Research & reports

Tatiana Hlinka · Journal of Student Research · United States

In New Jersey, 50 food desert areas face the most severe food insecurity across both rural and urban contexts. This study identified nine barriers to implementing urban agriculture initiatives in New Jersey's urban food deserts, using a sequential quantitative analysis combining a survey of food systems professionals with a GIS-based spatial analysis to identify the most prevalent barrier. Working in partnership with New Jersey urban agricultural organizations, the study found that lack of funding was the most commonly cited barrier to expanding urban agriculture initiatives. The GIS-based spatial analysis found that high-priority barriers varied by region, but that all organizations identified funding, or lack of access to funding, as a significant barrier regardless of whether they operated in a low- or high-income neighborhood. The study concludes that policymakers must reevaluate the role of urban agricultural organizations in New Jersey's urban food deserts.

Tarek Ben Hassen, Hamid El Bilali · · Global

This book chapter combines bibliographical and topical analysis of scholarly and gray literature with case studies from Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries to examine the state of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) amid regional climate pressures — rising temperatures and frequent droughts damaging limited water resources and threatening agriculture and food security. The chapter reports that UPA in the region lacks adequate infrastructure and resources, including access to water, suitable land and equipment, and that in many MENA cities, the absence of government initiatives combined with land tenure problems and high land prices makes UPA less prevalent and less viable; it concludes that improved policy support and enabling regulations — including zoning rules and financial and technical support — are needed to expand UPA in the region.

Cascadia Consulting Group · Washington State Department of Ecology · United States

A report to the Washington State legislature summarizing an advisory committee's research on standards for managing compostable products at composting facilities. Compostable products make up only 0.4% by weight of material sent to commercial compost facilities in the state, yet the associated contamination disproportionately raises processing costs, and consumer confusion is identified as a major driver of misdisposal.

· LCR Diario Digital · Argentina

A regional Argentine newspaper report on the national Ministry of Human Capital's March 2024 discontinuation of ProHuerta, the national program providing free seed kits for household gardens. In the Villa Regina area of Río Negro province, the local Comisión de Fomento of Valle Azul stepped in to purchase and freely distribute 100 seed kits for the spring-summer season, while INTA (the national agricultural technology institute), though no longer funded to buy seeds, continues to offer free technical advice on soil improvement and pest control.

Setyardi Pratika Mulya, Heru Purboyo Hidayat Putro, Delik Hudalah · Geography and sustainability · Global

This 2023 global systematic literature review examined peri-urban agriculture (PUA) as an ecosystem service, focusing on urbanization pressures and governance. The review found that PUA is crucial for urban areas in terms of food supply, ecology, biodiversity preservation, disaster mitigation, and recreation. However, massive urban expansion is a primary cause of PUA loss, and sociocultural biases have led to institutional constraints on peri-urban management within existing political and regulatory frameworks.

M. S. Aduah, Saviour Mantey · South African Journal of Geomatics · Ghana

This study used geospatial techniques, multi-temporal land use maps, and population data to estimate urban land use efficiency (LUE), changes in built-up area per capita, and urban sprawl speed (SS) in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan area of Ghana. While LUE generally improved from 2002 to 2016, it deteriorated slightly between 2016 and 2021. Critically, agricultural land or grassland in the city has been converted to built-up land, posing a challenge for urban agriculture.

Norbertus Citra Irawan, Suswadi Suswadi, Mahananto Mahananto, Agung Prasetyo · Jurnal Ilmiah Hijau Cendekia · Indonesia (Surakarta)

This study investigated changes in the urban farming community in Surakarta, Indonesia, using the AIDP model analysis approach, surveying 50 community members. Results showed varying success rates across strategy stages; evaluation strategies like partnerships with local traders and financial institutions, vertical land use, and open dialogue performed poorly. Furthermore, improving financial literacy and sustainable waste management systems were unsuccessful, and agricultural product brand promotion and innovative institutional models also performed poorly.

M. Kühn, Geisa Zanini Rorato, Bruno César Euphrasio de Mello, Carolina Cristófoli Falcão · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil

This research surveyed federal and state urban agriculture (UA) laws in Brazil to analyze their implications for urban planning (UP). Findings indicate that despite an increase in approved laws, there is no articulated national policy, laws vaguely address UA's interfaces with UP, and they do not objectively tackle territorial challenges faced by UA.

Bismark Osei, Mark Edem Kunawotor, Paul Appiah-Konadu · International Journal of Social Economics · Africa

This study examined measures for achieving a sustainable environment to mitigate climate change in 54 African countries from 2000 to 2020, using panel data and a Cox proportional hazard model. Findings indicate that carbon farming, rooftop gardens, and renewable energy positively contribute to a sustainable environment. However, governance adversely affects the objective of achieving a sustainable environment.

M. Kühn, Geisa Zanini Rorato, Bruno César Euphrasio de Mello, Carolina Cristófoli Falcão · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil

This study cataloged and analyzed federal and state urban agriculture (UA) laws in Brazil to understand their profile and association with urban planning. The findings indicate that Brazil lacks a coordinated national policy for urban agriculture. Furthermore, existing laws vaguely mention their interfaces with urban-policy legal frameworks and do not clearly address territorial challenges for UA implementation.

Sandrine Simon · Urban Governance · Portugal (Lisbon)

This study examined urban agricultural initiatives in Lisbon, Portugal, and their integration into urban planning strategies for sustainability, using Design Thinking methodology for a literature review. The integration of urban agriculture into urban planning is identified as a complex problem due to conflicting goals among actors. The research suggests that Design Thinking could assist urban planners in addressing this challenge by providing flexible, iterative, and participatory approaches.

Xin Mai, Yueli Xu, Yungang Liu · Annals of the American Association of Geographers · China (Shanghai)

This study investigated the emergence and development of two flagship community garden cases in Shanghai, China, initiated in 2016. Observations revealed that a nonprofit organization, not local citizens or municipal government, proactively advanced community garden production and participation. The community garden phenomenon was found to reify an alternative subjectivity, emphasizing social organizations as a state "flanking mechanism" for extraeconomic urban governance objectives.

Martine El Ouardi, Françoise Montambeault · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · Mexico (Mexico City)

This study of citizen-led gardens in Mexico City reveals that informal urban gardening becomes a practice disconnected from the state. Despite the Mexico City government's interest in regulating urban agriculture, gardeners are increasingly formalizing their practices independently. This disconnection is attributed to a weak institutional context, characterized by top-down policymaking and the city government's incapacity and unwillingness to effectively implement policies, leading to mistrust among gardeners.

Joshua Zeunert, Tanya Court · Elsevier eBooks · Global

Public urban agriculture (PUA) in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia faces challenges, including aesthetics and negative perceptions of its spatial presence and visual performance. In these contexts, PUA often remains limited to allotments, community gardens, education gardens, and street verge gardens, which frequently suffer from negative aesthetic perceptions in highly visible public settings. This chapter explores how eight distinctive rural food production practices could be translated into urban contexts to address aesthetic shortcomings in PUA design.

Lia Sekti Chrisnawati · Jurnal Ecolab · Indonesia

A literature review on the issue of agricultural land conversion to non-agricultural uses in Bekasi Regency, Indonesia, identified its direct impacts. The study noted reduced rice production, loss of fertile agricultural land, loss of investment in irrigation infrastructure, landscape damage, increased river and groundwater pollution, occurrence of natural disasters like floods and droughts, and a lack of water absorption areas. These findings indicate the need for policies and programs supporting sustainable urban planning.

Krista Willman · ACME · Finland (Tampere)

This article explores the "operational space" of urban community gardening (CG) from the viewpoint of city officials in Tampere, Finland. Two rounds of interviews with eight officials and discourse analysis were used, and the operational space, shaped by administrative policies and practices, was found to be rather rigid and narrow. Five main discourses aimed to enable urban gardening but were restricted to strategic, limited, and instrumental levels, as political-strategic aims contradicted administrative practices, and cautiousness and unclarity in the administrative-political culture led to institutional ambiguity.

Abrham Kassa Ejigu, Kumelachew Yeshitela · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Ethiopia (Arba Minch City)

A study assessed Arba Minch City's governance capacity to integrate resource-oriented sanitation technology with urban agriculture. The findings indicated that the city's capacity is hindered by a lack of systematic monitoring, fragmented policy tools, and inadequate public sector participation. There is no single government body responsible for integration, and a behavioral gap exists among users in adapting to new technologies and recovered organic fertilizer.

Patrizia Pugliese, Cosimo Rota, Fatima Zohra Sabrane, Marie Reine Bteich, E.J. Veen · · Morocco

A mixed-methods study of four urban agriculture initiatives in Morocco found that while all cases struggled with certain perturbations, some were able to turn them into more hopeful situations, whereas others could lead to new perturbations or increased vulnerability. The study concluded that the outcomes were highly case-specific and related to existing resources, highlighting the complex and fluid nature of these initiatives.

Rushi Wang, Shigeto YANAI · Land · Japan

This study surveyed school garden managers at public elementary schools in an urban area of Japan to analyze school garden characteristics and influencing factors. Findings indicated that school gardens inside schools offer better safety but less community connection, while external school farms provide more agricultural experience space. Schools with both types showed stronger community ties but decreased safety, and a notable lack of budget, teachers, supportive policies, and manager motivation was observed in operating school gardens.

Runrid Fox-Kämper, Caitlin K. Kirby, Kathrin Specht, Nevin Cohen, Rositsa T. Ilieva, Silvio Caputo, Victoria Schoen, Jason K. Hawes, Lidia Poniży, Béatrice Bechet · Landscape and Urban Planning · Europe; United States

The relationship between urban agriculture (UA) and food-energy-water (FEW) nexus policies was analyzed using policy data from five case study cities in Europe and the U.S. (Dortmund, Gorzów Wielkopolski, London, Nantes, and New York City). An analysis of 78 policy documents and a Q-sort ranking by UA policy experts showed that the number, type, and degree of support for nexus policies varied among cities, and few policies (19) incorporated all elements of the nexus. Regulations were considered more effective at ensuring resource-efficient UA than incentives or awareness-raising policies.

José Anido · Agroalimentaria · Venezuela

This exploratory review study examined the viability of urban food systems and their governance in Venezuela, based on secondary sources. While identifying available resources like educational infrastructure and a renewed legal framework, the study highlighted significant limitations. These include increasing deforestation, deteriorating potable water services for urban agriculture, migration of skilled populations, decline in public funding for science and technology, opaque official information, and scarcity of financing for new developments.

Kyunghun Min, Jisoo Ahn, Eunseok Lee · Journal of people, plants, and environment · South Korea

This study analyzed exemplary cases from the US and Canada to identify factors for the active use of rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) in Korea. Despite international interest in RTGs for carbon neutrality and food security, their implementation in Korea is limited by a lack of relevant legal bases and policies. Essential factors for stable RTG operation include long-term support, initial capital, differentiated distribution, and a review of laws and regulations, highlighting the need for legal and policy frameworks.

Bernd Bonfert · · United Kingdom; Germany

This article investigates "network failure" and collaboration barriers within Community-supported agriculture (CSA) networks in the UK and Germany, using qualitative case studies. The study found that CSA networks function effectively at national and local levels but experience relative failure at the regional level. Regular barriers to collaboration arise from capacity limitations, member differences, and competition, which the networks are actively trying to address.

Do-Eun Kim, Gwang-Ryul Son, Ga-Hyoun Yu, Yong-Hoon Son · Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture · South Korea (Seoul)

This study aimed to identify participation constraints perceived by school community members in urban farming activities using hydroponics and understand the structural relationships of variables influencing decision-making. Participation constraints were categorized into intrinsic, interpersonal, and structural factors. Hypothesis model verification results showed that interpersonal constraints significantly influenced participants' willingness to participate and their expected behavior.

Tinashe P. Kanosvamhira, Alexander Follmann, Daniel Tevera · Geographical Journal · South Africa

This mixed-methods study examined 34 urban community gardens in Cape Town, South Africa, to assess their capacity to function as urban commons across six areas: infrastructure, inputs, land, produce, labour, and immaterial components. Findings demonstrated that while these gardens counter neoliberal privatization and individualization, their capacity to function as urban commons is significantly curtailed by their entrenchment within the neoliberal context.