Research & reports

Mr. 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.

Pepijn 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.

Zeinab 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.

Lexi 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.

Miaomiao 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.

Ana 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.

Baptiste 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.

Hillary 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.

Olivia 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.

Ted 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.

Joycelyn 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.

Murtah 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.

Sam 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.

Ewa 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.

Jennifer 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.

Michael 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.

Pauline 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.

Tomoko 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."

F. 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.

Salvatore Engel‐Di Mauro · Journal of Environmental Quality · Global

This review examines atmospheric sources of trace element (TE) contamination in cultivated urban areas (CUAs), noting that these sources are understudied and poorly understood despite extensive research on TE contamination in CUAs. Existing research often assesses atmospheric deposition indirectly or lacks controls for other TE contaminants, and shows little engagement with atmospheric sciences methodological guidelines, which reduces confidence in current findings. The review suggests combining atmospheric science techniques with existing robust methodologies for TE contamination studies in CUAs.

Catalina Cruz-Piedrahita, Caroline Howe, Audrey de Nazelle · Global Transitions · Global

This scoping review analyzed 138 papers to develop a conceptual framework on the impacts of urban horticulture (UH) on public health in the Global North. While UH is proposed as a tool for health improvement, the review notes a lack of systematic information on its benefits, barriers, costs, and risks in these regions. The framework visualizes relationships between UH and public health, providing evidence for both positive and negative connections regarding mental health, physical activity, diet, and socialization.

Fanni Bársony · Tér és Társadalom · Hungary

This study examines urban community gardens in Hungary through fieldwork and group interviews. It investigates how these gardens function as urban commons, focusing on community characteristics, resource relationships, and sharing practices. The research concludes that for urban commons, it is insufficient to focus solely on the shared resource and access conditions; the commons must be examined in relation to the operating community.

Lisa Berglund · · United States (Detroit)

This paper analyzes media coverage of informal practices like street vending, murals, and urban agriculture in Detroit's redeveloping neighborhoods. It reveals that while these practices are appropriated by developers and new, affluent arrivals as entrepreneurial and necessary for redevelopment, they are treated fundamentally differently from the informal practices of long-standing, marginalized residents, which are often condemned as illegal. This inconsistency highlights how legal frameworks are manipulated to exclude long-standing residents from the city's "renaissance."

F. Feldmann, Ute Vogler · Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection · Global

Ten key challenges for plant protection in cities were identified, each belonging to a specific field of action of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in urban horticulture, according to Directive 2009/128/EC. These challenges include appropriate plant selection, microbiome engineering, nutrient recycling, smart digital solutions, diversification of vegetation, avoidance of pesticide side effects on beneficials, biorational efficacy assessment, effective pest diagnosis, efficient outbreak control, and holistic approaches.

Silke Cram, Pilar Fernández, Horacio Carranza, M.C. Gómez Hernández, Claudia Ponce de León, Ana M. Noguez Gálvez · Open Journal of Soil Science · Global

This study evaluated metal inputs, transfer, and translocation in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown in an urban plot during dry and rainy seasons in 2013, using treated wastewater and rainwater respectively. While soil characteristics and metal transfer/translocation factors varied temporally, leading to different metal concentrations in lettuce tissues, the results indicated that the metal concentration in lettuce tissues posed no harm to human health. However, site-specific studies are necessary for urban agriculture management.