Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2116 results(44 / 85)
Consuming the city: challenges and possibilities for foraging in Toronto’s parks
2020Anna Shortly, Thembela Kepe · Forests Trees and Livelihoods · Canada (Toronto)
This paper explores the opportunities and challenges of incorporating foraging practices into parks planning and management in Toronto, Canada, where foraging is often not permitted in urban parks. The study, based on a scan of practices and interviews, concludes that urban parkland managers should establish dedicated spaces like community orchards to safely and sustainably accommodate foraging, acknowledging current restrictions.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageVisions of the Urban Green
2020Maria Vasile, Cristina Grasseni · Anthrovision · Italy
This study investigated urban gardening in Turin, Italy, using ethnography, historical analysis, and photography. In post-industrial, multicultural Turin, the hegemonic power of aesthetic assumptions about the urban green illuminated the dialectic of gentrification vis-à-vis socioeconomic and cultural diversity. It highlighted that the homogeneity of an aesthetic regime contrasts with the diverse 'skilled visions' of social actors, leading to restraining effects on participatory governance.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyAgricultura urbana contribui para a segurança alimentar no Brasil? O que nos diz a produção científica dos últimos dez anos
2020Moisés Savian, Mari Inês Caríssimi Boff, Pedro Boff · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil
This study evaluated Brazilian scientific production from 2009 to 2018 on urban agriculture's contribution to food and nutritional security, analyzing 34 selected articles out of 612. It found that while agrobiodiversity is present in urban agriculture areas, pesticide use is a reality in some crop plots. The research suggests urban agriculture must be based on agroecology to avoid environmental contamination and produce healthy food.
Contamination & food safetyFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversityOrganic cycleHealthEcosystem Services of Urban Agriculture: Perceptions of Project Leaders, Stakeholders and the General Public
2020Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Kathrin Specht, Jan Vávra, Martina Artmann, Francesco Orsini, Giorgio Gianquinto · Sustainability · Italy (Bologna)
This study compared perceptions of urban agriculture (UA) ecosystem services (ESs) among different societal groups in Bologna, Italy, namely UA project leaders, stakeholders, and the general public, with 406 individuals evaluating 25 ESs via a standardized Likert-scale survey. Statistical analysis indicated that the general public and UA stakeholders agreed on the high relevance of socio-cultural ESs, while provisioning ESs were considered less significant. This study reveals a lower perception of provisioning ESs from urban agriculture.
Limited or null effectCommunityBiodiversityPeri-urban agriculturePolicyUrban Agriculture in Ethiopia: An Overview
2020Amsalu Woldie Yalew · Regional Economic Development Research · Ethiopia
This paper provides an overview of urban agriculture in Ethiopia, synthesizing existing evidence on its role in the overall agricultural sector, urban economy, and urban employment, based on official reports and statistical surveys. Despite scant evidence, urban agriculture shows considerable contributions. However, the review reveals existing gaps in institutional and policy support for urban agriculture.
Governance failureEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageA Field of learning and living: Suitability of school gardens for children
2020Gülşah KURU, Esra DEMİR ÖZTÜRK, Furkan Atmaca · İlköğretim Online · Global
A study using semi-structured interviews with 30 primary school teachers and 12 school managers revealed opinions on the evaluation of primary school gardens. The majority of participants believed their school gardens were inadequate, citing examples such as a lack of playgrounds, insufficient green areas, and the use of gardens as car parks.
Governance failureFood educationCommunityHealthEffect of changing urban farming landscape on financing livelihoods and food security of urban farmers’ households in Ghana
2020Mr. Isaiah ACQUAH, Dr.Sc. Joseph Ato FORSON, Dr.Sc. Theresa Yaaba BAAH-ENNUMH · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Ghana
This qualitative exploratory study in Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Ghana, investigated the effect of urban growth and concretization on urban farming households' livelihoods and food security. The study, using interviews and spatial imagery, found that urban farms face challenges due to inadequate land use planning and support, leading to a loss of farmlands. Significant challenges identified include limited farming space, limited resources, continuous increase in buildings, and inadequate education for urban farmers.
Governance failureUrban–rural linkageEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicyThe impact of school gardens on nutrition outcomes in low-income countries
2020Pepijn Schreinemachers, Ray-Yu Yang, Dhruba Raj Bhattarai, Bal Bdr, Mamounata Sandaogo Ouedraogo · · Global
Three cluster randomized controlled trials in Bhutan, Nepal, and Burkina Faso evaluated school garden programs. The interventions significantly improved children's knowledge about food and agriculture in all three countries, and awareness and preferences for fruits and vegetables in Bhutan and Nepal. However, these improvements did not lead to an increase in the frequency or variety of fruit and vegetable consumption in any of the countries.
Limited or null effectFood educationHealthاستخدام حدائق السطح کأحد تطبيقات شبکات البنية التحتية الخضراء لتحقيق استدامة المدن الجديدة
2020Zeinab Abd Elkader, Ahmed Haroun · Fayoum University Journal of Engineering · Egypt
The legislative and executive challenges of roof gardens in new cities in Egypt were clarified. Theoretical studies, including an applied study in Sheikh Zayed City, were presented. The research suggests that while roof gardens offer environmental, social, and economic benefits, challenges exist for their widespread application.
Governance failureClimate changePolicyCommunityEconomicsWhy garden in schools?
2020Lexi Earl, Pat Thomson · · Global
This chapter considers the challenges faced by school gardens. School gardens often have tenuous links with subjects other than health, nutrition, geography, or science, and practical challenges exist in their establishment and maintenance. Key issues of teacher learning, management of resources, and school identity and ethos are also highlighted regarding school change. The chapter concludes with unanswered questions about the prospects for school gardening, particularly whether and how school gardens might be part of an educational solution to the questions posed by the pandemic and climate collapse.
Governance failureFood educationCommunityClimate changeWhom Do Urban Agriculture Parks Provide Landscape Services to and How? A Case Study of Beijing, China
2020Miaomiao Xie, Manyu Li, Zhaoyang Li, Meng Xu, Yan Chen, Ran Wo, De Tong · Sustainability · China (Beijing)
This study investigated user profiles and landscape service provision in three urban agriculture parks (UAPs) in Beijing, China, based on 345 interviews. Most users had upper-middle incomes and were well-educated, with social connections varying by UAP type. Findings indicated that the scenery service was not adequately supplied, with 31.5% of areas failing to meet demand, suggesting six landscape types require optimization.
Limited or null effectCommunityEconomicsHealthPolicyThe morphological impact of municipal planning instruments on urban agriculture. The case of Lisbon’s Greater Area
2020Ana Mélice Dias, Teresa Marat-Mendes · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Portugal (Lisbon)
In Lisbon's Greater Area, Portugal, the morphological impact of municipal planning instruments (Municipal Master Plans) on urban agriculture was investigated. It was concluded that current planning regulations prioritize leisure and aesthetic solutions for urban agriculture uses, rather than design solutions that address economic growth or ecological diversity.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsCommunityPotential of Technosols Created with Urban By-Products for Rooftop Edible Production
2020Baptiste Grard, Nastaran Manouchehri, Christine Aubry, Nathalie Frascaria‐Lacoste, Claire Chenu · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global
A five-year experimental trial quantified the food production potential, soil fertility, and potential contamination of Technosols created from urban wastes for rooftop edible production. The cropping system showed promising results for food production and maintained high fertility. However, a concern was identified regarding the trace metal content of certain edible crops, specifically zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu), although most trace metal levels were below existing norms.
Contamination & food safetyDIYCompostOrganic cycleHealthFoodborne illness prevention in Debre Berhan, Ethiopia: Preliminary efforts to understand household agricultural practices
2020Hillary A. Craddock, Elisabeth Fost Maring, Stephanie Grutzmacher · African Journal of Food Agriculture Nutrition and Development · Ethiopia
A mixed-methods pilot survey of 21 teachers and parents in Debre Berhan, Ethiopia, investigated household agricultural practices to understand foodborne illness risks. The study found that half of respondents using manure applied uncomposted manure as fertilizer, and many kept multiple animal species. This suggests a high risk of pathogen exposure for children and adults through contact with uncomposted manure and animals.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCompostOrganic cycleReconciliation and Resistance from the Ground Up: The Power of Affect in Chicago’s Community Gardens
2020Olivia Lee · Johns Hopkins University eBooks · United States (Chicago)
This study, drawing on affect theory, examines community gardens in Chicago's low-income, primarily Black South Side neighborhoods. It argues that while these gardens offer a spatial break from violence, they appear unable to fully counteract the ongoing marginalization by race and socioeconomic status. The gardens represent a quiet, nascent resistance against neoliberal injustices through intimate human-nature interaction.
Equity & displacementCommunityWelfareHealthFood sovereignty & justiceDirect producer‚Ä"consumer transactions: Community Supported Agriculture and its offshoots
2020Ted White · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · United States
Non-market sales, barter, trade, donations, and other creative transactions have been integral to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) since its inception, promoting creativity and new economic thinking due to its advance payment system for unknown harvests. Based on qualitative field research, primarily in the Northeastern United States, this chapter examines the innovative transactions that have enabled CSA and other Community Supported Enterprises (CSEs) to grow. While acknowledging that the 'Community Supported' model has not solved the challenge of providing adequate incomes for producers or attracting diverse participants, the chapter presents evidence of CSA as a vibrant system connecting producers and consumers through creative transactions.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityPre- and Post-Harvest Practices of Urban Leafy Green Vegetable Farmers in Accra, Ghana and Their Association with Microbial Quality of Vegetables Produced
2020Joycelyn K. Quansah, Cesar L. Escalante, Angela Parry‐Hanson Kunadu, Firibu Kwesi Saalia, Jinru Chen · Agriculture · Ghana (Accra)
A survey was conducted among 102 urban leafy green vegetable farmers from 12 farming areas in Accra, Ghana, to determine agricultural practices and their association with microbial safety of vegetables produced. It was observed that 70% of farmers used water from waste drains for irrigation, 99% used incompletely composted manure, 96% harvested with bare hands, and over 60% disagreed that polluted irrigation water can contaminate vegetables or make consumers sick. Vegetables cultivated by farmers with no formal education, less food safety knowledge, and those who disagreed about contaminated water causing illness were associated with higher fecal coliform and Enterococcus sp. counts.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityOrganic cycleOn whose land is the city to be built? Farmers, donors and the urban land question in Beira city, Mozambique
2020Murtah Shannon, Kei Otsuki, Annelies Zoomers, Mayke Kaag · Urban Studies · Mozambique (Beira)
This article examines the implications of global interventionism in African cities for existing claims to urban space, particularly those of farmers, using Beira, Mozambique, as a case study. A historical-political analysis demonstrates that urban farming has been a distinct feature of Beira's urbanism amidst successive and contradictory state-land regimes. A new urban regime, formed by municipal leaders and international donors, aims to erase urban agriculture from the city through urban 'development', indicating a need for better understanding of manifold claims to urban space beyond slum urbanism.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityShoots and leaves: exploring the impacts and fragile sustainability of sustainable place-making projects working with marginalised people
2020Sam Ramsden · Voluntary Sector Review · United Kingdom
This article explored an externally funded charity-led project in a deprived area of the UK, implementing urban agriculture, community gardening, and household energy activities. The project successfully engaged marginalized people, who strongly voiced outcomes including reduced isolation, improved mental health, and increased resilience and self-reliance. Environmental outcomes were less tangible but included improvements to the local environment and reduced energy usage. However, after the funding finished, marginalized participants were vulnerable to outcomes not being sustained in the long term.
Limited or null effectCommunityWelfareHealthEconomicsLegal regulations and the development of German and Polish allotment gardens in the context of the production function
2020Ewa Kacprzak, Barbara Maćkiewicz, Magdalena Szczepańska · Ruch Prawniczy Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny · Germany, Poland
This study compared legal regulations for allotment gardening in Germany and Poland. Through analysis of legal acts, field research, and structured interviews, it was found that some provisions of legal acts in both countries are not strictly adhered to by users. In Poland, unclear provisions regarding crop cultivation have led to the replacement of the farming function by recreational and residential uses.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyCollaborative research to support urban agriculture in the face of change: The case of the Sumida watercress farm on O‘ahu
2020Jennifer Engels, Sheree J. Watson, Henrietta Dulai, Kimberly Burnett, Christopher A. Wada, ‘Ano‘ilani Aga, Nathan DeMaagd, J. J. McHugh, Barbara Sumida, Leah L. Bremer · PLoS ONE · United States (O‘ahu)
A researcher-farmer collaboration on O‘ahu's Sumida watercress farm conducted a 25-year trend analysis and a year of intensive spring water sampling. Negative correlations were found between historical crop yields and increases in the Oceanic Niño Index, temperature thresholds, and pest outbreaks. Despite urbanization, on-farm water quality was very high, and microbial analyses suggested the farm provides nutrient retention services to downstream systems. The study demonstrates that challenges facing urban agricultural systems shift over time.
Environmental trade-offsCommunityClimate changeBiodiversityOrganic cycleRefigurative politics: understanding the volatile participation of critical creatives in community gardens, repair cafés and clothing swaps
2020Michael Deflorian · Social movement studies · Global
This article examines the volatile participation of critical creatives in collective alternative everyday practices (CAEPs) like community gardens, which often involves irregular engagement and adherence to unsustainable consumer lifestyles. Drawing on Late-Modern Subject Theory, it argues that participants attempt to embody an idealized Self but fail persistently due to structural constraints and personal liberties in late-modern society. This results in "refigurations" of utopia that are bound to fail, highlighting a governance challenge in sustaining engagement.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyTrust, Connection and Equity: Can Understanding Context Help to Establish Successful Campus Community Gardens?
2020Pauline Marsh, Suzanne Mallick, Emily J. Flies, Penelope Jones, Sue Pearson, Iain S. Koolhof, Jason Byrne, Dave Kendal · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global
This study assessed the socio-spatial context of a proposed Campus Community Garden (CCG) at a student university accommodation site. It explored perceptions of the space and the proposed garden through interviews, focus groups, a survey with diverse university and community stakeholders, visual observations, and public life surveying. Results confirmed known problems associated with an underutilized site and identified unknown barriers, including socially disconnected stakeholders and community distrust of the university.
Governance failureCommunityHealthPolicyNeeds Analyses to Allotment Garden fr om the Perspectiv e of Food and Agriculture by Focusing on Child-rearing Generations
2020Tomoko Imoto, Nobutaka ISHITSUKA, Cheligeer, Kiyohide Morita · JOURNAL OF RURAL SOCIETY AND ECONOMICS · Japan
This study investigated allotment garden use among child-rearing generations in Japan, identifying preferences for "free space (play area)," "staff to answer questions," and "events." A questionnaire survey of first-grade parents revealed a high potential demand for allotment gardens, with preferences for lower fees, play areas, cultivation guidance, and events. However, an analysis using a cross-effect model found a disconnect between preferences for garden use and food preferences, as those who buy domestic products generally did not value events, indicating a "food-agriculture gap."
Limited or null effectFood educationCommunityElderlyPolicySoil Properties and Fertility Management within Ruiru Peri-Urban Area in Kiambu County, Kenya
2020F. Waswa, M. Mwamburi, I. I. C. Wakindiki, Roseline Chemutai · Journal of applied science and environmental management · Kenya
This study focused on soil physicochemical properties and fertility management in Ruiru Sub County, a peri-urban area in Kiambu County, Kenya. Soil samples from ten small contact farms (~0.1 ha) were analyzed, revealing that most farmers were tenants growing leafy vegetables, maintaining soil fertility with organic manures, and performing tillage by hand. These practices signal limitations imposed by small farm size and lack of land ownership, with soil fertility primarily limited by the interaction of soil pH, K, and Ca.
Economic viabilityOrganic cyclePeri-urban agricultureEconomics