Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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33 results(1 / 2)
Integrating vertical and urban farming into sustainable food systems: a comprehensive review
2026Thulisekari Prasanna, Guda Bhargavi, Murugesan Mohana Keerthi · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global
This comprehensive review synthesizes literature on vertical and urban agriculture within sustainable food systems, identifying production models and technical advancements. Empirical evidence indicates these systems can improve water/land-use efficiency, yield stability, and reduce post-harvest losses. However, significant challenges persist, including high capital and energy prices, inadequate crop diversification, technical complexities, and regulatory constraints, impacting their economic viability.
Economic viabilityUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyDigital agricultureVertical farming as a resource nexus solution for sustainable agriculture
2026Jonas Sohn, Juliane Dziumla, Atiqah Fairuz Salleh, George Xydis · Sustainability Nexus Forum · Global
This study evaluated vertical farming (VF) through the resource nexus (RN) lens, emphasizing the interdependencies among energy, water, land, and materials. While VF offers advantages such as space efficiency, water conservation, and climate resilience, it was found to entail high energy demands, material dependencies, and economic feasibility challenges. An overview of these synergies and constraints helps identify mitigation strategies like circular water systems and hybrid renewable energy solutions.
Economic viabilityEconomicsClimate changePolicyUrban–rural linkageAssessing the Potential of Rooftop and Wall-Based Urban Agriculture for Food Security Enhancement in Gasabo District, City of Kigali, Rwanda
2025Florien Misago, Isaac Nzayisenga, Henri Jacques Ngirinshuti, Leon De Pere Irakoze, Richard Mind’je · East African Journal of Agriculture and Biotechnology · Rwanda (Kigali)
This study evaluated the potential of rooftop and wall-based urban agriculture to enhance food security in Gasabo District, Kigali, Rwanda. It used GIS and remote sensing to map suitable spaces and assessed 400 household heads using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Findings showed that 41.5% of households experienced moderate to severe food insecurity, and approximately 32% of rooftops and walls were structurally appropriate for urban agriculture. While 57.8% of households expressed willingness to adopt rooftop or wall gardening, 67.4% cited structural and financial constraints.
Economic viabilityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyVertical Farming: Innovations, Challenges, and the Future of Sustainable Urban Agriculture
2025Gokulakrishnan G, Navaneetha Krishnan T, Tamilselvan D, S Sanjeevkumar, Devaganesh A, Janani N, K. Arunadevi, Balaji Kannan · Madras Agricultural Journal · Global
This review explores vertical farming, a method that uses stacked layers in controlled environments for year-round crop production with reduced resource use. It assesses the environmental and economic advantages of vertical farming, while critically examining its limitations, including high energy demands and limited crop diversity. The study highlights that despite its potential, vertical farming faces challenges regarding economic viability due to high energy consumption.
Economic viabilityDigital agricultureClimate changeEconomicsPolicySustainability composite indicator for the assessment of resilient urban agriculture and urban development
2025Jairo Guzman-Molina, Gustavo Carrazana-Rosales, Daniel Karthe, W. C. Tabares Rodríguez, Serena Caucci · Environmental and Sustainability Indicators · Colombia (Bogotá)
To assess the sustainability of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA) in Bogotá, Colombia, a Composite Indicator (CI) integrating 43 variables from an in-depth survey of over 3,500 households was developed. The study revealed that UPA significantly contributes to Bogotá's environmental resilience, particularly in soil conservation and integrated water management. However, while UPA promises food security, its unstructured value chain limits its impact on economic sustainability.
Economic viabilityClimate changeEconomicsPolicyGrowing together – How institutional structures influence communal agricultural prosumption types and their potential for continuity
2025Stefan Galley, Rita Saleh, Patrick Bottazzi · Journal of Rural Studies · Switzerland
This qualitative study compares three Swiss communal agricultural prosumption (CAP) types: allotment gardens (AGs), community gardens (CGs), and community supported agriculture (CSA), using Grounded Theory. It found that community-centred CAPs (CSAs, CGs) generate political agency but face financial barriers limiting participation. Individual-centred CAPs (AGs) offer autonomy but have high knowledge requirements and lack political leverage, posing crucial challenges for long-term viability. The study concludes that targeted policy and institutional strategies are needed to ensure the continuity of all CAP types.
Economic viabilityCommunityCSA & TeikeiPolicyEconomicsCommunity Urban Farming: Challenges In Maximising Urban Farm Capacity
2025M.M. Rasmuna, VGR Chandran, J.S. Keshminder · Malaysian journal of consumer and family economics/Malaysian Journal of Consumer and Family Economics · Malaysia
This study explored challenges in maximizing the capacity of urban farms for economic viability and sustainability in Malaysia. Through in-depth interviews with urban farmers in several case studies, five key challenges were identified: financial, human capital, environmental, institutional, and psychosocial. These challenges impede the economic viability and sustainability of community urban farming.
Economic viabilityCommunityEconomicsPolicyJoining the ideational and the material: transforming food systems toward radical food democracy
2024Stephen Leitheiser, Rubén Vezzoni · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global
This paper presents a conceptualization of radical food democracy (RFD), linking diverse economies with diverse citizenship. Diverse economies scholarship, while valuable for theorizing alternative food networks (AFNs), has been criticized for essentializing the autonomy of alternative economic practices, risking the confusion of emancipatory social change with market-embedded products and the displacement of negative impacts. The paper argues that realizing RFD requires both experimenting with new economic practices that create food economies alternative to capital accumulation and cultivating new political subjects capable of universalizing these struggles.
Economic viabilityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyRealising the potential of urban agriculture in Kingston, Jamaica
2024Sonia Gatchair · · Jamaica (Kingston)
In Kingston, Jamaica's largest urban space, systematic efforts to stimulate the adoption of commercially viable urban agriculture have lagged. This study examines the facilitators and impediments to commercially viable urban agriculture, arguing that knowledge transfer and the adoption of innovative, technology-driven approaches to farming, financing, and marketing are needed for success.
Economic viabilityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicyDigital agricultureFarm-to-Table Initiatives in Restaurant Food Production: Benefits, Challenges, and Consumer Perceptions
2024Dr.M.K. Ganesh · International Journal for Multidimensional Research Perspectives · Global
This mixed-methods study examined the farm-to-table movement in restaurant food production, identifying benefits like enhanced food freshness and local economic support. However, it also found significant challenges including higher costs, seasonal variability, and complex supply chain logistics. Consumer perceptions were generally positive, but the study emphasized the need for increased consumer education and policy support to overcome barriers.
Economic viabilityEconomicsFood miles & supply chainPolicyCommunityLand Market and the “Sendoff” of Peri-Urban Agriculture in Tanzania: An Evolutionary Analysis of Practices and Actors
2024Kelvin Haule, Bupe Kabigi · Ghana Journal of Geography · Tanzania
This study analyzed land markets and their influence on peri-urban agriculture and livelihood strategies in Tanzania. It found that widespread monetary land markets, including formal, informal, speculative, entrepreneurial, and land grabbing forms, are transforming peri-urban agriculture into non-farm activities. These informal changes are causing a “sendoff” of peri-urban agriculture, and if unmanaged, land markets are suggested to become a blight for indigenous people selling land.
Economic viabilityPeri-urban agricultureEconomicsPolicyChallenges and potential solutions in developing community supported agriculture: a literature review
2023Catharina Any Sulistyowati, Suraya Afiff, Muhammad Baiquni, Mia Siscawati · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Global
A literature study conducted from October 2021 to June 2022 identified challenges in the development of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Farmers face expenses for sustainable practices and labor shortages, while CSA members encounter issues with time commitment, cost, and adapting food consumption habits. Organizational challenges include member recruitment and retention, competition, and CSA sustainability.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityPolicyA review on urban agriculture: technology, socio-economy, and policy
2022Grace Ning Yuan, Gian Powell B. Marquez, Haoran Deng, Anastasiia Iu, Melisa Fabella, Reginald B. Salonga, Fitrio Ashardiono, Joyce A. Cartagena · Heliyon · Global
This review examined urban agriculture (UA) across technology, socio-economy, and policy, noting that supporting UA expansion in cities is challenging due to its poor economic profitability. The study highlighted UA's value beyond profitability, including social, health and well-being, disaster risk reduction, and environmental benefits. It also presented advancements in UA technologies and plant biotechnology as potential solutions for increasing the future profitability of commercial UA.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyHealthClimate changeDigital agricultureDeterminants Affecting Public Intention to Use Micro-Vertical Farming: A Survey Investigation
2022Yiming Shao, Zhugen Wang, Zhiwei Zhou, Haojing Chen, Yuanlong Cui, Zhenghuan Zhou · Sustainability · Global
Vertical farming faces challenges such as high energy consumption, costs, and a lack of social acceptance. This study investigated public acceptance of micro-vertical farming using a deconstructed theory of planned behavior model. Results showed that the overall mean of public behavioral intentions to use vertical farming was 3.9, which is above neutral (3.00) but less than positive (4.00).
Economic viabilityDigital agricultureEconomicsCommunityPolicyReviewing financing barriers and strategies for urban nature-based solutions
2021Helen Toxopeus, Friedemann Polzin · Journal of Environmental Management · Global
A systematic review of academic literature identified key barriers and strategies for financing urban nature-based solutions (NBS), including urban agriculture. Two overarching barriers were found: a lack of coordination between private and public financiers, and difficulties in integrating NBS benefits into valuation and accounting methods. The review concluded that an integrated accounting and valuation framework for NBS is currently lacking, and strategies often focus on encouraging co-financing from private beneficiaries.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyCommunityThe morphological impact of municipal planning instruments on urban agriculture
2021Ana Mélice Dias, Teresa Marat-Mendes · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Portugal (Lisbon)
This paper investigated the impact of municipal planning instruments on urban agriculture in Lisbon and its surrounding territory, Portugal. It concluded that current planning regulations in Lisbon’s Greater Area are specifically focused on morphological solutions that give preference to urban agriculture uses related to leisure and aesthetic solutions, to the detriment of design solutions that tackle economic growth or ecological diversity.
Economic viabilityPolicyEconomicsEvaluación de la gestión de proyectos de inversión en la agricultura urbana
2019Milagros 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.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyAppraising the viability of quail (Chikuta) farming. Prospects and challenges. A case of Bindura urban farmers in Zimbabwe
2018Cuthbert Majoni, Deliwe Tembachako, Anyway Katanha · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Zimbabwe
This study was conducted in Bindura urban area, Zimbabwe, to evaluate the viability of urban quail farming, interviewing 40 urban quail farmers selected via snowball sampling and 10 key informants using semi-structured guides. Key challenges highlighted included inadequate housing facilities, insufficient space, theft, predation, inadequate knowledge, market price fluctuations, inability to access credit, and misconceptions in urban agriculture policies. Despite these challenges, urban quail farming showed potential to boost family income and reduce poverty to some extent.
Economic viabilityEconomicsWelfarePolicyUrban agriculture up-scaled: economically and socially productive public green space
2016Joshua Zeunert · UNSWorks (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) · Australia
Urban public green spaces typically require external budgets for maintenance, with most projects costing municipal authorities more money than they generate, making them economically unproductive. For instance, the Adelaide Parklands annually costs AU$9 million for maintenance while generating less than AU$1 million in income. Maintenance spending on public green spaces in the USA, UK, and Australia has been declining, a trend accelerated since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Economic viabilityEconomicsCommunityPolicyMarketing of Urban Agriculture Produce in Three Municipalities in Tanzania: Opportunities and Challenges
2014Kizito K. Mwajombe · · Tanzania
This study investigated urban agriculture (UA) produce marketing in three Tanzanian municipalities. Findings showed UA farmers lacked pre-arranged contracts with buyers, limiting their marketing, and faced problems including poor packaging, bylaws, taxes, and difficulty meeting consumer preferences. Farmers also lacked direct links to retail and consumer units like supermarkets.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceAnalysis of Constrains Facing Urban Agriculture Development in Tehran, Iran
2013Soraya Pourjavid, Hassan Sadighi, Hossein Shabanali Fami · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Iran (Tehran)
This study identified constraints affecting urban agriculture in Tehran, Iran, by surveying 320 city dwellers across 22 municipal districts. The most important constraints identified were "high start-up costs" and "lack of knowledge among managers and authorities." Factor analysis revealed seven factors explaining 67.36% of the variance, including financial-economic and technical aspects.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyCommunity“Vertical Farms, Urban Restructuring and The Rise of Capitalist Urban Agriculture ”
2013Lindsey Sarann Hallock · · Global
This paper examines the rise of vertical farms, arguing that they advance the corporate food regime and promote urban elite consumption. It differentiates vertical farms as local food projects that reproduce the capitalist industrial system rather than challenging it, facilitated by devalued built environments and labor surplus in neoliberal cities. The study concludes that these farms reproduce troubling trends in the corporate food regime, signifying capital's ability to standardize food cultivation and incorporate it into factory-like production systems.
Economic viabilityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicyUrban–rural linkageCOMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA)
2013Atănăsoaie George Sebastian · Annals - Economy Series · Global
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms are an alternative to conventional agriculture but face numerous policy issues related to product, price, distribution, and promotion. A literature review indicated that farmers need to offer more flexible basket content in terms of quantity and product type, and consumers require information on product preparation and preservation. To offset the negative impact of high prices, measures such as cost reduction, flexible payment rescheduling, and compensation for financial resource deficits are necessary.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Agriculture and Poverty Mitigation in Zimbabwe: Prospects and Obstacles in Bulawayo Townships
2013Philani 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.
Economic viabilityWelfareEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicyChallenges in Vertical Farming and Controlled Environments Agriculture
2013Michael 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.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyClimate change