Research & reports

Imelda Cahiles, Ricardo Bullecer · ACADEME University of Bohol Graduate School and Professional Studies · Asia

A study assessing the implementation of the Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) in schools in Lila District, Bohol, Philippines, revealed that the overall program implementation was less implemented. While roles and responsibilities at the school level and the establishment and maintenance of school gardens were implemented to a moderate extent, capability building, program monitoring, sustainability mechanisms, and program evaluation were less implemented. Respondents generally perceived the program as moderately beneficial and reported that implementation-related problems were less serious.

Ana Tereza Souza Domingos, Carolina Oliveira Mesquita, Emiliano Lôbo de Godoi, Thiago Augusto Mendes · Laws · Brazil

This bibliographical and documentary research analyzed the effectiveness of public food security policies in Brazil between 2012 and 2022, also considering urban agriculture as an alternative. It concluded that public policies were gradually weakened, and from 2019 to 2022, the Brazilian government discouraged food policy implementation. Consequently, Brazil faces food insecurity and hunger due to disjointed policies, the pandemic, and an economic crisis.

Juan Camilo Ochoa Céspedes · Entorno Geográfico · Colombia (Medellín)

This paper critically analyzes peri-urban and peri-urban agriculture, addressing problems of territorial tension resulting from the accelerated expansion of real estate into peri-urban areas due to low urban land availability. The discussion questions the economic, environmental, and social risks of this expansion, highlighting tensions and resistance. The paper illustrates these issues with examples from the peri-urban area of Medellín and its metropolitan area.

Michael G. Parkes, Rebekah O’Rourke, Tiago Domingos, Ricardo F. M. Teixeira · Sustainability · Europe

An experimental indoor vertical farm urban-agriculture project involving 27 stakeholder groups was set up in a university building in Lisbon, Portugal in 2018 and closed in 2022; this study analyzed the governance dimension of the project's sustainability using role-constellation mapping of the stakeholder groups and force-field analysis across seven governance factors to understand why the project did not continue. It found that despite early positive outcomes across environmental, social and economic dimensions, the project failed to establish a network of stakeholders consistently engaged in governance from the outset, and that inadequate project culture and a lack of critical governance factors led to a failure to convey a sense of ownership to stakeholders, contributing to the project's closure.

Luiza Vigne Bennedetti, Paulo Antônio de Almeida Sinisgalli, Maurí­cio Lamano Ferreira, Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global

Following the PRISMA protocol, a 2023 systematic review evaluated 26 studies on the interplay between urban agriculture (UA) and sustainability surveyed on Web of Science. While UA is increasingly recognized as an action to promote urban sustainability and inform public health policy for urban populations, the review confirms that its implementation still presents challenges in countries across both the Global North and Global South. The review identified numerous key challenges to UA adoption, including air and soil contamination, availability of green areas, layout of urban infrastructure, and food distribution, among others. Given the many socio-economic and environmental contextual factors involved — especially when comparing Global North and Global South realities — the review concludes there is a need to develop a model adaptable to these different contexts. It further concludes that the concept of sustainability lacks a universal understanding, and that one of the most important remaining gaps is addressing social issues in relation to environmental ones.

Mahir Yazar, Ece Baykal Fide, İrem Daloğlu Çetinkaya · Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning · Turkey

A 2023 study of climate policies in nine cities in Turkey examined how vulnerable groups and individuals are identified and how land-use policy is developed to address the identified vulnerabilities and climate justice concerns, using policy content analysis and expert interviews. The analysis found critical relationships between identified vulnerable groups, responsive land-use policy and climate justice. While social-aid municipalism-related vulnerabilities dominated districts' climate policies, nature-based solutions (NBS) — especially green infrastructure and urban agriculture — emerged as the dominant climate adaptation approach. However, the way urban vulnerabilities are prioritized in the climate and sustainability plans places less emphasis on intersectionality and infrastructure-related vulnerabilities, and tokenism of justice occurs in the policy documents: the plans do not incorporate vulnerable communities into land-use planning. The study concludes that the complexity of responsive land-use policy requires greater awareness of how to practically support vulnerable communities.

Jesús Sanz Abad, Sara Sama Acedo, Gaël Carrero Gros · · Spain

Case studies of two cooperative enterprises (in finance and forestry) and one new urban commons — community gardens in Madrid — all located in Spain, were analyzed using ethnographic methods within the field of solidarity economy and commons. The analysis found tensions between the initiatives' economically and politically "transformative" aspirations and the reality of operating in a market-driven capitalist environment, alliances and tensions arising from interactions with established institutions, and dilemmas or conflicts between maintaining ideological coherence and extending the initiatives' social base.

Habtamu Serbessa, Teferee Mekonnen, Meskerem Abi · Journal of Developing Country Studies · Ethiopia

A questionnaire survey and focus group discussions with small-scale vegetable producers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia used probability sampling, descriptive statistics, correlation and multinomial logistic regression, plus SWOT and force field analysis. Producers held positive perceptions of vegetable production and most intended to continue, but limited access to land, pests and diseases, and water shortages were identified as the main challenges. Regression results showed land size, gender, age and housing type as the most significant factors determining vegetable production.

Nancy Harlet Esquivel-Marín, Leticia Myriam Sagarnaga Villegas, Octavio T. Barrera-Perales, Juan Antonio Lugo Machado, José María Salas González · Acta Universitatis Sapientiae Agriculture and Environment · Europe

This bibliometric review analyzes the systemic structure of multifunctional agriculture (MFA) and its relationship to sustainability, based on a sample of 432 documents published on the Web of Science platform. Using Bibliometrix and VOSviewer to map scientific collaboration networks, the review identified the authors, journals, and countries shaping the current knowledge structure and four thematic clusters: (a) MFA and sustainability, (b) ecosystem services and biodiversity, (c) European public policies, and (d) governance and urban agriculture. It concludes that, despite an increase in publication rates, research remains concentrated in Europe with few collaborative networks across disciplines, indicating that SDG 17 (partnerships) is not being achieved.

Cole Rosengren · Waste Dive · United States

California's Little Hoover Commission recommended pausing SB 1383, the state's organics recycling law, citing concern the state will miss its 2025 targets, but CalRecycle, industry and environmental advocates strongly opposed the pause, noting roughly $500 million already invested. 445 of 614 jurisdictions now have residential food-waste collection programs, and waste costs rose 20% for residential and 30% for commercial customers.

Joshua Newell, Alec Foster, Mariel Borgman, Sara Meerow · Cities · United States (Detroit)

A study in Detroit's Lower Eastside (~15 sq. miles) examined the spatial extent, characteristics, and residents' perceptions of urban gardens using spatial analysis and interviews. Gardens covered less than 1% of vacant land and were often ephemeral. Primary obstacles to scaling up urban agriculture in Detroit include uncertainty over land tenure, environmental pollutants, potential ecosystem disservices, and a lack of government support and capital investment.

Andrea Fantini · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Global

This paper analyzes the functions of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) as a strategy for sustainable and resilient urban food systems and for coping with global emergencies. It identifies various functions of UPA and how they connect, but also discusses obstacles to its large-scale implementation. The paper highlights that despite its potential, significant barriers hinder UPA's widespread adoption.

Amy Lawton, Nicky Morrison · Land Use Policy · Australia (Greater Western Sydney)

This study examines the drivers of peri-urban agricultural land loss in Greater Western Sydney, Australia, with a focus on the role of government agencies. It found that competing housing priorities and private market interests continue to take precedence over protecting agricultural land. The research indicates that this trend will persist unless the current pro-urbanization narrative and associated political priorities are altered.

Janet Music, Lisa Mullins, Sylvain Charlebois, Charlotte Large, Kydra Mayhew · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · Canada

This study compared 19 municipal urban home food gardening programs in Canada in 2020, which provided free gardening supplies and instructions. It found a complicated relationship between municipalities, gardening programs, and food security, and determined that gardening somewhat alleviated social and emotional challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, municipalities are limited in their policy capacities to adequately address food insecurity in Canada.

Betty Mntambo · Huria Journal of the Open University of Tanzania · Tanzania (Morogoro Municipality)

This study examined land tenure security in urban agriculture among 69 male and female vegetable farmers in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania, using snowball sampling and a cross-sectional design. Findings revealed that farmers access land informally by renting from legal landowners, with social relationships determining tenure security. Land tenure insecurity negatively affects vegetable cultivation and generates uncertainty and animosity between farmers and landlords.

Ayobami Abayomi Popoola, Bolanle Wahab, Hangwelani Hope Magidimisha, Lovemore Chipungu · CSID Journal of Infrastructure Development · Nigeria (Ibadan)

This mixed-methods study in Ibadan, Nigeria, surveyed 236 urban farmers across five local government areas to determine patterns of integrating urban farming into city infrastructure development. Findings indicated that old age limited farmers' travel distance and farm produce theft was detected, highlighting challenges in current urban farming practices and infrastructure.

Tomasz B. Falkowski, Bethany Jorgensen, Donald A. Rakow, Ashmita Das, Stewart A.W. Diemont, Theresa Selfa, Austin B. Arrington · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States

A study in four New York cities analyzed the benefits and challenges of community gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic through surveys and semi-structured interviews with community gardeners. Gardeners experienced benefits such as connection, mental and physical well-being, and a safe refuge, but the biggest challenge was limited socializing due to personal behavioral changes and garden rules. This research suggests that while community gardens can be resilient sites of reprieve during crises, the pandemic also exposed their vulnerabilities.

Rosangela Hespanhol, Antônio Nivaldo Hespanhol · Revista de Tecnologia & Gestão Sustentável · Brazil

A case study of urban agriculture in Álvares Machado, Brazil, identified challenges including difficulties in accessing land and water for irrigation, the absence of official technical assistance services, and a lack of public policies at national, state, and municipal levels. Despite these difficulties, urban farmers are responsible for a significant portion of leafy greens and legumes production, establishing direct relationships between producers and consumers through markets and street stalls.

Jelena Živanović Miljković, Vesna Popović, Aleksandra Gajić · Land · Serbia (Novi Sad)

A study conducted in Futog, Novi Sad, Serbia, investigated land take (LT) processes and challenges for urban agriculture, focusing on the role and implications of land use planning. Quantifying LT for 2000–2018 using CORINE Land Cover and Urban Atlas datasets revealed that a significant portion of agricultural land in Futog, registered as a Geographical Indication (GI) for Futog cabbage, was planned for conversion into construction land. The study concluded that current land use planning in Serbia is inadequate to ensure the protection of either urban agriculture or GIs.

Asa Roast · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · China

An ethnographic study in Chongqing, Southwest China, examined informal peri-urban agriculture on undeveloped land created by state-led expansion since the early 2000s. This "empty land" is informally used by displaced peasants and migrant workers for agriculture. The study reveals that these spaces are ambiguously positioned outside urban governance and are under threat of rapid enclosure within urban accumulation regimes.

Emily A. Holmes, Mary F. Campbell, Ryan Betz · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States

This study used the concept of food sovereignty to assess the level of local control over food production, distribution, and consumption in the Mississippi Delta. Research involved site visits, participant observation, focus groups, and surveys of communities affiliated with the Delta EATS public school garden program. Findings demonstrated low levels of food sovereignty, though high levels of agency and ingenuity in accessing desired foods were observed.

Ana Clara Aparecida Alves de Souza, Fernando Dias Lopes · Cadernos EBAPE BR · Brazil (Porto Alegre)

This article analyzes an urban collective garden, Horta da Formiga, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, through a two-year participatory investigation using Pierre Bourdieu’s framework. The study found that the more protagonists of Horta da Formiga align with capitals considered legitimate by the state, the more they can reconcile contradictions in this field. However, despite individual agency, participants face structured conditions that do not allow for more organic and diverse forms of contradiction reconciliation.

Elias Danyi Kuusaana, Isaac Ayurienga, Joyce A. Eledi Kuusaana, Joseph Kwaku Kidido, Ibrahim Abu Abdulai · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Ghana (Bolgatanga)

A study in Bolgatanga Township, Ghana, used field surveys, key informant interviews, and GIS mapping to examine urban agricultural practices. It found that agricultural lands significantly decreased in size and contiguity since 1996 due to urban sprawl, forcing farmers to use segregated plots and undeveloped residential areas which are easily lost to development. The study concluded that urbanization exacerbates food production challenges without policies to protect agricultural lands.

Norma Wong, Marte C. W. Solheim · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · Norway

This case study details Tugushan Alp's entrepreneurial journey in Norway, where he pioneered hydroponic lettuce production in a bomb shelter. Alp faced multiple hurdles, including battling regulatory bodies for a legal premise. Despite these challenges, he achieved success and recognition for his innovative urban farming method.

Umar Usman Jimoh, Kolade Victor Otokiti · South African Journal of Geomatics · Nigeria

This study in Ibadan, Nigeria, examined the effect of poorly controlled physical development on urban food production using a longitudinal survey and geographical/remote sensing methods. It revealed that Ibadan's urban area expanded significantly from 70.3584 ha in 1986 to 411.8877 ha in 2019, leading to the loss of agricultural land, depletion of water bodies, and agricultural land conversion. This expansion negatively impacted urban food production.