, local production, and local markets within these urban contexts.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsHealthWastewater Use in Cauliflower Production and Farmer’s Health: An Economic Analysis
2009Shahzad Kouser, Mr. Abedullah, Abdus Samie · The Pakistan Development Review · Pakistan (Faisalabad)
This study, conducted in 2006 with 200 farmers in two peri-urban villages of Faisalabad, Pakistan, estimated the economic values of negative health externalities from wastewater use in cauliflower production. While wastewater use appeared profitable without considering externalities, factoring in health costs strongly discouraged its use. The health externalities for a three-month cauliflower crop on 741 acres amounted to Rs 3.2 million, and for 5,283 acres of vegetables cultivated with wastewater in Faisalabad, the annual total was Rs 90.7 million. The findings indicate a significant economic loss due to wastewater use, suggesting that installing a water treatment plant is a viable option to minimize these external effects.
Contamination & food safetyHealthEconomicsPeri-urban agriculturePolicyUncertainty and Territorial Innovations in Peri-urban Agricultural Spaces
2009Lucette Laurens · Journal for Geography · France
This inquiry examines peri-urban agricultural spaces in Languedoc-Roussillon and the Montpellier agglomeration, France, which are characterized by a decline in agricultural activities and abandonment. These spaces are confronted with new, uncertain, and innovative dynamics, appearing as multifunctional spaces that need to be re-invented. The study highlights the paradox of these areas caught between appropriation for different uses and agricultural decline.
Economic viabilityPeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban–rural linkageOverview on urban and peri-urban agriculture: definition, impact on human health, constraints and policy issues
2008Erastus K. Kang’ethe, Delia Grace, Thomas F. Randolph · East African Medical Journal · East Africa
This study synthesizes current knowledge on urban agriculture (UA) in East Africa, focusing on its human health impact. It identifies UA as an important source of food security, but notes that many zoonotic and food-borne diseases are associated with it, with a lack of evidence on human health impact and management. Major constraints include illegality and limited access to inputs and markets, indicating a need for more research to understand both positive and negative health impacts.
Contamination & food safetyHealthFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsPeri-urban agricultureSmart growth ; can there be an African version?
2008Sue Wells · Western CEDAR (Western Washington University) · Tanzania
This paper examines the transferability of six Smart Growth concepts to Tanzanian cities (Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza, Dodoma, Zanzibar) given their extreme poverty and agrarian base. Primary research conducted in May-June 2007 and related publications were used. The study suggests that Smart Growth strategies from the Global North may be unsuitable for the Global South, indicating that urban agriculture in this context presents both a promise and a problem.
Economic viabilityPolicyEconomicsUrban–rural linkageFrom Industrial Garden to Food Desert: Unearthing the Root Structure of Urban Agriculture in Oakland, California - eScholarship
2008Nathan McClintock · · United States (California)
This paper uses urban political ecology to explore the rise of urban agriculture (UA) in Oakland, California, where the city aims to source 30% of its food locally, partly from UA in "food deserts." The analysis argues that 20th-century industrial capital flows and racialized urban planning concentrated capital devaluation in the flatlands, leading to the creation of food deserts. Food justice activists are mobilizing through UA to counter these uneven transformations.
Equity & displacementFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunityUrban Agriculture And The Urban Poor In East Africa: Does Policy Matter?
2008Dick Foeken · · Africa
This study analyzed the relationship between urban policy and the practice of urban agriculture by the poor, based on two studies in Nakuru Municipality, Kenya, and Morogoro and Mbeya Municipalities, Tanzania. The legal and policy setting in these towns was found to be confusing, and the poor generally do not benefit from policy measures, if policies exist at all.
Governance failurePolicyWelfareEconomicsUrban–rural linkageInteraction Mechanism Between Sustainable Development of Urban Agriculture and Increase of Peasants' Income
2008Wei Xu · Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment · Global
This study examines the interaction between the sustainable development of urban agriculture and the increase in peasants' income, treating them as a combined system. It identifies a synergistic relationship between increased peasant income and urban agriculture development, but also a competitive relationship between maximizing short-term income and ecological sustainable development. The research suggests that a sustainable urban agricultural resource allocation mechanism can foster coordination and positive interaction, with urban circular agriculture economy being a basic strategy for this coordination.
Economic viabilityEconomicsOrganic cyclePolicyUrban–rural linkageFrom Industrial Garden to Food Desert: Unearthing the Root Structure of Urban Agriculture in Oakland, California
2008Nathan McClintock · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)
This paper explores the rise of urban agriculture (UA) in Oakland, California, using an urban political ecology framework. A macro-level structural analysis of Oakland's history reveals how 20th-century industrial capital flows and racialized urban planning concentrated capital devaluation in the flatlands, ultimately giving rise to food deserts. The study suggests that food justice activists are mobilizing through UA to counter these uneven transformations, despite critiques that some urban garden programs are neoliberal, emphasizing self-betterment while filling state-left gaps.
Equity & displacementFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunity