Research & reports

Ana Carla Alves Gomes, Maria Lúcia Brito da Cruz · Revista Campo-Território · Brazil

This study investigated the spatial distribution of Urban Agriculture (UA) in Fortaleza, Brazil, particularly in the Lagoa Redonda neighborhood, and the permanence of these gardens amidst territorial disputes over urban space. Using bibliographic and secondary data surveys, site visits, and geoprocessing techniques, it analyzed the feasibility of UA reproduction and the implementation of specific policies for the activity. The study points to governance challenges, specifically territorial disputes concerning the permanence of urban agriculture in urban spaces.

Bruce G. Ferguson, Helda Morales · · Mexico (Chiapas)

The Laboratorios para la Vida action research team in Chiapas, Mexico, trains educators to use school gardens and local food systems as venues for experiential learning. However, teachers face a host of hurdles to successful garden programs, including high teacher turnover, lack of space, and the difficulty of matching garden growth with the national curriculum calendar.

Anna Shortly, Thembela Kepe · Forests Trees and Livelihoods · Canada (Toronto)

This paper explores the opportunities and challenges of incorporating foraging practices into parks planning and management in Toronto, Canada, where foraging is often not permitted in urban parks. The study, based on a scan of practices and interviews, concludes that urban parkland managers should establish dedicated spaces like community orchards to safely and sustainably accommodate foraging, acknowledging current restrictions.

Guillermo Olivera, Kenia Zavaleta · Repositorio Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (Universidad de Buenos Aires) · Mexico

This study argues that urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA), along with intra-urban open spaces, constitutes a "second best" land use for 21st-century cities pursuing sustainable growth aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals — whether through FAO's Greener Cities Strategy, which promotes garden-based UPA against poverty and food insecurity, or through UPA absorbed by city expansion, much of it commercial in nature. Based on analysis of official statistics and fieldwork in the Ejido Tejalpa in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, the study finds that UPA persists there due to its historical trajectory and access to water and land, existing in commercial form rather than as urban gardens, but not without problems. Its main threat is identified as excessive urbanization and generational change among producers, and its main challenge as achieving greater involvement of urban governments through land management and urban planning, following the experience of other countries where agriculture is given more weight in metropolitan planning.

Zach Mortice · Landscape architecture · Canada

This article covers landscape architect Alexander Cassini's (ASLA) involvement with the Carré Casgrain community garden in the Little Italy neighborhood of Montreal, Canada. The city and Le Carré et sa Ruelle began a process of establishing the site as a real estate reserve, transferring ownership to the city with management handed to the community members who had rehabilitated the land, but the piece reports that the battle over the vacant lot left the community garden in ruins.

Kyle Richardville · Purdue e-Pubs (Purdue University System) · United States

With Purdue University's campus and much of its surrounding area classified by the USDA as a food desert, this study surveyed graduate students using a voluntary 33-question online Qualtrics survey distributed campus-wide, to identify barriers to purchasing and consuming fresh produce and to participating in local urban agriculture, and to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic affected food access and motivation for healthy eating and community garden engagement. Results show many Purdue graduate students face both individual and structural barriers to accessing fresh fruits and vegetables, with international students particularly vulnerable to structural barriers; lack of access to a personal vehicle was the primary predictor of vulnerability, especially during the pandemic. Students expressed interest in participating in local urban agriculture initiatives but most were unaware such initiatives existed. A second objective of the study tested whether leaf mold compost could improve degraded urban soils.

Mysha Clarke, Melissa Davidson, Monika Egerer, Elsa C. Anderson, Nakisha Fouch · People Place and Policy Online · United States

This paper argues that community gardens should be a prioritized element of green infrastructure to improve cities' adaptation to climate change. Community gardens can reduce urban heat islands, provide ecosystem services, and increase stormwater retention. However, a qualitative analysis of 18 policy documents for Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City, U.S.A., found that green infrastructure for climate change adaptation prioritizes rain gardens, bioswales, and green roofs, but seldom acknowledges the role of community gardens.

Sarah 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.

Arantza 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.

Daiara 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.

Annelise 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.

Lindsay 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.

Peter 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.

Martin Jayo, Eduardo de Lima Caldas · kult-ur revista interdisciplinària sobre la cultura de la ciutat · Brazil (São Paulo)

A study in São Paulo, Brazil, examined recent forms of appropriation of the urban agriculture agenda, using a historical analysis of urban agriculture practices by Caldas and Jayo (2019). It was observed that traditional urban agriculture discourses have been captured by new actors, including parts of the public sector opportunistically appropriating the theme and the real estate market promoting an imitation of urban agriculture as a marketing tool.

A Noussia · Research Open (London South Bank University) · Brazil

This paper discusses urban agriculture on city peripheries within a scenario of urban expansion, focusing on the Guaratiba neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. It argues that the city's urban expansion process does not invest in the inclusion of urban agriculture activities within the area's socio-environmental dynamics.

Joeli Silva de Souza, Ryzia de Cássia Vieira Cardoso, Lídice Almeida Arlego PARAGUASSÚ, Sidione Ferreira dos Santos · Revista de Nutrição · Brazil (Salvador-Bahia)

A cross-sectional exploratory study in Salvador-Bahia characterized community gardens, with five out of seven gardens participating and data collected from 13 horticulturists. 80.0% of gardens lacked land legalization, 100.0% operated without technical support, and 60.0% had no social organization. Major difficulties included lack of funding, volunteers, and water use restrictions, indicating insufficient policies limited technical support and financing.

Annelise Caetano Fraga Fernandez, Almir Cezar Baptista Filho · Cidades, comunidades e território/Cidades comunidades e territórios · Brazil

This article describes the obstacles to applying Brazil's family-farming public policy in urban settings. It shows that a set of representations associated with rural agriculture has shaped the classification criteria used by rural technical-assistance (ATER) staff, and that this in practice limits how the policy can be applied in urban areas. It states that the mobilization of social movements linked to urban agriculture, specifically in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, led to the construction of an initiative, but the available abstract breaks off at that point.

Nathan McClintock, Christiana Miewald, Eugene McCann · · North America

This chapter explores urban agriculture (UA) as fundamentally political practices, examining its role in neoliberal governance and sustainability policy-making, and as an object of contestation. It relates UA motivations and practices to processes of urbanization and political economic restructuring. The chapter highlights that UA is a site of political contestation, arising from broader political economic shifts.

Natalia Matesanz Ventura · · United States (New York City)

This article examines over fifty self-managed community gardens in Loisaida, New York, which form an informal network combining "affection" and "dissidence" to create "affect-dent" spaces. These gardens, established since the 1960s, reconfigure public space by opposing administration, the real-estate market, media invasion, and the appropriation of public space by the private sector. The study highlights how these spaces challenge dominant power structures and serve as a reference in contemporary architecture of the common.

Daniel Calbino, I. Borges, Luis Antonio Andrade Rosas, C.T. Abreu, Fernanda Anziliero Gonçalves · COLÓQUIO - Revista do Desenvolvimento Regional · Brazil

This case study in Sete Lagoas, Brazil, discusses the advances and challenges of agroecological urban community gardens, which have a history of approximately 33 years. Research findings indicate that public policy enables income generation for producers, increased supply, and food security in the region. However, the study highlights the need for greater support to address producers' limited technical knowledge and the importance of more supportive interpersonal relationships.

Angelina Moreira Melo, Daniel Calbino, Yuri Gomes Figueiredo, Fabiola Paulino da Silva, E. R. de O. Carvalho · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil

This empirical work, based on participatory research, analyzed the social relations between producers of the Vapabucu community garden in Sete Lagoas, Brazil, and municipal public support organs. Research results indicate that while agroecological knowledge has advanced significantly in the technical dimension of agronomic production, the social relations among producers still show contradictions inherent to agroecological assumptions.

Marttem Costa de Santana, Everardo de Sousa Luz, Maurício Ribeiro da Silva, Maclóvia Corrêa da Silva, Eloy Fassi Casagrande · Sociedade e Território · Brazil

This qualitative field study in two cities in Piauí, Brazil, evaluated whether working conditions of urban and peri-urban agricultural producers contribute to food production. It concluded that public authorities' participation is necessary to address failures in the small-scale agricultural production system and improve working conditions for urban horticulturists.

Jazmin Gomez · ScholarsArchive (Brigham Young University) · United States (New York City)

A narrative set in Harlem, New York City, follows three teenagers investigating an attack in a community garden. Their investigation uncovered valuable secret paintings and a politician's plot that threatened to ruin their neighborhood. The friends risked their lives to save both the rare masterpieces and their community's livelihood from this plot.

Laila Pacheco, Fabrício Khoury Rebello, Marcos Antônio Souza dos Santos, Paulo Fróes Júnior, Silvana Venâncio da Silva · Agrarian Academy · Brazil (Belém)

An analysis of urban agriculture potential was conducted in the Montese neighborhood of Belém, Brazil, through interviews with 40 residents from April to August 2018. The study found that 42.5% of respondents practiced urban agriculture, but the main limitation for its development was a lack of technical guidance and incentives. Broad partnerships involving community leaders, city hall, and universities are needed to overcome these technical, logistical, and infrastructure demands.

Michelle Marie Proctor · · United States (Detroit)

Urban agriculture programs in Detroit have seen many urban farms begin to include animals, sparking policy and ethical debates. Supporters claim animals accelerate land remediation, fertilize and aerate soil, and improve petroleum-polluted soils. However, opponents point to problems such as botched slaughters and lack of animal welfare oversight, arguing that backyard animal husbandry should be regulated in the best interests of the community and animal welfare.