Research & reports

Teferi Daba Lemma, M. S. A. Rao · · Ethiopia

This study assessed the social and environmental sustainability of urban and periurban agriculture (UPA) in selected towns of Ethiopia, using primary data from 280 households via questionnaires and interviews. The findings indicate that the environmental and health aspects of UPA sustainability are compromised by extensive use of chemical inputs. Furthermore, UPA is inclined to be unsustainable from a social and political perspective.

Maxine J. Levin · Soil Horizons · United States

This commentary highlights a growing demand for soil information for green economy initiatives and climate change adaptation over the last 25 years. Despite this, USDA's funding and technical support for soil surveys in urban and nonfarm areas have been inconsistent and, in some places, nonexistent. The author argues for the vital role of modern soil surveys in addressing current needs.

Anna di Robilant · McGill Law Journal · Global

Common ownership regimes, such as community gardens and co-operatives in the US, Canada, and Europe, require limiting individual co-owners' ability to freely use resources and exit arrangements to achieve their goals. This creates difficult trade-offs in their design. The article argues that common ownership can foster "equality of autonomy" by providing more equitable access to the means for individual autonomy, but this often necessitates privileging equality of autonomy over full negative freedom.

Afton Halloran, Jakob Magid · Environment and Urbanization · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

Urban agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, has received little political support from central and local governments over the past 30 years due to its informal status, leading to land insecurity for many urban farmers. The incorporation of urban agriculture into the Dar es Salaam 2012-2032 Master Plan (unapproved as of June 2013) and its legitimization processes were examined. It was noted that legitimization through policy could also further marginalize urban farmers cultivating open spaces within the city.

Doreen Atkinson · African Journal of Range and Forage Science · South Africa

This paper critiques the assertion that commercialization of smallholder agriculture poses dangers for sustainable rangeland management in South Africa. It argues that a range of policy options are required, including commercialization and subsistence farming, large-scale and smallholder farming, various land tenure options, rural and peri-urban farming, and part-time farming. The case of municipal commonage land is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of flexible policy options regarding land ownership, farming scale, and the social nature of farming, but it is noted that effective institutional development is a key requirement in all cases.

Amanda Jessie Weaver · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver) · United States (Colorado)

This project combined U.S. Agricultural Census data with a survey of local producers in Colorado's Front Range Urban Corridor to examine the competition between urban development and food production. The study found that urban development is increasingly encroaching on rich agricultural lands, which are also desirable for housing. Consequently, Colorado faces increasing competition for land, potentially driving local food prices up and displacing producers to peripheral areas or out of food production entirely.

Рена Упитис, Scott Hughes, Anna C. Peterson · Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies · Canada

An 8-month qualitative study was conducted at a school garden program in one public elementary school in southeastern Ontario, Canada. Data collected from eight students through observations, semi-structured interviews, and student photographs identified five themes enhancing environmental stewardship (including connecting with nature, caretaking, and harvesting) and three themes explaining the program's long-term success (including parental involvement and community connections). The study highlighted benefits of the school garden program, as well as some difficulties associated with the program and limitations of the study.

Giovanni Attili · IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) · Italy (Rome)

This study focused on community gardens in Rome, Italy, which largely result from informal appropriation practices. While these gardens can enhance environmental and social quality of life, they require institutional support and present a crucial challenge for urban planning. The study highlights the need to explore tensions between social practices and institutional powers, and questions how public policy can legitimize these self-guiding societal expressions.

Matthew V. Bradshaw · The William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository (William & Mary) · United States

This Note identifies that while the urban agriculture movement is growing in popularity across the United States, legislatures have often ignored foundational laws related to the sale and distribution of goods, including inspection, labeling, labor, and compensation laws. This oversight has led to the creation of unconstitutional trade barriers in some instances. The study raises a cautionary voice to government officials regarding the potential future consequences of these regulatory gaps.

A. Bryan Endres, Rachel Armstrong · Food Studies An Interdisciplinary Journal · United States

A legal analysis (Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2013) of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in the United States—where CSA participation more than doubled between 2004 and 2009—examines "volunteer-for-food" arrangements and unpaid internships that many CSA farms offer in exchange for labor. It finds that these arrangements do not align cleanly with federal and state employment laws governing minimum wage and workers' compensation, creating a mismatch between the community-participation model embedded in CSAs and the legal regimes that govern them. The paper identifies potential points of flexibility within existing law, explores mechanisms for farmers to avoid regulatory liability, and concludes with policy recommendations to eliminate regulations it characterizes as scale-inappropriate for CSA expansion.

박진욱, 안계복 · · South Korea

This study analyzes the current state of urban farming in South Korea through its legal system, the implementation status of the urban farming act, on-the-ground conditions, and comprehensive plans, in order to identify institutional improvements. It concludes that securing more space for urban farming and improving the support system for urban farmers are the two essential factors for improvement, and that—beyond these institutional and systematic reforms—enthusiastic engagement from local governments, secured budgets, and cooperation with citizens are necessary to expand sustainable urban farming.

Nathan McClintock, Heather Wooten, Alethea Brown · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (California)

This 2012 reflective case study documented the efforts of the Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC) in Oakland, California, to develop recommendations for urban agriculture zoning. Despite popular interest in urban agriculture, zoning often acts as an obstacle to its expansion. The OFPC faced obstacles in gaining the attention of city officials and advancing its policy agenda for new zoning definitions and operating standards for urban agriculture.

Community Gardening Works! ACGA 2011 Conference, Carolin Mees, Edie Stone · Cities and the Environment · United States

This abstract discusses the rapid expansion of the community gardening movement in US urban areas. It highlights the potential for urban agriculture planning to turn against its original community-driven roots, as suggested by the title. The movement began over 30 years ago, with residents creating gardens on abandoned land, supported by programs like New York City's GreenThumb.

Rowena Passy · Education 3-13 · Global

This article reports on two projects investigating school gardens, finding that while they can effectively engage primary children in learning, a divide exists among teachers regarding garden use. The article argues that mixed messages in policy concerning outdoor learning act as a barrier to teachers utilizing school gardens.

David Tijero · Aldiri: arkitektura eta abar · Spain (Bilbao)

This article criticizes the municipal administration's attitude towards informal allotments on the outskirts of Bilbao. It analyzes the consequences of green space reclamation plans executed in recent years and advocates for policies promoting both formal and informal urban agriculture.

I. Karabozhilova, Barbara Wieland, Silvia Alonso, Laura Salonen, Barbara Häsler · British Poultry Science · United Kingdom (London)

A 2010 questionnaire survey of 30 backyard chicken flock-keepers in the Greater London Urban Area found that while chickens generally had conditions for natural behaviors, most owners did not comply with regulations on catering waste feeding. Disease prevention measures were rare, and a lack of avian and zoonotic disease knowledge among owners was observed, indicating implications for disease control.

Chiara Tornaghi · · United Kingdom

This academic-activist research on grassroots urban agriculture initiatives, focusing on four projects in Leeds, UK, found that local and regional institutions have limited ability to respond to these new demands. Planning traditions constrain institutions, failing to create flexible public spaces. Consequently, short-term solutions are found in "loose spaces" or ad-hoc negotiations, but these remain emergency or residual practices, highlighting challenges for urban public space management.

Shengzhong Chen · Guangdong nongye kexue · China (Guangzhou)

This study analyzed the development conditions, process, characteristics, and barriers of urban agriculture in Guangzhou City. It showed that while urban agriculture in Guangzhou has formed functions such as production, technology demonstration, ecological barriers, and leisure services, it faces internal and external development barriers including a decline in agriculture's status, expansion of urban land, labor shortages, and environmental pollution. These barriers hinder the healthy and sustainable development of urban agriculture.

윤희정, 조미경 · · Korea

This study aimed to critically consider and classify new paradigms for urban parks in the 21st century. While urban parks exhibit progressive aspects such as process, openness, productivity, and community space, they face significant criticism regarding the long development period for tree growth, covering open spaces, ecological limitations, economic validity, urban sprawl, underutilization as a low-carbon strategy, and negative consilience with contiguous fields. Based on these critical considerations, the study proposed urban agricultural parks as an alternative.

Coline Perrin · International Planning Studies · France, Italy

Case studies in Provence and Tuscany indicate that planning prescriptions and land-market control are insufficient for protecting farmland on the urban fringe. Farmland is not effectively protected if regulatory approaches are not integrated into a global strategy for agriculture and food based on community involvement. Farmland protection policies are more effective when combining top-down policies with bottom-up initiatives and recognizing the multifunctional character of urban agriculture.

Julie L. Self, Amanda Wyatt, Aimee Webb Girard · The FASEB Journal · United States (Atlanta)

This research characterized community gardens (CGs) in two urban counties in Atlanta, Georgia, through semi-structured interviews with diverse garden leaders. The study identified primary barriers to creating and sustaining CGs as leadership constraints, reliable access to natural resources, and unclear regulations. It also found that CGs foster access to fresh food, knowledge, and community connections, with benefits varying by community.

강현정, 김세용 · 한국주거학회 학술발표대회 논문집 · South Korea

Modern cities prioritize development, leading to environmental deterioration. The biotope area ratio may not adequately reflect spatial utilization and plant growth conditions in multi-unit dwellings. While urban agriculture holds potential for environmental reform, a systematic framework and clear guidelines for its practical application are currently lacking. This study aims to derive crop indices for revitalizing urban agriculture and propose development directions for the biotope area ratio.

K P Emeraldi, Dwinita Larasati · Product Design · Indonesia (Bandung)

This study analyzed the means of activity within the household-scale urban agriculture popularization system in Bandung City. The analysis results indicate that the means of activity used in the urban agriculture popularization system do not yet support the purpose of the activity itself. This is attributed to a lack of understanding within the community regarding studies that influence contemporary society's life, such as lifestyle studies.

BD Mntambo · Huria Journal of the Open University of Tanzania · Tanzania

In Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania, a study examined urban agriculture practices within the policy context, focusing on the experiences and attitudes of women cultivating vegetables in open spaces through an in-depth survey. Findings indicated that women's participation in urban agriculture contributes to food security, increased household income, and poverty reduction. However, a mismatch exists between the benefits of urban farming and current policies, negatively affecting women's participation, as policies are not supportive of urban farmers, particularly women, leading to small-scale cultivation and low income.

Ana Carolina Paiva Rodrigues · VII CONNEPI - Congresso Norte Nordeste de Pesquisa e Inovação · Brazil (Natal)

In the Gramorezinho region of Natal-RN, Brazil, an exploratory study analyzed the socioeconomic and productive characteristics of urban and peri-urban agriculture. The methodology involved examining farmers' socioeconomic profiles, adopted production systems, and commercialization methods for key vegetable species. The study concluded that the legitimization of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Natal-RN is flawed, not only concerning municipal legislation but also regarding the guarantee of support and technical assistance for agricultural activities.