Research & reports

Francis Mwaijande · African Journal of Empirical Research · Tanzania

This study, using a mixed-methods approach with 600 respondents from urban and peri-urban farmers and agri-food supply chain producers in Tanzania, confirmed urban agriculture's contribution to food availability, accessibility, stability, and utilization. However, it found that urban agriculture is not well-integrated into urban food and poverty reduction policies in Tanzania and is practiced without legitimate policy and legal frameworks. This policy gap indicates an inadequate policy enabling environment for urban agriculture to enhance food security.

James Mbugua · African Journal of Climate Change and Resource Sustainability · Global

Biochar is presented as a promising nature-based solution for urban resilience, applicable in soil remediation, stormwater management, and carbon sequestration within green infrastructure. However, its widespread adoption faces significant barriers, including inconsistent feedstock supply, high production costs, limited public awareness, and a lack of standardized quality and safety regulations. The study also identifies a critical need for policies that integrate biochar into urban planning frameworks and incentivize its production and application.

Firdavs Berdikulov, Iroda Orifjonova, Bekhzod Eshboev, Jumanazar Xolmurzayev, Bakhtiyor Abdusayitov · Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology) · Uzbekistan (Samarkand)

This study examined agricultural growth in Samarkand, Uzbekistan's peri-urban regions from 2000 to 2024, using government data and predictive modeling. It found that urban populations surged while arable land declined, and the vegetable surplus, though currently meeting demand, began shrinking around 2015, suggesting a tipping point toward shortages. The research indicates that without proactive measures like smarter land allocation and advanced irrigation, Samarkand risks a structural food deficit within a decade.

Popov, Velian · reposiTUm (TU Wien) · Bulgaria (Plovdiv)

This study examines the disappearing phenomenon of informal urban gardening, known as Rancho, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, focusing on its socio-historical factors. Despite its authentic, decades-long existence, Rancho is neglected and considered outdated, with a lack of legal regulation and its informal character endangering its future. The study proposes a gradual transformation of these areas into community urban gardens with new infrastructures to raise awareness and encourage authorities to reintegrate Rancho into the urban context.

Elias Nuwagaba, Murindwa Rutanga · East African Scholars Journal of Education Humanities and Literature · Uganda (Mbarara City)

This study explored how state-initiated, unplanned urbanization in Mbarara City, Western Uganda, affects the sustainability of urban farming and urban livelihoods. The research found that rapid, haphazard urban expansion, lacking strategic planning, has led to significant challenges. These include the emergence of slums, illegal land occupations, destruction of wetlands and riverbanks causing water pollution, and inadequate waste management, all negatively impacting public health and urban farming sustainability.

Francisco Tomatis, Ana Marí­a Bonet de Viola, Ulises Reno, Ouiam Fatiha Boukharta, Luis Manuel Navas-Gracia · · Argentina

In Argentina, public policies like the Argentine Plan Against Hunger and the ProHuerta Program have stimulated urban agriculture to address the food emergency crisis in early 2024. Despite urban gardening being recognized as a crisis-addressing strategy, the existence and future forms of public policies supporting urban gardens remain uncertain amid recent national political changes. Several barriers to integration and consolidation of these programs are highlighted.

M.Saeed Sheikh, A. G. Mohod, Prasad Chavan, R. T. Thokal, K. G. Dhande, PB Sanap · Advances in Research · Global

This global review examines the development of rooftop agro-voltaic systems (RAVs), which integrate photovoltaic panels with rooftop farming. While RAVs offer benefits like energy production, improved agricultural yields, and environmental conservation, challenges such as efficiency trade-offs, financial constraints, and regulatory gaps limit their widespread adoption. Pilot projects in India demonstrate dual benefits, but these limitations hinder broader implementation.

Akuto Akpedze Konou, Kossiwa Zinsou-Klassou, Pablo De Roulet, Armel Firmin Kemajou Mbianda, Jérôme Chenal · Land · Togo

This study in Greater Lomé, Togo, interviewed 11 experts and surveyed urban farmers to compare their perceptions of urban agriculture and health. The findings reveal a disconnect: urban farmers identify various challenges, including health-related difficulties, while experts tend to assume different health concerns, highlighting a misalignment between the perspectives of planning and design experts and urban farmers.

Cindy Vong · Journal of Food Law & Policy · Global

This Note argues that municipalities in the United States should permit on-site slaughter of backyard chickens on private residential property. Historically, local governments codified the separation of residential and agricultural uses, leading to bans and restrictions on urban agriculture. The current regulatory vacuum for urban agriculture creates conflicts and uncertainties, and allowing backyard slaughter could strengthen local food systems and regulate a growing urban practice.

Ylva Wallinder, Maria Langa · Environmental Sociology · Sweden

A study investigated the consequences of institutional policy change on urban gardening practices in Swedish municipalities over the last decade. Local sustainability policies have led to an increasingly business-centered model, which clashes even with entrepreneurial gardens. This shift caused associational gardening to give way to an extended focus on entrepreneurship and food production, representing a "green rationalization" of gardening practices in urban sustainability policies that hinders their sustainability potential.

Joshua Zeunert, Scott Hawken, Josh Gowers · Land · Australia (Sydney)

A critical GIS analysis was conducted for Sydney and neighboring regions in NSW, Australia, to understand and advocate for Sydney's food production capacity. The study challenged the notion that Sydney's metropolitan landscape has low inherent biophysical quality for agriculture. Despite current metropolitan planning policy that marginalizes agricultural productivity, datasets revealed western Sydney is biophysically well suited for agriculture. Sydney's overall agricultural capacity was found to be comparable to five of six other coastal regions of NSW and superior to at least two, challenging current planning orthodoxy and policy.

Sarah Steinegger, Nora Katharina Faltmann · Journal of Political Ecology · Switzerland

This qualitative research examined the challenges consumers and farmers face in establishing proximity within a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiative in Switzerland that links rural mountain and urban areas. The study found that consumers and farmers are facing challenges in establishing proximity. Nevertheless, shared experiences of farming activities and social events, along with participants' willingness to improve CSA operations and strengthen ties for mutual understanding and joint efforts, contribute to the ongoing process of establishing proximity.

Noémie Régeard · L’Espace Politique · Congo

This article explores the circularity of organic matter streams in Nkayi, an intermediate city in Congo, through interviews and observations. The qualitative inquiry reveals the coexistence of institutional household waste streams, supported by a development project, and informal organic matter streams, identified through intra- and peri-urban agricultural practices. These streams are subject to various socio-territorial, political, and economic tensions.

Henry Mensah · City and Environment Interactions · Ghana (Kumasi)

This study investigated adaptation practices and challenges among 85 urban farmers across three locations in Kumasi, Ghana. Farmers employed strategies like planting local crop varieties, expanding farms, and relocating. However, these strategies are hindered by institutional and technological limitations, financial constraints, lack of climate information, and delays in extension support, indicating significant governance challenges.

Chiara Tornaghi · · Global

This chapter, based on 15 years of research, identifies key shortcomings in urban planning policy that prevent urban agriculture from reaching its full potential for human and non-human health. These include the failure to recognize urban agriculture as food production, the invisibility of soil and its role, and the neglect of soil care and food production specialists in public land design and soil management. The chapter suggests that agroecological considerations can enhance urban agriculture's ambition in public spaces.

Vazoumana Koné · Uirtus · Côte d’Ivoire

In Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, market gardening is widespread, but the Master Plan of Greater Abidjan does not allocate specific spaces for these crops. This forces producers to use unsuitable areas like flood-prone lowlands. A study of 45 market gardeners found that they employ various social practices to legitimize their activities and maintain their presence in urban spaces despite the lack of official land allocation.

Noryana Ahmad Khusaini, Munifah Siti Amira Yusuf · Universiti Putra Malaysia Institutional Repository (Universiti Putra Malaysia) · Global

This review examines the significance of digital record-keeping in urban agriculture, focusing on its impact on efficiency, productivity, market access, economic benefits, sustainability, and environmental benefits. The review identifies challenges such as a lack of digital skills, high implementation costs, inadequate technological infrastructure, limited connectivity, data privacy, and security. These challenges hinder the adoption of digitalization in urban agriculture.

Yosra Abduljalel Alajeli, Gunavathy Selvarajh · Journal of Business and Social Review in Emerging Economies · Global

This qualitative desk research investigated urban farming's economic, environmental, and societal impacts on sustainable economic development. Findings indicate urban farming enhances local economies, provides fresh produce, strengthens community engagement, and promotes green infrastructure. However, its broader adoption is hindered by limited land access, inadequate legislative support, and low public awareness.

Average Chigwenya, Samson Gwamure · Kuveza neKuumba The Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University Journal of Design Innovative Thinking and Practice · Zimbabwe (Masvingo City)

This research examined how urban agriculture has been incorporated in Masvingo City, Zimbabwe. A mixed methods approach, including interviews with key informants and field observations in urban agriculture areas, was adopted. The research found that despite the widespread practice of urban agriculture, Masvingo City is not innovative in including urban agriculture in its development agenda.

Ioana Florea · Environmental Sociology · Romania

This paper investigated three collective gardening projects in Bucharest that closed between 2019 and 2021, analyzing what remains of their sustainability capacities and commoning efforts after termination. Findings indicate that while essential commoning aspects like collectivity building and autonomy can endure and transfer to other spaces, cross-class aspects fade away with these transpositions. This reveals that what persists from closed gardening projects is strongly tied to structural historical contexts.

Sara Ramezani, Mahin Nastaran, Homayoon Nooraie, Kei Otsuki · Journal of Landscape Ecology · Iran

A study investigating urban agriculture land use changes in Damavand, Iran, from 1995 to 2022 found a 109% increase in built-up land and declines of 14.34% in barren land and 22.44% in vegetation, including urban agriculture lands. Interviews with 15 participants identified land value changes, attraction to urban livelihoods, management and planning factors, physical-environmental factors, and urban infrastructure availability as primary reasons for these changes. The research highlights the urgent need for effective planning to mitigate threats from extensive urban agriculture transformations.

Tong Wu · Scientific and Social Research · Global

This study analyzed the impact of generative AI on the intelligent transformation of urban agriculture from theoretical and technical perspectives. Generative AI was shown to be applicable in production optimization, marketing innovation, and farmer education, enhancing resource utilization efficiency and industrial sustainability. However, its widespread application faces challenges such as agricultural data silos, model adaptability, cost, and talent shortages, requiring collaborative support from policies, technologies, and talent.

Dennis Raphael · Policy Press eBooks · Global

This chapter documents the growth of charitable non-governmental responses to food insecurity in Canada and the UK, including food banks and community gardens. It argues that these responses are problematic because they fail to address the economic and political causes of food insecurity. Further failures include the stigma experienced by food bank users and the false belief that food insecurity is being resolved.

Victória Pansani Silveira Maia, Sílvia Aparecida Mikami Gonçalves Pina · Periódico Técnico e Científico Cidades Verdes · Global

This case study analyzed urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) experiences in India (Bangalore, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam) and an agroforestry system in Campinas, Brazil, using literature review, document analysis, and participant observation. The study identified common obstacles to agroecological practices, including land tenure insecurity, real estate pressures, lack of specific public policies, and uneven community engagement. It also highlighted potentialities such as care networks and food resilience, emphasizing the need for institutional support and public policies.

Nilo Coradini de Freitas, Hélène Picard, Marcos Barros · Organization Studies · Global

This ethnographic study of a shared community garden explores the role of affective dynamics in creating dissonance within alternative organizations. The study found that intensive affective experiences generate tensions in member interactions, leading to transitional reactions that require organizational responses. This highlights how affective embodiment processes shape supposedly rational procedures and dialogue in decision-making, impacting organizational democracy.