Research & reports

Michaela Pixová, Christina Plank · Environmental Sociology · Czechia (Prague, Brno)

This paper compared the roles of allotment and community gardens in urban sustainability, using Prague and Brno, Czechia, as case studies. It analyzed perceptions of both by municipal actors, gardeners, and activists across four dimensions: public access to urban greenery, community building, food cultivation, and environment/climate protection. The paper argues that governments' preference for gardens aligned with the status quo undermines citizens' right to the city, urban sustainability, and resilience against future threats.

Paulo Ricardo Santos Miranda · Revista Mutirõ Folhetim de Geografias Agrárias do Sul · Brazil

A collection of 13 chapters explores the interactions between city and countryside in Brazil, critically examining how capital traverses urban and rural territories, promoting expropriation and spatial reconfigurations. Studies on Uberlândia, Montes Claros, São Paulo, and the North and Northeast regions highlight land conflicts, peripheral industrialization, urban agriculture, and peasant resistance. The work emphasizes the ambiguous role of the State.

Gabriela Civeira, Florencia Rositano · Conicet · Argentina (Buenos Aires)

This study analyzed the environmental, social, and economic factors of agricultural production in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region (RMBA) across 28 municipalities, using National Agricultural Census data and an adapted ecosystem services (SE) estimation model. Findings indicated that 97.4% of small and medium-sized horticultural producers use conventional management, with only 2.6% employing non-conventional practices. Structural problems identified include informal labor, limited technical access, and urban pressure, highlighting the need for public policies to strengthen more sustainable production systems.

Ilana Herold, Buhm Soon Park · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · South Korea (Daejeon)

Ethnographic case studies of three urban community gardens in Daejeon, South Korea, illustrated how urban agriculture (UA) serves as a platform for civil society groups, national government, and local governments to advance their political and sociocultural goals. The study argued that while national UA legislation was passed to advance top-down sustainable development goals, local actors challenge the functions of UA and ideas of expertise through their practice.

Corrie Hannah, Jordan Blekking, Julia Davies, Jane Battersby, Allan Chilenga, Dorcas Kabuya, Percy Toriro · Ecology and Society · Zambia

This empirical case study examined how the COVID-19 pandemic affected urban food systems (UFS) in 14 Zambian cities, using household survey data from 2019, 2020, and 2021. Descriptive and regression analyses assessed household food sourcing, including urban agriculture. Households from diverse socioeconomic quartiles faced similar food security challenges but coped differently based on capacities and resources, indicating a lack of equitable outcomes. Smaller and remote cities sourced food from open-air markets, vendors, and urban agriculture, while more connected cities used local shops.

Sara Sama Acedo, David Berná Serna, Patricia Homs Ramírez de la Piscina · Etnografica · Spain (Madrid)

This paper analyzes the case of community urban gardens in Madrid integrated into the Municipal Program of Community Urban Gardens. These initiatives are situated in the interstices between community management and public institutional management, generating new demands on the management of urban green commons and enabling forms of shared governance. The study reveals that these gardens face the challenge of maintaining themselves as transformative spaces without being absorbed by commercial logics or marginalized into welfare-oriented or community volunteer spaces.

Christian Kofi Sarpong, Romanus Dogkubong Dinye, Alex Donbeinaa, Vera Nyarko Amoako · Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research · Ghana

This study assessed the role of urban agriculture in Ghanaian cities through a systematic literature review of publications from 2000 to 2024. Urban agriculture was found to significantly contribute to food security, nutrition, and income, and to bolster environmental sustainability. However, challenges such as land tenure insecurity, unsafe irrigation practices, weak institutional support, and limited policy integration persist.

Emmanuel Ndhlovu · Discover Sustainability · South Africa

This article critically analyzed food system policies and actions in four South African cities, drawing from grey and academic documents. It found that the government is failing to achieve food security, with approximately 58 million people facing food insecurity in 2023. The study concludes that transforming South African food systems requires coherent policies, shortened supply chains, integration of food into urban planning, and increased support for farmers, among other actions.

Paule Moustier, Jacques Pagès · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Africa

This study examined peri-urban agriculture in Africa, identifying it as a significant income and food source for the urban poor, but subject to constraints, primarily land pressure. Analysis of the vegetable supply chain in Brazzaville showed rural and peri-urban areas are complementary, with different types of vegetables originating from each. Land constraints, transport, access to inputs, and technical assistance are crucial factors determining production location. Historical analysis invalidates hypotheses of linear decline or development through intensification for peri-urban agriculture.

Joseph Seong, H. Christopher Peterson, Simone Valle de Souza · Agribusiness · Global

This study evaluated the economic and environmental sustainability potential of urban indoor agriculture (IA) using a multi-objective optimization model (IA-MOO) integrating a bioeconomic model for lettuce production. Results indicated that earnings before taxes (EBT) and energy use efficiency (EUE) are generally not conflicting objectives, except for a short production schedule frame.

Juan Camilo Fontalvo-Buelvas, María Teresa Pulido Silva, Miguel Ángel Escalona Aguilar, Raúl Romero Ramírez · Memorias · Mexico (Xalapa)

This diachronic study analyzed the drivers and inhibitors of urban agriculture in Xalapa, Mexico, through a historical tracing from 1821 to 2023. Drivers included rural immigration, academia, and government programs, while inhibitors were identified as diversification of trades, ejido laws, remittances, health policies, and food markets.

Rafi Haikal, Thoriqi Firdaus, Herdis Herdiansyah, Rizqi Shafira Chairunnisa · Sustainability · Indonesia

This study investigated the relationship between urban planning policies and architectural design in fostering sustainable food systems in 75 smart cities in Indonesia, using a mixed-methods approach. Key findings revealed that food security is significantly undermined by the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), indicating distributional inequalities, high food expenditure, and a lack of clean water. Conversely, access to electricity improves resilience.

Citra Dusun, Magie M. Kapojos, Mervina Rondonuwu, Christine Lomo, Rinny Lontoh, Filan Mandang, Yuannita Aida · Jurnal Pengabdian Ibnu Sina · Indonesia (Manado)

A program in Manado, Indonesia, aimed to enhance food security and self-reliance by promoting chili cultivation in home gardens through socialization, counseling, and seed distribution. While it provided positive economic impacts, the program faced challenges including limited access to agricultural inputs and post-program plant maintenance. Further research and continued mentoring were recommended to evaluate its effectiveness and maximize impact.

Belma Soto-Fernández, Lurys Bourdett-Stanziola · Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research · Latin America

A documentary review on the importance of urban gardening in Latin America revealed that urban gardening, when approached through the lens of agrobiodiversity, has become a key strategy for safe food production and environmental sustainability. However, it was found that several Latin American countries lack clear and established laws to regulate this activity. Preliminary evidence of rotavirus was detected in fresh vegetables from an urban garden in Panama, indicating that urban gardens can become infection foci capable of causing diseases of public health and veterinary importance.

Gideon Baffoe, Philip Antwi‐Agyei · City and Environment Interactions · Ghana (Accra)

This mixed-methods study analyzed the role of urban agriculture (UA) in climate resilience in Accra, Ghana, from the perspective of policymakers. While UA contributes to food security, water use efficiency, and ecological protection, its integration into policy frameworks was found to be limited due to challenges such as weak institutional coordination, competing economic priorities, and governance inefficiencies.

Fuchaka Waswa, Duncan Gichabe, Ruth Kahuthıa-Gathu · Journal of the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO · Kenya (Ruiru)

This study investigated land use changes in Ruiru Sub-County, Kenya, from 1988 to 2024 using GIS. By 2024, agricultural land had decreased by 45.62%, while urban land use increased by 509%, and bare/rocky areas rose by 133% due to abandoned stone mining. The decline in agricultural land leads to reduced industrial crop areas and a shift to leafy vegetables, with an expected increase in agro-chemical use in intensive peri-urban farming.

YUKUN, HE, HE, YUZHONG, Kiyoyama, Yohei, Ishida, Shigeyuki, Hama-cha Co-Creation Team · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Japan (Kyoto)

This paper documents a 2024–2025 field practice concerning Hama-cha, a traditional tencha in Kyoto, which faces threats from labor aging and persistent operational difficulties. Researchers encountered challenges in accessing tacit knowledge and identifying clear solutions for labor shortages, despite both farmers and researchers recognizing the problem. The study highlights the ongoing operational difficulties and lack of clear solutions for the economic viability of this traditional urban agriculture practice.

Blessing Nyamasoka‐Magonziwa, Esther Simango, Hatirarami Nezomba · Frontiers in Agronomy · Zimbabwe (Chitungwiza)

This study evaluated climate-smart crop production practices by urban farmers in Chitungwiza District, Zimbabwe, and their effects on household diets. Mixed methods research, including focus group discussions with four farmer groups and interviews with 107 households in 2022, classified only 23% of farmers as climate-smart. While climate-smart crop production positively influenced household diets, with climate-smart households having a significantly higher Household Dietary Diversity Score (3.3 vs. 2.9; p=0.02), there were no significant differences in maize yield between climate-smart and non-climate-smart farmers (2.10 t/ha vs. 2.27 t/ha, respectively, in the 2020/2021 season).

Jelena Salmi, Anna Krzywoszynska · Environmental Science & Policy · Finland

A discourse analysis of 103 governance and grey literature documents in Finland examined the politics of soil biodiversity indicators. The study found that eDNA is the preferred scientific basis for soil biodiversity governance in Finland due to alignment between scientific and policy groups. However, land workers' organizations criticize eDNA methods, arguing they risk obscuring local specificity and creating environmental and social injustice, potentially alienating land management groups.

Kurnia Dewi, Yusuf Hariyoko, Hasan Ismail · Presidensial · Indonesia (Surabaya)

A qualitative descriptive study investigated stakeholder synergy in urban farming programs in Surabaya, Indonesia. Data was collected through interviews, documentation, and observation involving the DKPP, agricultural extension officers, farmer groups, and the local community. Strong commitment, competence, awareness, and continuity were identified as driving factors for successful implementation, but challenges include declining active farmer groups and limited facilities.

Human Sciences Research Council · Figshare · South Africa

A 2025 study from South Africa's Western Cape used propensity score matching on data from 220 households — those participating in Department of Agriculture-funded backyard garden projects plus a control group — to assess urban agriculture's contribution to household food security. Households engaged in urban agriculture benefited from greater dietary diversity and income from selling produce, but the study found no significant positive contribution of urban agriculture to food security.

Sumit Vij, Vishal Narain · Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water · Global

This review addresses a knowledge gap on how peri-urban residents in Asia and Africa adapt to the impacts of urbanization and climate change on water security. As rural-urban boundaries rapidly blur in the global South, peri-urban spaces are characterized by weakening access to water resources, depleting common property institutions and poor civic engagement, and the review presents the persistent marginalization of peri-urban residents from a water security perspective, while also showing that they do develop adaptation measures. Existing literature is found to focus primarily on (1) increased vulnerability of peri-urban agriculture and allied sectors, (2) barriers and enablers to water-security-related adaptation planning, and (3) justice in peri-urban areas, and the review calls for further study of emerging cooperation and collective action that could reduce conflicts between peri-urban and urban inhabitants and improve water security.

Valentine Opanga · Urban Political Ecology · Kenya

A study examines how green urbanism is imagined, politicised and contested in two informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya, Korogocho and Pumwani-Majengo, using a mixed-methods approach combining Feminist Urban Political Ecology, Postcolonial Urbanism and Travelling Models, drawing on 45 semi-structured interviews, six focus group discussions and a review of policy documents. It shows that international greening agendas are selectively interpreted, reworked or resisted rather than adopted as a unified global sustainability narrative. Findings reveal that state-led greening initiatives, even when aligned with global frameworks, can reinforce spatial inequality, displace low-income residents and obscure colonial-era land injustices. At the same time, grassroots actors engage in context-specific greening practices such as urban farming and dumpsite reclamation driven by survival and care, representing forms of environmental agency that challenge dominant models.

Byamungu Lincoln Zabuloni, Maxwell Mudhara, Joyce Chitja · Food and Energy Security · South Africa

A study assessing the impact of home- and community-garden programs on household food security status in uMzumbe Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, using random and purposive sampling to survey 223 respondents with a structured questionnaire and a Tobit regression model to examine determinants. Total income (p<0.001), extension services (p<0.01), credit access (p<0.05), age, farm size (p<0.01) and education level (p<0.05) positively affected food security status, while household size (p<0.001), home gardens (p<0.01) and community gardens (p<0.01) negatively affected it. The study concludes that implementing home and community garden programs alone was not enough to improve households' food security status in uMzumbe Municipality.

Ioana Florea · · Global

This chapter finds that while collective urban gardening projects represent forms of resistance against market-based food systems, the precarization of urban natures, and real-estate dominance, their everyday practices often fail to deliver on these ideals and intentions, generating incomplete, contradictory, or temporary results. It proposes a heuristic frame linking space, time, and class to review prior urban-gardening research from a political-ecology perspective, tracing how space's materiality, time embedded in plant growth, and class differences conditioning gardeners' access to space and time produce these contradictions.