Research & reports

Orathai Paiyarat, Uthaithip Jiawiwatkul · International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development · Thailand

This qualitative study examined the development process, results, and influencing factors of the Hat Yai urban agricultural network for food security in Hat Yai City, Songkhla Province, Thailand. Data was collected from 31 participants through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and group discussions. The study identified a three-stage development process: network formation, seeking cooperation, and learning and integration, with results reflected at individual, group, and network levels linked to sustainable development. Negative factors affecting the development process included the nature of Hat Yai urban residents in a developing country context, resource inadequacy, and public policy.

Sarah Buzogany, Abby Cocke, Holly Freishtat, Yeeli Mui, Mariya Strauss, Sylvia Kelly · Urban agriculture · United States (Baltimore)

Baltimore, United States, has developed urban agriculture policies over the last decade, integrating them into a food systems approach to sustainability. Policy development covered zoning, permitting, land leasing, and soil regulations. However, challenges were encountered regarding staffing, funding, resident engagement, and differing city agency priorities, especially concerning land access. The experience highlights the importance of mainstreaming food policy into urban planning.

Juan Camilo Fontalvo-Buelvas, María Teresa Pulido Silva, Miguel Ángel Escalona Aguilar · Bitácora Urbano Territorial · Global

A bibliographic review identified that the main deficiencies in urban agriculture are inadequate management practices, a lack of organization, and absent or inefficient public policies. The study suggests that agroecology as a management system, policies for land access and sustainable financing, and dissemination processes are key leverage points for driving urban agriculture towards sustainability.

Arcadius Martinien Agassin Ahogle, Sammy Letema · Water International · Kenya (Nairobi)

This article examines the dynamics of irrigated urban agriculture (IUA) and its socio-technical arrangements in the Nairobi catchment, Kenya. The research identified five principal forms of IUA, differentiated by land size, water sources, technicality, actors, and market orientation. A critical finding is that city services do not provide hydraulic infrastructure or agricultural extension for IUA, and state agencies do not account for IUA practices, indicating a lack of governance support.

Ji-Won Choe, Choong-Hyeon Oh · 환경정책 · South Korea

This study collected and analyzed 223 local government ordinances supporting urban agriculture in South Korea to identify its characteristics and propose institutional improvements. The analysis revealed regional imbalances in institutional support for urban agriculture, indicating a need to expand and revise direct support ordinances. Many direct support ordinances lacked explicit provisions regarding administration, expenses, technology, education, equipment, and locations, requiring amendment. It was also noted that the definition of urban agriculture tended to be narrower than in the "Act on the Promotion and Support of Urban Agriculture," and inconsistencies existed between the titles, purposes, and definitions of related ordinances.

Chiara Tornaghi · ˜The œGeojournal library · Global

This chapter, based on 15 years of research, discusses key issues hindering urban agriculture from reaching its full potential for human and non-human health. It highlights shortcomings in urban planning policy, specifically the failure to recognize urban agriculture as food production, the invisibility of soil and lack of understanding of living soils, and the disregard for the advisory role of soil care and food production specialists in public land design and soil management. The chapter suggests that agroecological considerations can deepen urban agriculture's ambition in public spaces.

Alexander Follmann, Dorothea Hohengarten · transcript Verlag eBooks · Germany (Cologne)

This publication, titled "Ernährungsrat, Essbare Stadt, Gemeinschaftsgärten: Innere und äußere Logiken und Widersprüche der sozialökologischen Transformation durch Urban Gardening am Beispiel Köln," discusses the internal and external logics and contradictions of socio-ecological transformation through urban gardening, using Cologne as an example. The abstract states that this work was published in "Unterwegs in die Stadt der Zukunft" on page 241.

Nordregio, Luciane Aguiar Borges, Ana de Jesus · · Global

This report discusses the barriers and drivers of Urban Agriculture (UA) within the framework of the Horizon 2020 project 'SiEUGreen,' across environmental, technological, economic, social/cultural, and regulatory/institutional aspects. Based on insights from five showcases in Norway, Denmark, Turkey, and China, the results suggest that city food provision and UA systems can be designed considering circular economy regenerative cycles. However, key barriers limiting UA uptake include the need for more evidence-based research, further experimentation for innovative technological developments, high investments, difficulties accessing financial support, underdeveloped business cases, limited recognition of UA's benefits, and behavioral/cultural barriers.

Exzolvildres Queiroz Neto, Gilson Brandão de Oliveira Junior, Marcelha Silva de Andrade, Suncar Dabo, Geisiane Michelle Zanquetta de Pintor · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil

This article presents reflections on the practice of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (AUP) and its impact on land use and occupation in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The research raised several questions concerning rural-urban dynamics, the specificities of urban family farmers, and the complexity of land use in the municipality. Diagnostic results from a semi-structured research guide will be used as an empirical basis for further reflection, and the abstract does not state specific research findings or critical findings regarding governance.

Moye Eric Kongnso · International Journal of Environment Agriculture and Biotechnology · Cameroon

A mixed-methods study in the West Region, Cameroon, examined compost use in urban farming through 265 household surveys, 11 in-depth interviews, and one focus group. While compost availability and technical assistance favor its use, small-scale farmers face significant technical, knowledge, financial, institutional, and policy constraints. State extension services prioritize mineral fertilizers over compost, and the current regulatory framework does not encourage compost use, leading to the persistence of traditional practices.

Emmanuel Olatunbosun Benjamin, Abiola Adegoke, Gertrud Buchenrieder · Land · Nigeria (Lagos)

This exploratory qualitative research, conducted in Lagos, Nigeria, used focus group discussions to compare the perspectives of private urban farmers and public sector representatives on innovative urban farming. Urban farmers identified a lack of public sector support for circular agri-food technologies, while public sector representatives attributed issues to farmers' behavioral and educational shortcomings, including poor coordination. These differing views highlight complex dynamics and a need for structural changes and stakeholder dialogues to develop effective urban farming policies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Mohammed Elyaagoubi · African J of Economic and Sustainable Development · Morocco

This study investigates the decline of agricultural land in Guersif City, Morocco, due to rapid urbanization. Sociological surveys and technical data from 1954 and 2021 were used to identify and quantify the rate of agricultural land loss. The preservation of urban agriculture in Guersif faces a real challenge from other, more profitable activities.

Farhang FaghihLarijani, Elaheh Amani Vamarzani · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Iran

This study investigated whether an independent legal system exists in urban areas of Iran to recognize, maintain, and develop urban agriculture. It found that despite urban laws recognizing agricultural activities, legislators have not enacted a comprehensive law specifically for urban agriculture, nor explicitly included it in urban land definitions. The study hypothesized that a primary challenge is the lack of a compatible legal framework.

Paula Mota Santos · Social Inclusion · Portugal (Porto)

Grassroots urban horticultural plots (hortas) in the Porto Metropolitan Area, Northern Portugal, are informal communities that have existed for decades, often involving over 20-30 people. However, these low-income urbanite horticultural communities are not cherished by city governance, which does not prevent their destruction. This incompatibility between urban governance and grassroots communities hinders the right to the city for the low-income urbanites who created them.

B.J.M. van Vliet, Kamonashish Haldar, Matthijs T. Wessels, Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, Gert Jan Veldwisch · Water International · Global

This study examined the governance of irrigated urban agriculture in Arusha, Tanzania, and Khulna, Bangladesh, from a service regime perspective. Findings showed how service regimes bridge the gap between formal governance institutions and practices around irrigated urban agriculture. It is concluded that acknowledging, facilitating, and aligning these regimes can strengthen governance arrangements.

Delf Rothe · Political Geography · United States (New York City)

This paper critically examines the concept of "green resilience" through a case study of various green resilience projects in New York City, including survivor trees, memorial groves, and community gardens. The study argues that these spaces function as key forms of state rule and biopolitical power, identifying three tensions or contradictions of green resilience as a form of biopolitical government: visibility and invisibility, knowledge and ignorance, and control and emergence.

Matthew L. Richardson, John Taylor, Megan J. Thompson, Anusuya Rangarajan, Mamatha Hanumappa, Neith G. Little · PLoS ONE · United States (Northeastern United States)

This online survey of 394 urban growers, primarily in the Northeastern United States, profiled growers and assessed urban agriculture's state, identifying needs and challenges. Most growers were white (non-Hispanic), under 45, well-educated but without agriculture degrees. Urban agriculture was dominated by small non-profits and home/community gardens. A critical finding is that urban growers face diverse barriers, with the most common being land availability and long-term access in urban areas, and many reported low revenue or operating at a net loss.

Anubhav Pradhan · South Asia Research · India

This article analyzes the recalibration of justice for agrarian communities along the Yamuna in Delhi. Following a 2015 ban on edible crop farming by India's apex environmental court, the Delhi Development Authority has conducted multiple demolition drives for nearly a decade to evict farmers and clear land for redevelopment. The ongoing contentions involving farmers, planning agencies, and the judiciary in this region are symptomatic of the erosion of social justice in urbanizing India.

Juan Camilo Fontalvo Buelvas, Maria Teresa Pulido Silva, Miguel Ángel Escalona Aguilar · Magazine Portal Bibliotech Digital (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) · Global

This bibliographic review identified the main problems of urban agriculture and actions for sustainability. The study found that the primary deficiencies in urban agriculture are inadequate management practices, a lack of organization, and absent or inefficient public policies. Key leverage points for change include agroecology, policies for land access and sustainable financing, and dissemination processes.

Andrea Baier, Christa Müller, Karin Werner · Neue Ökologie · Global

This study discussed the significance of the new urban garden movement for sustainable urban restructuring, focusing on community garden practices over the past two decades. It examined how the movement is integrated into the governance of urban climate crisis policies, how it utilizes this framework, and to what extent the autonomy of gardens as free spaces and commons can be maintained under these circumstances. The findings suggest that the autonomy of urban gardens may be difficult to maintain when integrated into climate crisis policy governance.

Rosângela Míriam Lemos Oliveira Mendonça, Samantha de Oliveira Nery, Ediméia Maria Ribeiro de Mello · MIX Sustentável · Brazil

This paper presents a methodology applicable to sustainable community actions, developed from seven years of experience with low-income communities in a Brazilian community garden. The methodology is based on participatory action research, systemic design, agroecology, food sovereignty, and solidarity economy principles. The study demonstrates the importance of integrated work among the elements of the quintuple helix model (society, government, industry, academia, and environment), but it does not detail specific challenges or limitations regarding governance.

Elza D’Cruz · Landscape Research · India

This study examines the disappearance of a historic urban agriculture landscape in Bangalore, India, between the 1950s and 1970s, a period of post-independence urban planning, drawing on urban planning documents, government files and oral histories recorded with the Vahnikula Kshatriya, a traditional urban agriculture practitioner community. It finds that colonial frameworks embedded in post-independence urban development plans not only displaced urban agriculture but continue to affect it, and argues for changing how urban planning in formerly colonised places approaches urban agriculture.

Aji Saputra, Oekan S. Abdoellah, Gemilang Lara Utama · Local Environment · Indonesia

A commentary on the current state of urban agriculture implementation in large Indonesian cities, the initiatives underway and the mechanisms for pursuing stated goals. It identifies land scarcity, inadequate urban agricultural infrastructure, financial constraints, and regulatory and administrative problems as the major obstacles to implementation. It also states that urban agriculture improves quality of urban life by providing fresh, healthy food and fostering community engagement, and cites Singapore, New York and Ghana as examples showing the importance of policy support, innovation and community involvement.

Jessica Ann Diehl · · Global

This chapter investigates urban agriculture in Singapore through a political ecology lens, examining food security from the perspective of traditional commercial farmers. Growing urban food demand and risks inherent in reliance on the global food system have spurred city governments to implement diversified strategies for integrating urban agriculture at different scales; Singapore, a high-earning city-state that imports 90% of its food, has set a target of raising domestic food production to 30% under its Singapore Green Plan 2030 "30 by 30" Grow Local target. The chapter questions whether this level of food independence is achievable if food production shifts away from traditional farming toward high-tech operations such as rooftop or vertical farms. Semi-structured qualitative interviews covered four topics: general farm practices, social networks, benefits and barriers, and livelihood alternatives. Findings were examined in the context of a rising generation of high-tech entrepreneurial farmers facing the challenge of meeting consumer demand against land and labor scarcity. The in-depth case study demonstrates that technology is only one driver, among many, of the sustainability of the local food system in Singapore, and traditional commercial farmers face pressure on their livelihoods as policy shifts toward high-tech production.

Jennifer C. Franco, Saturnino M. Borras · Oxford University Press eBooks · Global

This chapter examines the dominant convention in critical agrarian studies and agrarian movements — that land struggles are best captured by an agrarian-reform framework of expropriating land from large private monopolies for redistribution to landless and near-landless working classes. It argues that while this type of struggle remains important, it does not fully capture the range of land struggles of working people across rural and urban, agricultural and nonagricultural spaces. Over recent decades the working classes have fragmented, as the numbers of people combining agricultural/nonagricultural and rural/urban livelihoods have vastly expanded, decentering working people's land struggles from the classical treatment tied to agriculture and capitalism. Land struggles today are dispersed and multisited, with political leadership and power that are polycentric rather than unified, and span multiple scales.