Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
715 results(16 / 29)
Motivation and satisfaction of volunteers for community‐based urban agriculture programmes
2019Leelanayagi Ramalingam, Juwaidah Sharifuddin, Zainal Abidin Mohamed, Fazlin Ali · International Social Science Journal · Malaysia (Klang Valley)
This study analyzed data from 375 volunteers in Community-based Urban Agriculture Programmes in Klang Valley, Malaysia, to determine the relationship between motivation and satisfaction. It found that volunteer satisfaction was primarily influenced by external factors like campaigns, support groups, extension departments, community, and government policy, followed by love of farming, social referents, and values. The program faces problems in attracting and retaining enough volunteers, indicating a governance challenge for sustainability.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsWild Leaves on Narrow STEMs: Exploring Formal and Non-Formal Education Tensions Through Garden-Based Learning
2019Sarah E. Cramer, Anna Ball · Journal of Agricultural Education · United States
This qualitative case study in the United States examined a school garden program transitioning from non-profit to public school district control, conceptualizing this as a shift from a non-formal to a formal education paradigm. The research explored tensions between constructivist, non-formal educational philosophies and standardized, formal education within school garden settings. The findings indicate challenges in integrating non-formal learning into formal public education structures, arguing for broader legitimation of garden-based learning in curriculum.
Governance failureFood educationCommunityPolicyDiseño de una estrategia como alternativa para incrementar e incentivar el uso de la Agricultura Urbana
2019Arantza Elena Sanchez Gutierrez · · Mexico
In Querétaro Municipality, Mexico, a strategy was designed and implemented to increase and incentivize the use of urban agriculture. Previous strategies implemented in Mexico had resulted in low participation and abandonment of practice due due to low interest from inhabitants and a lack of will to follow through on plans. This qualitative research analyzed the causes of these failures using User-Centered Design tools and Design Thinking. Findings showed that a "strategy of appropriation," emphasizing a sense of belonging, well-being, and commitment, resulted in an increase in this variable, which influences the abandonment of agricultural practices.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsDiagnostic Agronomique de la Riziculture Périurbaine dans la Commune de Ziguinchor au Sénégal
2019Maurice Dasylva, Ngor Ndour, Bienvenu Sambou, Sara Danielle Dieng · European Scientific Journal ESJ · Senegal (Ziguinchor)
In Ziguinchor, Senegal, the peri-urban rice farming system contributes to food security but is ignored by decision-makers and suffers from urbanization and physicochemical changes in rice field soils. An agronomic diagnosis, based on 180 yield squares (1/4m side) installed in 4 peri-urban valleys, showed average yields of 4.79 ± 0.35 t.ha-1. However, urbanization, silting, acidification, and progressive salinization of soils are the main limiting factors for this production system.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyPotencialidades da produção de alimentos nas cidades: experiências de agricultura urbana no município de Pirapozinho – São Paulo
2019Daiara Batista Mendes · Geografia em Atos (Online) · Brazil (Pirapozinho)
This article identifies the potentialities of urban agriculture in Pirapozinho, São Paulo, focusing on food and economic use. Based on field research and interviews, the study found that urban agriculture provides quick access to quality products and fosters close farmer-consumer links. However, it also found that urban agricultural practices have not received due governmental attention at national or local scales, despite their potential.
Governance failureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicy“Plant Some Plants, Plant Some Hope, Plant Some Future”. Urban Gardening at Lingnan University of Hong Kong: An Interview with Prof. Kin-Chi Lau
2019Rainer Einzenberger, Michaela Hochmuth · Digital Commons - Lingnan (Lingnan University) · China (Hong Kong)
An interview with Professor Kin-Chi Lau was conducted in March 2015 regarding the Urban Gardening Project at Lingnan University of Hong Kong. The interview portrayed the project's history, structures, and organizational characteristics, focusing on the challenges and difficulties participants faced in realizing the project.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyFood educationPower-shifts in the organizational landscapes of transport provision
2019Nadine Appelhans, Sabine Baumgart · · Morocco
An analysis of documents related to planning and agriculture and interviews with experts in Morocco indicated that urban and rural issues were treated as separate areas. Urban development affects daily travel distances as urban expansion changes distances between cultivated land and dwelling places. Data from Morocco show a lack of serious support for urban agriculture and animal husbandry in expanding urban agglomerations.
Governance failureEconomicsUrban–rural linkagePolicyCommunity<b>Users' Behaviors and Evaluations of Allotment Gardens</b>
2019Meng YE, Tomohiko Yoshida · Urban and Regional Planning Review · China (Beijing)
This study examined user evaluations of allotment gardens in Beijing, China, where demand is rising. The overall evaluation was between good and general, with high marks for landscape and facilities but low marks for service, guidance, agricultural festival activities, rent, sanitary facilities, and skilled labor. The consortium operation mode received the best evaluation, while the individual mode had the lowest.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsPolicyHealthHow Will We Eat and Produce in the Cities of the Future? From Edible Insects to Vertical Farming—A Study on the Perception and Acceptability of New Approaches
2019Kathrin Specht, Felix Zoll, Henrike Schümann, Julia Bela, Julia Kachel, Marcel Robischon · Sustainability · Global
Nineteen qualitative expert interviews were conducted to identify perceptions of sustainability, social acceptability, and ethical aspects of new urban food production approaches. While major perceived benefits included educational effects and efficient resource use, significant conflicts involved negative side-effects, legal constraints, and high investment costs. Acceptance barriers were largely tied to the "unknown," encompassing a lack of understanding of new approaches, uncertainty about benefits, health risk concerns, unfamiliarity with products, and ethical doubts about animal welfare. The study concluded that adapting the unsuitable regulatory framework, which discourages investors, is a crucial first step to foster dissemination of urban food production approaches.
Governance failureDigital agricultureEconomicsPolicyFood educationMapping and Characterizing the Green Belt of Córdoba: Land Dynamics and the Urban-Rural Transformation Process
2019Nicolás A. Mari, Nicolás A. Mari, Beatriz Giobellina, Beatriz Giobellina, Alejandro Benítez, Alejandro Benítez, Victoria Marinelli, Victoria Marinelli, Victoria Marinelli · Journal of Agronomy Research · Argentina (Córdoba)
A study mapped and quantified urban growth and land use in Córdoba, Argentina's Green Belt. Using remote sensing and GIS, it evaluated urban growth between 1974 and 2014 and land use in peri-urban and rural areas in 2015. The study revealed a 46.5% urban area growth over nearly 40 years, alongside an increase in farm plot size, indicating land ownership concentration and a reduced number of producers. This transformation highlights a conflict between peri-urban horticulture, industrial agriculture, and urban development.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkagePolicyBiodiversityThe ‘fluid governance’ of urban public spaces. Insights from informal planning practices in Rome
2019Chiara Certomà, Lorenzo Chelleri, Bruno Notteboom · Urban Studies · Italy (Rome)
This paper investigates informal planning practices and "fluid governance" in urban public spaces, using the case of Parco delle Energie in Rome, Italy, and a comparative analysis of international cases. It found that politically progressive urban gardening challenges traditional governance networks and redefines public space functioning by transforming green spaces into food production and collaboratively managed areas through informal planning. This demonstrates that urban gardening worldwide challenges traditional planning perspectives and governance, turning citizens' dissensus into a productive force.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Agriculture in shared spaces: The difficulties with collaboration in an age of austerity
2019Rebecca St. Clair, Michael Hardman, Richard Armitage, Graeme Sherriff · Urban Studies · United Kingdom (Manchester)
This study, conducted in Wythenshawe, Manchester, UK, highlights the difficulties of collaboration among organizations in a lottery-funded urban agriculture project. Due to local authority cutbacks and a lack of funding, community groups and charitable organizations compete for space and resources, leading to a "siege mentality" where organizational self-preservation takes precedence over cooperation. This paradoxically results in groups with similar goals working against each other instead of collaborating.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsAsesoría para la conformación de una fundación de agricultura urbana
2019Wendy Johanna Murcia Gulumá, Óscar Andrés Pérez Soler, Sindy Rodríguez Rodríguez · · Colombia (Bogotá)
This study provided advisory support to an urban garden in Bogotá, Colombia, named "Guerreros y Guerreras Unidos en Accion," which had been operating empirically since 2005 without formal legal status or strategic planning. The garden, primarily involving individuals over 50 without formal employment, sought to formalize its activities by establishing a foundation. The intervention aimed to guide the garden's members through the legal and administrative steps for formalization.
Governance failureCommunityWelfareOrganic cyclePolicyHow the municipality of Quito supports vulnerable city dwellers through urban agriculture
2019Alexandra Rodríguez Dueñas · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Ecuador (Quito)
Quito’s Participatory Urban Agriculture Project (AGRUPAR), launched in 2002, supports vulnerable populations by providing technical assistance, capacity building, and microcredit for urban farming, aiming for food security and employment. While integrated into local government and recognized with the Future Policy Silver Award 2018, the program faces significant challenges including administrative changes, budget cuts, and restrictive land-use legislation.
Governance failurePolicyWelfareCommunityEconomicsThe challenges of deploying urban agriculture
2019Mathilde Martin-Moreau, David Ménascé · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · Global
The deployment of urban agriculture relies on initiatives from companies, startups, and non-profit organizations, alongside support from public authorities, especially local governments. Challenges include the need to raise consumer awareness of new production methods and to train urban farmers for quality supply chains. The abstract indicates that commitment from local stakeholders is crucial for scaling up urban agriculture projects.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsCommunityFood educationSocio-political dynamics of alternative food networks: a hybrid governance approach
2019Alessandra Manganelli, Pieter Van den Broeck, Frank Moulaert · Territory Politics Governance · Global
This theoretical paper points out that Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) encounter governance challenges stemming from organizational growth pains, the search for cultivable land, and confrontation with urban planning policy and state structures that have a low affinity with urban agriculture. As AFNs develop, various governance tensions arise both within their organization and in their institutionalization processes. The paper redefines hybrid governance to elucidate these dynamics, suggesting that existing agro-food literature insufficiently addresses the complexity of AFNs' governance.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceKent Hakkı ve Katılımcılık Bağlamında Kendin Yap Kentleşme: Roma Bostanı Örneği
2019gökçe öcal · Journal of Planning · Turkey (Istanbul)
This study focuses on the Roma Garden, one of Istanbul's last remaining urban gardens, within the context of "DIY urbanism." In Istanbul, historical gardens are threatened by municipal policies favoring urban development, leading to the formation of "DIY" urban gardens on public land since 2013. These gardens operate without legal ties to the local state, and the destruction of urban public space over the last decade is noted as having paved the way for DIY public gardens as spaces of solidarity and shared knowledge.
Governance failureDIYCommunityPolicyBiodiversityUrban family agriculture
2019Annelise Caetano Fraga Fernandez, Almir Cezar Baptista Filho · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
This article describes the obstacles to implementing public policy for family agriculture in urban areas of Brazil. Representations associated with rural-agricultural concepts have shaped the classification criteria of rural technical assistance technicians, limiting the policy's application in urban settings. Social movements in Rio de Janeiro highlighted the lack of access for urban family farmers to agrarian policies, leading to the recognition of urban family agriculture as a public problem.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityUrban–rural linkageMaterial and social relations in a coastal community garden assemblage
2019Lindsay K. Campbell, Erika S. Svendsen, Renae Reynolds, Victoria Marshall · Social & Cultural Geography · United States (Rockaway, NY)
This study used Actor Network Theory to explore the material and social dynamics of a coastal community garden on public housing grounds in Rockaway, NY, after Hurricane Sandy. Three assemblages with different governance arrangements—tidal shore, garden plots, and treed lawn—were identified. However, "unruly" actors and actants, including people, saltwater, poison ivy, dogs, and trash, were found to spark controversy and resist governing.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyBiodiversityClimate changeUrban soil management of marginalized lands: recognizant of history
2019Nicolette Tamara Jonkman, Boris Jansen · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability · Sub-Saharan Africa
This literature review on urban agriculture (UA) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) identifies a significant constraint: conflicting stakeholder perceptions of UA, which hinders its development into a sustainable business. Some view UA as illegal and unsustainable, while others see it as a means to food security and employment. The review highlights a knowledge gap regarding land-use history and its effect on UA soil composition and nutrient status, proposing that UA sustainability requires understanding this historical context to build inclusive business models.
Governance failureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyPengendalian Alih Fungsi Lahan Sawah sebagai Upaya Pemenuhan Ruang Terbuka Hijau Kota (RTHK) di Kota Denpasar
2019I Gusti Agung Adi Wiraguna, Ngakan Putu Sueca, I Made Adhika · RUANG-SPACE Jurnal Lingkungan Binaan (Space Journal of the Built Environment) · Indonesia (Denpasar)
This mixed-method study in Denpasar, Indonesia, investigated factors driving the conversion of urban agricultural land, primarily rice paddy fields. Despite a local government requirement for 30% urban open space, statistical data showed an average annual decrease of 31.86 hectares of farming land, from 2,632 hectares in 2010 to 2,409 hectares in 2017. The study revealed that various parties, including the government, community, private sector, and social institutions, play important roles in directing this land conversion.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsCommunityLa agricultura en los periurbanos de Buenos Aires (Argentina) y Santiago (Chile): Territorios en transición
2019María Carolina Feito, Sofía Boza, Santiago Peredo · Repositorio Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (Universidad de Buenos Aires) · Argentina
This study focused on the reality of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (AUPU) in Latin America, comparing cases in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area and the Santiago Metropolitan Region. Both cities form complex territories strongly related to their periphery, but the debate regarding AUPU's future development model remains open, reflected in contradictions even in public policies. The strong link between family farming and AUPU further complicates the situation due to the intrinsic limitations of family farming.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsPolish Urban Allotment Gardens as ‘Slow City’ Enclaves
2019Robert Bartłomiejski, Maciej Kowalewski · Sustainability · Poland
This article discusses Polish urban allotment gardens (UAGs) as an alternative urban development framework, "Slow City." It notes that increasing problems of soil pollution, abandoned gardens, informal housing, and limitation of access to UAG green areas for other inhabitants reinforce the pressure to reduce the number of UAGs.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyClimate changeLa cara oculta de la seguridad alimentaria - Estudio de caso del sur del Estado de Jalisco, Occidente de México
2019Peter R. W. Gerritsen, Víctor Sanchez Bernal, Georgina Torres Rodríguez · Brazilian Journal of Development · Mexico
This study analyzed food security in two medium-sized cities in Western Mexico using secondary data and field research. It found that while these highly globalized cities had a low degree of food security, extensive domestic backyard agricultural activities significantly raised family-level food security. A critical finding is that this potential for urban food security is not valued by governmental institutions.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageHow to Transition from Cooperations to Cooperatives: A Case Study of the Factors Impacting the Organization of Urban Gardeners in Benin
2019Mawuna Donald Houessou, B.G.J.S. Sonneveld, Augustin K. N. Aoudji, Fréjus THOTO, Smith A. R. Dossou, D. J. Snelder, Anselme Adégbidi, Tjard de Cock Buning · Sustainability · Benin
A study explored and compared international standards of prevailing organizations and their functioning among 261 urban gardeners in two cities in Benin. It found that a vast majority of urban gardeners are members of a cooperation. However, their membership is largely titular because gardeners mostly behave semi-autonomously, and few decisions are taken collectively. The obvious economic advantages of leveraging bargaining power, reducing transaction costs, and increasing possibilities for loans are seriously underutilized.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsWelfarePolicy