Research & reports

Chris Hillbruner, Rebecca Egan · Food and Nutrition Bulletin · Bangladesh (Dinajpur)

A study in Dinajpur, Bangladesh, from 2002 to 2003, investigated the impact of seasonality on food security and nutritional status in approximately 600 low-income urban households. Data collected through surveys and child measurements revealed significantly higher rates of food insecurity, wasting, and inadequate growth during the monsoon season compared to the dry season. While dietary diversity and lost work due to weather were identified as pathways affecting food security, child illness was not found to be a significant mechanism contributing to seasonal nutritional declines.

Gary Paul Green, Michael L. Dougherty · Community Development · United States (Door County, Wisconsin)

This paper examined culinary tourism through a case study of the Kingdom So Delicious program in Door County, Wisconsin. The analysis was based on intensive interviews with owners/managers of four restaurants and surveys of 30 retailers and 40 farmers in the region. The most frequently cited concerns with producing for local establishments involved in culinary tourism were low prices and challenging logistics.

Dick 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.

Wei 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.

Nathan 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.

Cheng Cun-ren · Journal of Agricultural Mechanization Research · China

This study introduces the status of machinery equipment for facility agriculture in China and compares it with foreign equipment. It analyzes problems in Chinese facility agriculture, finding that the current machinery equipment faces challenges in achieving high efficiency, quantity, and quality compared to international standards.

Adnew, Walelign · National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia · Ethiopia

This study assessed the general performance and challenges of Micro and Small Scale Associations (MSSAs) in Wolkite and Boutajira city administrations, using questionnaires for 92 operators and interviews with 5 officials. Findings revealed that government supports have not ensured the sustainability of these associations, and service provision is not aligned with national strategy. MSSAs exhibit high closure rates, member dropout, fail to create long-term jobs, and show insignificant women's participation.

I. Ogunlade, O. I. Oladele, A. A. Falaki · University of Dar es Salaam Library Journal · Nigeria

This study investigated the socio-economic characteristics, information needs, and seeking behavior of 100 urban farmers in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria, using a structured questionnaire. It found that urban farming was a supplementary activity for highly literate individuals, with farms mainly within the city and more animal than crop production. The study suggested that urban farmers could achieve better results if technical and financial support were provided, and recommended official government recognition for urban farming.

M. B. David · African Affairs · Kenya

This study on urban agriculture in the Kenyan town of Nakuru illustrates health and environmental problems associated with keeping livestock in urban areas, the small size of plots cultivated, and the dependence of urban households on rural sources of food. These findings were observed in the context of economic hardships occasioned by structural adjustment programmes since the 1980s.

R. Machiridza, Emmanuel Manzungu · University of Zimbabwe Institutional Repository (University of Zimbabwe) · Zimbabwe (Harare)

Perceptions of urban agriculture in Harare, Zimbabwe, shifted from prohibition before 1980 due to environmental concerns to de facto government policy after independence due to increasing urban poverty. Land was initially allocated to co-operatives primarily for political support, creating tension between political patronage and environmental protection. Critics argue that authorities only accepted urban agriculture's reality two decades post-independence, driven by its potential for poverty reduction and economic development.

Irenio Curbelo Tribicio · OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA · Cuba

A research project conducted at the Granja Urbana (Urban Farm) of Sancti Spíritus municipality, Cuba, aiming to apply and evaluate a set of economic and financial analysis tools within the category of "labor force and wages," in order to determine the factors influencing the interrelationship and variation of gross value added (VAB), labor productivity, and average wage. The abstract states only the study's aim and object of analysis; it does not report specific findings or figures from the evaluation.

Alex Thornton, Etienne Nel · Africanus Journal of Development Studies · South Africa (Peddie)

This study investigated the significance of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) as a livelihoods strategy in Peddie, Eastern Cape province, South Africa, based on a PhD study. The findings indicate that UPA is not as significant or widely practiced as often assumed, despite its potential to address food insecurity and generate income. Its development has been slowed by various structural historical and socioeconomic barriers, limiting its current impact.

Craig J. Thompson, Gökçen Coskuner-Balli · Journal of Consumer Research · Global

This paper argues that the corporatization of the organic food movement, typically seen as co-optation, can instead generate a countervailing market response. This response actively promotes the oppositional aspects of a counterculture that are attenuated by commercial mainstreaming. The study analyzes community-supported agriculture (CSA) as an example of this response to corporate co-optation.

Viola Devasirvatham, P. S. Cornish · International Journal of Water · Australia

Peri-urban horticulture in Australia requires irrigation for year-round vegetable production. Subsurface Drip Irrigation (SDI) offers higher water use efficiency and crop yields, with the potential to reduce environmental risks from drainage and runoff. However, SDI has potential disadvantages, including poor germination or crop establishment and uneven wetting patterns. Research is needed to solve these problems and enable environmentally acceptable vegetable production.

Zhang Xue-mang · Journal of Beijing University of Agriculture · China

This paper addresses the slow development of agricultural technology in Wuhan City, China. It states that Wuhan needs to import advanced agricultural technologies, research and disseminate techniques for fish and fowl culture, vegetable growth, and agricultural product processing. The paper emphasizes the necessity to improve modern distribution quality and strengthen government service and management in agricultural technological innovation, highlighting a current governance deficiency.

F Ortega Sastriques, Rosa Orellana Gallego · Revista ciencias técnicas agropecuarias · Global

In many cities, the high price and limited availability of potable water necessitate considering irrigation with poor quality water, such as saline or alkaline waters, in urban agriculture. This paper considers aspects of irrigation with poor quality water, including risks like contamination.

이민수, 박덕병, 황대용 · 농어촌관광연구 · South Korea

A cost-benefit analysis of Sunchang County's 2007 pilot "allotment garden with log house" program (family farm-stay plots), launched by South Korea's Rural Development Administration in JeonBuk Province, using the county's internal records and interviews with project managers. The analysis found the program to be an inefficient business with a weak cost-benefit structure that produced a negative net benefit: at an assumed 6.5% discount rate, net present value was estimated at -262 million won, with a benefit-cost ratio of 0.70 and an internal rate of return of 2.7%. The authors nonetheless conclude the program is worth maintaining as part of the government's balanced regional development policy.

Mure Agbonlahor, S. Momoh, A. O. Dipeolu · International Journal of Vegetable Science · Africa

A sample survey of 242 urban vegetable farmers conducted through March 2006 examined production efficiency and its determinants in fadama agriculture — flood-plain cropping of short-duration crops on low-lying, seasonally flooded land — in urban southwestern Nigeria, using a stochastic frontier model. Mean farm size was 0.54 hectares and mean producer age was 42.6 years, while mean technical efficiency was only 74.36%, with the main sources of inefficiency identified as labor employment and the use of land and seed/cultivar resources; the most common crop combination was Telfaria occidentale, Amaranthus hybridus and Zea mays.

Randall Walsh · Journal of Urban Economics 61(2): 319-344 · United States

Uses a locational-equilibrium model that treats both privately held open space and land-conversion decisions as endogenous to evaluate the metropolitan-wide impact of open-space policy. Shows that once endogenous adjustment of private open space is allowed for, expanding public preserves can actually reduce the total quantity of open space across a metropolitan area. Also finds that different strategies for spending the same open-space budget have markedly different land-use and welfare consequences.

Stephanie Buechler, Gayathri Devi Mekala, B. Keraita · Victoria University Research Repository (Victoria University) · Global

This 2006 global study from Victoria University discusses wastewater use in urban and peri-urban agriculture for crop production and aquaculture, noting its role in generating livelihoods and providing cheap produce. However, the study emphasizes that clear policy guidelines and careful research are needed to prevent potential negative impacts on human health and the environment from wastewater reuse.

Paule Moustier, George Danso · Agritrop (Cirad) · Global

This report discusses urban agriculture's role in addressing social, economic, and environmental challenges of rapid urban growth in developing countries. It notes that while urban agriculture attracts attention, its viability and need for political support remain debated. The report highlights arguments against targeting scarce public resources towards urban agriculture, citing high land costs in urban areas and insufficient evidence of its economic viability.

HU Yue-xiao · Nongye xiandaihua yanjiu · Global

This study on the industry orientation of urban agriculture, including trade, marketing, business model, and organizing orientations, identified problems such as industry parking, blurred functional orientation, and a lack of overall planning during urban agriculture orienting programs.

Emma Lea, Jodi Phillips, Madeleine Ward, Anthony Worsley · Ecology of Food and Nutrition · Australia (Victoria)

This qualitative study interviewed 20 consumers and 12 farmers in Victoria, Australia, to examine their knowledge, perceived benefits, and barriers regarding Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The study found that knowledge of CSA was limited among both groups. Consumers perceived fresh food as a benefit but cited lack of produce choice as a barrier, while farmers saw financial benefits but were concerned about risk-sharing.

Edilene Lagedo Teixeira, Janailton Coutinho, Adriano Costa da Silva, Andréa Soares, Camila Silva de Oliveira, Carla Gomes dos Santos, Beatriz Ribeiro Guimarães · REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE AGROECOLOGIA · Brazil

This study, conducted in 2003 by UNISOL REGIONAL and UFRRJ, aimed to develop an organic, condiment, and medicinal garden through social education activities. A socioeconomic survey of the community revealed urgent problems with water scarcity, mosquitoes, and rodents. While two garden beds and 12 planters were built to encourage self-sustaining urban agriculture, the abstract does not explicitly state the success or failure of achieving self-sustainability or addressing the identified community problems beyond the construction itself.

Lily Kiminami, Akira Kiminami · Studies in Regional Science · Japan

Urban agriculture in Japan faces problems such as farmland reduction, farmer aging, expansion of abandoned cultivated land, and environmental pollution from livestock waste or agricultural chemicals. Urban agriculture can contribute to improving urban quality of life by supplying agricultural goods, creating landscapes, ensuring land conservation, and providing environmental benefits like biodiversity conservation. However, these issues pose challenges to the economic viability of urban agriculture.