Research & reports

Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.

4 results

• EXPLORING THE RECYCLING OF MANURE FROM URBAN LIVESTOCK FARMS: A CASE STUDY IN ETHIOPIA

  2021

  Solomon Tulu Tadesse, O. Oenema, Christy van Beek, Fikre Lemessa Ocho · Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering · Ethiopia

  This study in Jimma, Ethiopia, from 2015-2050, used an N mass flow model and field experiments to explore manure recycling from urban livestock farms under four scenarios. It found that livestock manures are the main organic wastes in urban areas, and manure production in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is projected to increase 3 to 10 times. Critically, only 13% to 38% of manure nitrogen will be recycled in croplands, and intensification of urban livestock production greatly increased nitrogen surpluses, indicating a significant environmental tradeoff.

  Environmental trade-offsOrganic cyclePeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceCompost
  Read source →DOI: 10.15302/j-fase-2020375

• Effects of biochar, waste water irrigation and fertilization on soil properties in West African urban agriculture

  2017

  Volker Häring, Delphine Manka’abusi, Edmund Kyei Akoto-Danso, Steffen Werner, Kofi Atiah, Christoph Steiner, Désiré Jean‐Pascal Lompo, S.G.K. Adiku, Andreas Buerkert, Bernd Marschner · Scientific Reports · Sub-Saharan Africa

  This 2-year study in Tamale (Ghana) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) investigated the effects of biochar, wastewater irrigation, and fertilization on sandy, nutrient-depleted soils in urban vegetable production. Biochar addition (2 kg m⁻²) initially doubled soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, but 35% SOC losses occurred afterward. Both biochar types had no effect on soil pH, phosphorus availability, or cation exchange capacity, though rice husk biochar retained nitrogen. The study found that the effects of biochar and waste water were less pronounced than reported elsewhere.

  Environmental trade-offsOrganic cycleCompostClimate change
  Read source →DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10718-y

• Agriculture urbaine et valorisation des déchets au Bénin : une approche de développement durable

  2010

  Hygin Faust Kakai, Alban Gilles Kakai, Armelle Grey Tohouegnon · VertigO · Benin (Cotonou)

  This study in Benin examined urban agriculture and waste valorization in Cotonou, Abomey, and Abomey-Calavi. In Cotonou, overexploitation of sandy, organic-poor soil in market gardening led to soil impoverishment, forcing gardeners to use chemical fertilizers with negative environmental impacts. However, some market gardeners adopted compost use, transitioning to organized organic urban agriculture after a waste management project supported waste valorization. This dynamic was not observed in Abomey, where urban agriculture is practiced in family spaces and public areas, unlike Cotonou's developed sites. Abomey-Calavi, despite rapid demographic growth, was almost devoid of urban agriculture practices.

  Environmental trade-offsOrganic cycleCompostEconomicsHealth
  Read source →DOI: 10.4000/vertigo.9994

• Environmental concerns of urban and peri-urban agriculture: case studies from Accra and Kumasi.

  2001

  E. Mensah, Philip Amoah, Pay Drechsel, Robert Clement Abaidoo · CABI Publishing eBooks · Sub-Saharan Africa

  This work, presented as case studies from Accra and Kumasi, addresses environmental concerns of urban and peri-urban agriculture. It focuses on waste composting for urban and peri-urban agriculture, aiming to close the rural-urban nutrient cycle in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  Environmental trade-offsPeri-urban agricultureCompostOrganic cycle
  Read source →DOI: 10.1079/9780851995489.0055