Research & reports

ELIZABETE CRISTINA RIBEIRO SILVA JARDIM · Editora Realize eBooks · Brazil

This research analyzed Brazilian school garden experiences across three document sets, identifying procedures and resources incongruent with stated counter-hegemonic objectives. The study found structural inadequacies for the school space and omissions regarding the protection and safety of farmers and students during activities. It recommends adjustments to location, spatial organization, and material resources for school gardens to ensure the health of food producers.

Sarah E. Coffey, John F. Munsell, Rico Hübner, Curtis R. Friedel · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Virginia)

A survey of 68 mayors (39% response rate) in Virginia, US, from communities under 25,000 population, investigated public food forest initiatives. Mayors identified long-term maintenance as the greatest barrier and noted that 78% of municipalities lack land use codes for food-producing trees and shrubs. While nearly 70% reported some public land food production, only one-fifth included food-producing trees. Mayors emphasized sociocultural programs and education over food access as the most compelling aspect.

Magdalena Szczepańska, Ewa Kacprzak, Barbara Maćkiewicz, Lidia Poniży · Moravian Geographical Reports · Germany; Poland

A comparative study analyzed the use and development of allotment gardens (AGs) in Westphalia and Lippe (Germany) and Wielkopolska (Poland). AGs in Westphalia and Lippe are accessible and harmoniously integrated into the landscape, while AGs in Wielkopolska are less accessible, prioritize internal users, and do not always blend with their surroundings. The considerable freedom enjoyed by Polish plot-holders leads to a gradual marginalization of edible-plant growing.

Ana Poštek, Ivica Kisić, Marija Cerjak, Luka Brezinščak · Journal of Central European Agriculture · Croatia

This paper analyzes various social aspects of urban agriculture and presents examples from Croatia where social benefits are the primary purpose. Urban agriculture can have social effects such as fostering activism, gender equality, social cohesion and inclusion, education, and cultural heritage preservation. However, policymakers struggle to implement urban agriculture within city planning.

Subeen Jang · The Korea Association of Yeolin Education · South Korea (Seoul)

This study analyzed the implementation process of the School Farm Program in Seoul, South Korea, through a literature review. The analysis found that there was a risk of the policy's focus deviating from school and educational issues, as multiple policymakers pursued diverse economic and social goals using school farms. Additionally, policy effects at the target level could differ from policymaker goals depending on each school's context, and interaction among policy implementers and various interest groups like civic organizations, experts, and media was insufficient.

Ramón Antonio Mosquera Mena, Yolvi Prada Millán · Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia eBooks · Colombia

Urban and peri-urban agriculture in Colombia offers benefits such as alleviating food insecurity and creating jobs, but currently lacks government policies to support these processes. This paper contextualizes relevant experiences and technical tools for implementing agroecological orchards, emphasizing environmental and social sensitivity. It also notes that agricultural research in Colombia is still emerging, requiring more applied research for technological development to benefit communities and farmers.

Rafael Carvalho Machado, Sieglinde Kindl Da Cunha · Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy · Brazil (Curitiba)

This study investigated Curitiba, Brazil's Urban Agriculture Program (UAP) and its decentralized composting strategy, which aimed to close the agricultural loop within city bounds. Despite training 24 urban farmer communities in composting techniques, the program was unable to achieve this goal. The research, based on secondary data review, interviews, and participatory observation, identified cultural barriers and conflicts among actor roles within the UAP that hindered the adoption of composting practices.

Margareth Margareth, Oekan S. Abdoellah, Martha Fani Cahyandito, Kinanti Indah Safitri · Prosiding Seminar Nasional Fakultas Pertanian UNS · Indonesia (Bandung)

This qualitative study examines the implementation of urban farming in Bandung City, Indonesia, from a political ecology perspective, focusing on market, service, and institutional interactions, and product marketing chains. The research identifies policy failures, where city government agricultural policies were insufficient to meet residents' food needs, necessitating top-down urban farming innovations. It also notes market failures due to public dissatisfaction with available products, driving bottom-up urban farming initiatives by independent organizations. Funding sources and operational cost efficiency strategies differ between government-led and independent urban farming efforts.

Per-Anders Langendahl · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Global

This paper investigates the politics of smart farming expectations in urban environments, conducting exploratory case study research on early smart farming initiatives in Sweden. It explores the politics of knowledge claims at the project level and their performativity in envisioning more sustainable urban futures. The findings suggest that smart farming at the level of individual projects gives the appearance of change, but at the same time, it produces more of the same.

Damian Maye, Paul Swagemakers, J.S.C. Wiskerke, Heidrun Moschitz, James Kirwan, Ingrid Jahrl · European Urban and Regional Studies · Europe

This study utilized the 'sustainable innovation journeys' concept to trace urban food initiatives in Rotterdam (Netherlands), Vigo (Spain), and Zurich (Switzerland) over a six-year period from 2013 to 2018. While micro-level innovation practices can induce sustainability shifts, particularly when aligned with policy interests, the study also observed potentially negative impacts due to a lack of alignment at the initiative or city-region levels.

Camila Garcia Fernandes de Souza Margem, Néliton Marques da Sílva · Cadernos Metrópole · Brazil (Manaus)

This article analyzed the feasibility of implementing urban agriculture (UA) on idle land within the Tarumã – Ponta Negra Environmental Protection Area in Manaus, Brazil, as a tool for territorial governance and urban planning. Semi-structured interviews and card sorting techniques were applied to the target population. The study found that the use of idle land for UA is not envisioned as a territorial governance instrument, a situation exacerbated by municipal authorities hindering the legitimization of bills for such land use.

Pastory Salvatory Thomas, Wilbard Kombe, Aldo Lupala · Urban and Regional Planning · Tanzania

This qualitative study examined perceptions of urban agriculture among 60 urban farmers and officials in Arusha City, Tanzania, through interviews, observation, and literature review. Findings revealed that negative effects of urban agricultural activities influenced negative perceptions, which city officials seldom managed. While urban agriculture is acknowledged in policy, the critical effects of negative perceptions among stakeholders are considered less crucial in policy implications and formal governmental proclamations, despite their real-world impact.

Perla Zambrano-Prado, Francesco Orsini, Joan Rieradevall, Alejandro Josa, Xavier Gabarrell · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Europe

A study developing a framework and overview of key factors, policies, and barriers associated with rooftop urban agriculture (RUA) integration, based on stakeholder perspectives in four European cities—Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, and Paris—via a two-phase workshop and stakeholder survey. While education, environmental, research, technological innovation, food production, and social factors were found to play an important role in implementing RUA, the cost of water and pollution emerged as major contextual factors constraining it. Policies related to food trade and urban planning were the most limiting to RUA development, and major architectural and technical barriers were identified around building height limits, historical buildings, lack of specific building codes, and roof accessibility, with high infrastructure costs and policies prohibiting RUA product sales acting as economic constraints. The cities differed significantly in the perceived effect of urban policy on RUA diffusion and the perceived relevance of economic and pollution factors, and the study concludes that wider dissemination of RUA information and new or revised regulations and building codes are needed.

Samuel Ziem Bonye, Gordon Yenglier Yiridomoh, Emmanuel Kanchebe Derbile · International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development · Africa

A mixed-methods study in Wa Municipality, Ghana, examined how peri-urban agricultural land use change affected farmers' food security, surveying 235 smallholder farmers with questionnaires, interviews and GIS-based historical data. Over the past three decades, peri-urban agricultural land was drastically lost to residential and infrastructural development, and this land use change resulted in food insecurity, with most smallholder farmers unable to meet their food needs over the past decade.

Paola Branduini, Elena Colli · Landscape Research · Italy

A qualitative sociological analysis examined a policy tool used by public landowners in peri-urban Milan, Italy, who introduced new lease agreements transferring the maintenance costs of built rural heritage to tenants, aiming to avoid degradation and add value to unused buildings. Analyzing the tool through the lens of social justice and its impact on quality of life, the study found that the same policy tool produces very different outcomes for landscape preservation and quality of life depending on the implementation strategy used, and on the elements of social justice considered along with contextual and individual characteristics.

Kevin Bolduc · The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) · United States

A blog post published on 10 November 2021 by the US grant-assessment body CEP. Grantees spend roughly 8 hours a year on reporting for a typical grant and often more than 30 hours across a grant's life, yet only about 60 per cent get to discuss the report they submitted with their funder. Around 70 per cent of nonprofits said funders relaxed or cancelled reporting requirements during COVID. The author argues that unless foundations genuinely engage with what is submitted and discuss it with grantees, reporting requirements should be eliminated or drastically reduced.

Laura Wynne, Laure‐Elise Ruoso, Dana Cordell, Brent Jacobs · Australian Geographer · Australia (Sydney)

This paper investigates metropolitan-level strategic planning documents in Sydney, Australia, using a Foucauldian governmentality approach, to understand how they relate to peri-urban agriculture. The analysis reveals that prevailing rationalities, including the global city, compact city, and sustainability agenda, frame the urbanization of peri-urban agricultural lands as necessary and inevitable. Consequently, peri-urban areas are not considered to have unique planning needs but are instead imagined as latent spaces for future housing and job development, integrating agriculture only when it aligns with the 'global city' narrative.

Elizelle Juaneé Cilliers, Louis Lategan, Sarel S. Cilliers, Karla Stander · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · South Africa

This paper investigates urban agriculture (UA) in South Africa as a citizen-led urban greening strategy, reviewing case studies and the national policy framework. Key limitations include many UA initiatives not being self-sustaining or fully citizen-driven, a cultural stigma, limited national support due to the absence of a dedicated UA policy, and South African spatial planners' limited knowledge of UA. These issues hinder the broader implementation of UA.

Phoebe Lickwar, Roxi Thoren · · Denmark

The Nærum Allotment Gardens in Denmark are publicly owned and privately leased and managed. A national Allotment Garden Association provides gardeners with a forum to counter the inherent vulnerability of these allotments to land use change. This structure indicates a persistent vulnerability of the gardens to changes in land use.

Larissa Maas, Rosane Malvestiti, Leila Amaral Gontijo · Cadernos de Saúde Pública · Brazil

This study assessed the main difficulties faced by seven urban organic farmers in two Brazilian cities without policies encouraging urban farming, through semi-structured interviews conducted from July to December 2018. The research revealed challenges such as a lack of trained labor, inadequate machinery and equipment for small areas, and insufficient financing, indicating that the absence of policies hinders the development of urban organic farming.

Harry Kasumba, M. Mashologu, Patrick W Bwowe · · South Africa

An investigation into the sustainability of school food gardens in Chris Hani District, South Africa, used a mixed-methods approach with a purposive sample of six schools. Findings revealed significant bottlenecks hindering sustainability, specifically inadequate funding and a lack of proper planning for school food gardening activities.

Françoise Jarrige, Cyril Mumenthaler, Joëlle Salomon Cavin · IRIS · Switzerland (Lausanne)

This chapter described and analyzed the implementation of a new agricultural project on a domain in Lausanne, Switzerland. The innovative process was built through confrontation between stakeholder strategies, with negotiations and adjustments. It appeared that powerful economic and legal constraints limited some expected innovations, particularly regarding land contracts. Ultimately, the anticipated multifunctional agricultural project was implemented through three coordinated structures: an association, a cooperative, and an agricultural enterprise.

Sulistiya Sulistiya · Jurnal Pertanian Agros · Indonesia

This qualitative study in Indonesia investigated citizen participation in community-based urban agriculture, finding that while overall participation was high, the decision-making stage showed the lowest level of engagement. Most citizens had low group experience and had lived in their housing for less than 30 years. Age, education, income, and family burden were not significantly related to participation, but group experience, length of stay, activity methods, and service quality were significant factors.

Tony Ngwenya, Pfano Mashau · Problems and Perspectives in Management · South Africa (Durban)

This study investigated institutional support for youth-owned Small, Medium, and Micro-Enterprises (SMMEs) in Durban's urban agribusiness sector using a quantitative methodology. Findings indicated that CSR interventions had not yielded a fundamental impact, and there was a lack of tangible, result-driven institutional support from policymakers and authorities. Furthermore, targeted technological transfer was a constraining factor, and a lack of monetary and non-monetary access hampered the SMMEs' competitiveness and profitability.

Mulugeta Chane Wube · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Ethiopia

A descriptive study analyzed the effect of industry extension service packages on the performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Dessie, South Wollo, and Oromia Special zones, Ethiopia, sampling 248 out of 646 MSEs. The analysis revealed that industry extension services provided by TVET trainers were inadequate across all four dimensions: technical, technology, Kaizen, and entrepreneurship. The overall performance of the surveyed MSEs was found to be very low, concluding that the provided extension services were insufficient in improving their performance.