Research & reports

Juliana Ojochide Olori, Ogechi Cordelia Nwahia, F. Siewe · Agricultural Social Economic Journal · Nigeria (Abuja)

A study analyzed savings mobilization for poverty alleviation among 185 peri-urban farming households in Kwali and Bwari Area Councils, Abuja, Nigeria, using cross-sectional primary data. The analysis revealed a poverty incidence of 49%, a poverty depth of 28%, and a poverty severity of 56% among the households. Findings indicated that primary occupation and education reduced the likelihood of not being poor but increased the likelihood of being very poor.

Sam Ramsden · Local Environment · United Kingdom (England)

This article analyzes a charity-led community gardening project in a disadvantaged northern English community, which operated for three years with external funding. While it successfully engaged marginalized people, leading to increased skills, confidence, reduced isolation, and improved wellbeing, the project faced significant challenges requiring professional management. Crucially, after the funding ended, the community garden's future was fragile, and the long-term sustainability of outcomes for marginalized participants was vulnerable due to economic viability issues.

Karen Botes, Christina Breed · Acta Structilia · South Africa

This article reviewed three edible living wall case studies in Gauteng, South Africa, focusing on system resilience, economic feasibility, and edible plant possibilities. Interviews were conducted with clients, contractors, and designers. Findings suggested indirect commercial value through customer experience and educational value, but indicated that economic feasibility and resilience need enhancement for improved urban food production.

Pratik Mishra, Sumit Vij · · India (Gurugram)

Ethnographic research in Budhera, a peri-urban village bordering Gurugram city in Haryana, India, investigated the juxtaposition of urbanization processes and climate variability impacts on peri-urban agriculture. Results showed that dimensions of agrarian livelihoods, such as cropping choices, irrigation cycles, sharecropping arrangements, declining common property resources, and land use changes to non-agricultural uses, were influenced by urbanization processes. It was concluded that changes in land and water use reshape agricultural practices and can cascade upon climate variability impacts, making agriculture more precarious for peri-urban farmers.

Paul D. Jensen, Caroline Orfila · Food Security · United Kingdom

This case study used publicly available data to spatially analyze the urban food system of Leeds, UK, assessing its food security and resilience. The study found that while Leeds has a significant food production and provision system, it is not food secure in terms of providing sufficient energy or macronutrients, nor does it function equitably for all residents. Improving the system, including through urban farming, would require high investment, multi-sector cooperation, and strong governance.

André Ruoppolo Biazoti, Angélica Campos Nakamura, Gustavo Nagib, Vitória Oliveira Pereira de Souza Leão, Giulia Giacchè, Thaís Mauad · Sustainability · Brazil (São Paulo)

Amid a COVID-19 outbreak that caused 15,587 deaths in São Paulo city through December 2020, this study examined effects on urban agriculture from April to August 2020, drawing on two government surveys (2,100 farmers in São Paulo state, 148 in São Paulo city) and two qualitative surveys of volunteers from ten community gardens and seven urban farmers. Fifty percent of farmers reported being affected by the pandemic through drops in sales, particularly those who depended on intermediaries, and 22% said obtaining inputs had become difficult. No municipal support was provided to urban agriculture in São Paulo, and pre-existing problems worsened; activity in community gardens declined, though none closed permanently.

Ágnes Gagyi, Csaba Jelinek, Zsuzsanna Pósfai, András Vígvári · · Europe

This chapter examines the 2000s housing financialization wave in Hungary, analysing financial over-inclusion and exclusion -- alternating dynamics of reaping gains and externalizing costs. It shows that "intermediate" rural-urban transitional zones are prime areas for high-risk mortgage lending while also containing spaces excluded from institutionalized housing finance, using as its case study an allotment garden where households combine formal jobs and mortgage repayment with informal dwelling to reduce housing costs, arguing that such informal reproductive solutions function as a resource for capital accumulation through inclusion and exclusion.

Nur Surayya Mohd Saudi, Mohd Nor Yahaya, Muzafar Shah Habibullah, Baharom Abdul Hamid, Muhammad Amirul Azlan, Mohd Haizam Mohd Saudi · Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry · Malaysia

A study on Malaysia's Movement Control Order (MCO) noted the extension may effectively contain the pandemic's spread but is expected to have a devastating impact on food security, and proposed urban farming as a means of generating household income and food security for the low-income B40 group. Econometric modeling of the effect of lockdown measures and COVID-19 on selected vegetable prices found that not all vegetables reacted uniformly to lockdown measures; price increases were associated with reduced household purchases and income, denying people access to food security. While the substitutability of vegetables allowed some switching to cheaper options, the study states that higher food prices themselves deny people access to food security.

Mark Paul · Econstor (Econstor) · United States

In-depth interviews with community supported agriculture (CSA) farmers in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, United States, examined their livelihoods. CSA farmers earned more farm income than other US farms and other farms in the region, but their earnings remained far below the median national household income. Despite this income shortfall, CSA farming provided non-market social, ecological and economic benefits tied to feeding the community rather than producing for mass markets, which farmers described as a significant source of well-being.

Valéria Borges Yonegura, Henrique Manoel da Silva · Confins · Brazil

A study of the Tatuquara neighbourhood and surrounding areas of Curitiba, Brazil, combining bibliographic review, historical-geographic analysis, and interviews with community gardeners (horteiros) conducted over 2017-2018, found that urban gardens improved local life, landscape and community safety and fostered topophilia and place attachment. Despite being used in city marketing, the practice's continuity is threatened by the possible end of a partnership with the electric utility and by pressure from the real-estate market.

Wellbrock Wanja, Daniela Ludin, Ludwig Lisa N, Kristina Muhlfeld, Wolfgang Gerstlberger · Journal of Applied and Physical Sciences · Global

This paper examines whether Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a solution to the dilemma of farmers needing to operate both economically and sustainably. Through an expert interview and a survey of members, the study identifies problems in the realization of a CSA and provides possible solutions.

Takeshi So · The Japanese Journal of Real Estate Sciences · Japan

This study discusses urban agriculture in Japan from three perspectives: suburban farming, urban farming, and isolated farming operations within urban areas. Despite its historical impact on urban planning, urban farmland has dramatically decreased and currently hinders real estate business and new business creation. It is suggested that economic rationality and public interest should be prioritized, and tax incentives for urban farmland should be reconsidered in a stepwise manner.

Zhenzhong Si, Theresa Schumilas, Weiping Chen, Tony Fuller, Steffanie Scott · Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation · Canada; China

A comparative study of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) models in Canada and China was conducted based on interviews and survey results. The study developed a framework to compare CSAs based on initiators’ motivations, economic characteristics, ecological practices, shareholder relations, and community building. It was found that CSAs in both Canada and China are struggling to maintain the movement’s original values and economic viability, moving away from the traditional ‘risk sharing’ approach to more flexible payment mechanisms. However, other original tenets of the CSA model, such as member engagement, are strengthening.

Tezcan Mert-Cakal, Mara Miele · Agriculture and Human Values · United Kingdom (Wales)

This article examines Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) projects in Wales as social innovation, exploring their emergence, innovative role, and transformative potential. Based on qualitative data from four different CSA case studies in Wales, the research showed that Welsh CSA cases play distinctive roles in the social economy, satisfying needs for ecologically sound and ethically produced food and empowering individuals at a micro level. However, the paper argues that for CSA initiatives to become 'workable utopias', they need to overcome barriers preventing replication, participation in macro-level policies, and scaling up, particularly concerning economic sustainability and resilience on a small scale.

Sandesh Thapa, Rakshya Bhandari, Anjal Nainabasti · Ecofeminism and Climate Change · Nepal

A random sampling survey in Dhulikhel, Kavrepalanchok district, Nepal, found that while all respondents perceived rooftop farming as beneficial, many could not practice it due to constraints like fear of roof damage. Practicing farmers also faced difficulties managing rooftop gardens due to a lack of proper knowledge and reliance on non-recyclable planting materials.

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.

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.

Oso Adeola Abiola · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · South Africa

This review discusses vegetable production in South Africa, focusing on the impacts of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne species) on small-scale farming communities. The review highlights that these nematodes are a primary pest, causing delayed crop maturity, reduced yields, poor quality produce, and escalating production costs. This leads to substantial income losses for farmers and the abandonment of community gardens, intensifying challenges for vegetable production and food security.

Salsabila Nur A, Ir. Irham, S.P. Anung Pranyoto · · Indonesia

This descriptive study, using purposively sampled primary data from 30 farmers in Danurejan sub-district and 25 farmers in Jetis sub-district, Yogyakarta City, Indonesia, examines the contribution of urban farming income to household income through farm income analysis, a one-sample t-test, household income analysis, and multiple linear regression. Urban farming produced a positive annual income (Rp 112,883/year), but its contribution to total household income (Rp 46,579,988/year) was only 0.24%. This low share was attributed to the very small quantity of crops cultivated per household — for example, 4 polybags/year of bird's-eye chili, 10 polybags/year of large chili, and 11 polybags/year of mustard greens. Farmer age, education level, quantity of crops grown, and seedling price were the factors significantly affecting urban farming income.

Kheir Al‐Kodmany · · Global

A book chapter arguing that cities will need internal food production to meet demand from growing urban populations and to avoid congestion, pollution and unaffordable food prices, and examining vertical farming — using hydroponics, aeroponics and aquaponics — as an approach suited to urban settings where land is limited and expensive. After reviewing these technologies and project prototypes, the chapter closes by stating that economic feasibility, building codes and regulations, and a lack of expertise remain major obstacles to implementing the vertical farm.

Celina Gómez, Christopher J. Currey, Ryan W. Dickson, Hye‐Ji Kim, Ricardo Hernández, Nadia Sabeh, Rosa E. Raudales, Robin G. Brumfield, Angela Shaw, Adam K. Wilke, Roberto G. López, Stephanie E. Burnett · HortScience · Global

This review discusses the application of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) techniques to urban agriculture (UA), driven by increased market demand for local produce. While CEA offers opportunities for year-round production and resource-use efficiency, significant challenges remain due to the high costs of production in urban settings. The review emphasizes that for urban growers to benefit, studies evaluating CEA for commercial food production must consider economic viability.

Jha Ritesh Kumar, Bhattarai Natasha, KC Suraj, Shrestha Arjun Kumar, Kadariya Manahar · Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agricultural · Nepal

This research inspected existing practices and obstacles in rooftop farming in Nagdhungha and Birauta, Nepal. Two practitioners were interviewed and 60 non-practitioners were surveyed. Results show that rooftop farming can benefit the environment by reducing atmospheric carbon and assist urban areas by reducing stormwater management costs, with a high willingness to practice rooftop farming among urban dwellers.

Martin Stuchtey, Tilmann Vahle · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · Global

This paper discusses different types of urban agriculture (UA) to assess its potential for future food production. Conventional open-air farming is found to be rarely commercially viable for meaningful food production, though it offers community, educational, psychological, and environmental benefits. High-yielding Controlled Environment Farming (CEF), while potentially contributing substantially to food output, is highly capital and knowledge-intensive and likely to develop at city fringes due to economic considerations.

오익근, 서정아, 장승옥 · 한국지역개발학회지 · South Korea

A focus group interview with young urban farmers in Daegu, South Korea, explored job creation through urban farming. Participants perceived farming as physically demanding and unrewarding, despite seeing urban farming as a promising industry for job creation. They also noted a lack of national support policies and difficulties in participation. A contradiction was identified between the young farmers' desire to adopt labor-saving new technologies and the goal of creating jobs through traditional farming.

Milagros de la Caridad Mata Varela, Johana Meza Salvatierra, Ana Yilian Santana Mata · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

This research evaluated investment project management in urban agriculture through its life cycle, applying eighteen indicators and a management index. The study concluded that an agroecological farm development project exhibited economic inefficiency during its first two years of operation due to an imbalance between income and expenses, preventing high management values.