Research & reports

K.G. Rosin, Ravinder Kaur, Sushma Singh, Prabhat Kumar Singh, Digvijay Dubey · Procedia Environmental Sciences · India

A study was conducted in peri-urban agricultural sites around Faridabad, Haryana, India, to assess groundwater contamination and the contribution of salt/trace metal-laden irrigation waters. Mean EC, Cl, and F concentrations in root zone leachates were found to be far beyond permissible limits, and some trace metals posed a threat to deep percolating waters. However, due to existing cropping patterns and deeper water table depths, the groundwaters were not yet vulnerable to these salts/trace metals, and the presence of salts in the groundwaters was primarily geogenic.

Corey James Majeika, Raymond P Stockwell, Shawn A Czerniak · Digital WPI · Global

This study conducted 13 in-depth interviews with farmers to assess their perceptions of Freight Farms, a company growing leafy greens and basil in adapted shipping containers. Most farmers doubted the economic feasibility of Freight Farms, questioned its technologies, and noted the lack of organic certification.

Philani Moyo · Journal of Human Ecology · Zimbabwe

This study qualitatively examined the role and contribution of urban agriculture to household food security, employment creation, and income generation among low-income working-class and urban poor households in Bulawayo townships, Zimbabwe. It was found that urban food production significantly contributes to household food access and security, improving dietary diversity and nutritional intake. However, the potential of urban agriculture is constrained by factors including land tenure insecurity, erratic water access, small plot sizes, inadequate capital for optimizing plot productivity, and ambivalent application of urban land-use laws.

Danfeng Huang · Journal of Changjiang Vegetables · Global

This paper discussed the importance of intensive vegetable production in urban agriculture, highlighting its role in guaranteeing the supply, quality, and safety of fresh vegetables. It summarized key aspects of intensive production, including industrialized seedling production, facility production, efficient cultivation, postharvest processing, and commercial management, but also presented environmental problems and restricting factors in the development of intensive vegetable production.

Doreen Atkinson · African Journal of Range and Forage Science · South Africa

This paper critiques the assertion that commercialization of smallholder agriculture poses dangers for sustainable rangeland management in South Africa. It argues that a range of policy options are required, including commercialization and subsistence farming, large-scale and smallholder farming, various land tenure options, rural and peri-urban farming, and part-time farming. The case of municipal commonage land is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of flexible policy options regarding land ownership, farming scale, and the social nature of farming, but it is noted that effective institutional development is a key requirement in all cases.

Michael R. Hoadley · Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) · Global

A talk by Michael Hoadley, founder of Chicago firm Fewzion, discussed challenges in vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture. The presentation emphasized the importance of framing discussions within the context of economically self-sustainable models, free of dependence on policy subsidy and philanthropy. This highlights concerns about policymakers' over-zealous view of urban agriculture as a panacea for social ills.

Amanda Jessie Weaver · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver) · United States (Colorado)

This project combined U.S. Agricultural Census data with a survey of local producers in Colorado's Front Range Urban Corridor to examine the competition between urban development and food production. The study found that urban development is increasingly encroaching on rich agricultural lands, which are also desirable for housing. Consequently, Colorado faces increasing competition for land, potentially driving local food prices up and displacing producers to peripheral areas or out of food production entirely.

Patrick F. Banga · · Zimbabwe

Unsanctioned urban agricultural activities in Emakhandeni High Density Suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, negatively impact biodiversity. Researchers interviewed 100 people and conducted field visits, finding that the majority of cultivators operate outside existing laws and guidelines. This leads to progressive land degradation, massive deforestation, soil erosion, dried wetlands, lowered water table, and compromised groundwater quality due to pesticides and inorganic fertilizers.

Рена Упитис, Scott Hughes, Anna C. Peterson · Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies · Canada

An 8-month qualitative study was conducted at a school garden program in one public elementary school in southeastern Ontario, Canada. Data collected from eight students through observations, semi-structured interviews, and student photographs identified five themes enhancing environmental stewardship (including connecting with nature, caretaking, and harvesting) and three themes explaining the program's long-term success (including parental involvement and community connections). The study highlighted benefits of the school garden program, as well as some difficulties associated with the program and limitations of the study.

Giovanni Attili · IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) · Italy (Rome)

This study focused on community gardens in Rome, Italy, which largely result from informal appropriation practices. While these gardens can enhance environmental and social quality of life, they require institutional support and present a crucial challenge for urban planning. The study highlights the need to explore tensions between social practices and institutional powers, and questions how public policy can legitimize these self-guiding societal expressions.

Roseline J. Akinlade, Olubunmi Lawrence Balogun, Adekemi A. Obisesan, Akinlade, Roseline J., Balogun, Olubunmi L., Obisesan, Adekemi A. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Nigeria

This study analyzed the determinants of commercialization among 230 urban vegetable farmers in Oyo and Lagos states, southwest Nigeria, using primary survey data and a Tobit model. It found that farmers' participation in domestic and regional markets remains low due to various constraints, notably poor market access. The average farm size was 0.05ha, and the average market participation index was 0.73. Factors influencing commercialization included age, farm size, association membership, education, distance to market, and input costs. The study concluded that social capital significantly affects market participation, and recommended proactive support from governments and NGOs to facilitate farmer organizations and market linkages.

Shogo Mlozi · International NGO Journal · Tanzania

This paper assesses the knowledge of livestock keepers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, regarding the climate change effects of their activities. Over two-thirds of respondents did not believe solid waste, liquid waste, and pollution from livestock would affect future climate risks. However, they did perceive chemical pollution and land degradation from urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) livestock keeping as having climate change effects.

Matthew V. Bradshaw · The William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository (William & Mary) · United States

This Note identifies that while the urban agriculture movement is growing in popularity across the United States, legislatures have often ignored foundational laws related to the sale and distribution of goods, including inspection, labeling, labor, and compensation laws. This oversight has led to the creation of unconstitutional trade barriers in some instances. The study raises a cautionary voice to government officials regarding the potential future consequences of these regulatory gaps.

Marc van lersel · · Global

Agriculture faces the 21st-century challenge of feeding a growing, urbanizing population while minimizing negative environmental impact. Urban farming has been presented as a potential solution to perceived problems with conventional agricultural production, but its effectiveness as a comprehensive solution is questioned.

Marianne Sarkis, Tiffany Lee, Steph Fenner, Erin Barta, Kristina Kalolo · Clark Digital Commons (Clark University) · United States

Research was conducted using free-list, pile-sort, interviews, and surveys to examine the association between community gardening and food justice among Clark community gardeners in Worcester, MA. The findings supported the conclusion that Clark community gardeners do not conform to the food justice interpretation of a community garden. Although both actors share similar methods and ideologies, neither is attempting to fit the other's definitions.

Laura Knapp, Jodi L. Sangster, Shannon L. Bartelt‐Hunt · International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship · United States (Omaha NE)

This study investigated the influence of lead hyperaccumulating plants on lead uptake by vegetables in an urban community garden in Omaha, NE, a region with significant lead contamination. Tomatoes, carrots, and amaranth were grown alongside sunflowers and mustard greens (hyperaccumulators) in lead-contaminated soil. Data showed higher lead concentrations in the hyperaccumulators and suggested that their presence might have impacted the amount of lead available to surrounding vegetation. Previous work at the garden detected lead in produce, indicating a potential exposure pathway for humans.

김효정 · 한국여성학 · South Korea

Through in-depth interviews and participant observation research targeting women's activist organizations established since 2010, the characteristics of urban agriculture cases led or participated in by unmarried women in their 20s and 30s were analyzed. Unmarried women activists met the growing demand for safe and healthy food among single-person households through community farming in urban areas, practicing agriculture not only for food production but also as a lifestyle pursuit and recreational culture. However, their practices face limitations such as urban space constraints, difficulties for unmarried women to relocate to rural areas, excessive ecological value attribution, and a lack of solidarity with rural communities.

Kyle Kessler, Seth Umbenhauer, Alison R. Noble · Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science · United States (Harrisburg)

Eight soil samples were collected from an urban land plot in Harrisburg, PA, to determine concentrations of copper, nickel, zinc, and lead and assess suitability for an urban garden. While copper, nickel, and zinc concentrations were below EPA recommended limits, lead concentrations ranged from 26 ± 1 mg/kg to 402+ mg/kg, with some samples exceeding EPA standards for heavy metals in home and vegetable gardens. This indicates potential lead contamination in the soil.

Melvin Delgado · Columbia University Press eBooks · United States

This chapter focuses on community gardening as an intervention aimed at addressing obesity, tracing its history in the United States back to the late nineteenth century as a response to social and economic crises. While community gardens can achieve various social, economic, political, educational, and health-related goals, the chapter also discusses potential pitfalls of community gardening. It emphasizes a social justice perspective for community gardens, particularly regarding community inclusion and participatory democracy.

Chris Zimmerman · Soil Horizons · United States

A narrative article profiling the work of soil scientist Samantha Langley-Turnbaugh of the University of Southern Maine, investigating lead contamination in urban soils in Portland, Maine. It traces the concern to the Great Fire of 1866, whose lead paint ash was spread across the city and used as landfill to extend the Portland peninsula, compounded by the city's historical ties to lead-producing industries. The article states that, across US cities generally, lead paint and leaded gasoline are the primary sources of soil lead contamination, and that this contamination is becoming a concern as urban gardening expands.

Ines Vlahović, Ksenija Karlović · Agronomski glasnik ·

A survey conducted from May to August 2011 examined the frequency of poisonous and allergenic plant species at nine educational institutions in the town of Samobor, Croatia — three kindergartens, four elementary schools, one high school and one library. The survey identified 15 poisonous plant species, represented by 182 specimens, and 17 allergenic plant species, represented by 129 specimens.

David DyckFehderau, Nicholas L. Holt, Geoff D.C. Ball, Noreen D. Willows · PubMed · Canada

A study in Alexander First Nation, central Alberta, Canada, used asset mapping with children to understand how community factors shape the lifestyle behaviors of First Nations children living on reserve, who are estimated to be 4.5 times more likely to be obese than Canadian children generally. Participants were a convenience sample of two high school students working at the local health centre and seven grade six children, who used maps, photographs and a town tour to identify 25 activity- or food-related places and spaces. Breakfast, lunch and snack foods (such as chocolate bars and potato crisps) were obtained at school, food and snacks at cultural gatherings, and snacks at the local store, with healthy food choices found to be limited; only two locations beyond the town site were identified for physical activity, and youth recommended building a leisure centre, selling healthier food at the local store, and developing a community garden and berry farm.

Alan Hallsworth, Alfred Wong · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global

A short commentary on urban gardening. It states that although urban gardening is highly popular among civic politicians and some vocal advocates, there is no basis to expect this food-supply concept could ever deliver fresher or lower-cost food to most people living within the structure of a modern urbanized society.

Iris T. Stewart, Elizabeth K. Purner, Patricia D. Guzm ́n · Children Youth and Environments · United States (California)

In Santa Clara County (SCC), located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Region and marked by high income disparities and an ethnically diverse population, this study used surveys and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to examine links between the presence and use of school gardens and the socioeconomic and ethnic composition of surrounding neighborhoods. Statistical analysis found that school gardens in SCC are more likely to exist in economically stronger and ethnically less-diverse neighborhoods, showing that garden provision is not equitably distributed. School gardens can be maintained with relatively modest resources — a coordinator, planting area, small budget, and school-community support — yet securing these resources can itself be a significant barrier for some schools. Because natural play areas suited to environmental exploration were not typically found at SCC schools, the study suggests school gardens can play an important role in reconnecting children with the natural world.

Evaristo Mwaba Kapungwe · Open Journal of Metal · Africa

Water, soil, and crop samples were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry for lead, copper, cobalt, nickel, and chromium at two peri-urban wastewater-irrigation farming sites in Zambia: New Farm Extension in Mufulira Town, Copperbelt Province, and Chilumba Gardens in Kafue Town, Lusaka Province. Heavy metal levels in wastewater, soil, and food crops exceeded acceptable limits at both sites, confirming contamination and a potential human health risk from consuming the crops grown there.