Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
16 results
DESAFIOS E POTENCIALIDADES DA AGRICULTURA URBANA PARA A SEGURANÇA ALIMENTAR NA RMB
2026Maria de Nazareth Oliveira Maciel, Daniel Pereira Pinheiro, Luann Yago Oliveira Maciel · Veredas do Direito Direito Ambiental e Desenvolvimento Sustentável · Brazil
This study analyzed the contributions and challenges of urban agriculture for food security in three municipalities of the Belém Metropolitan Region, Brazil. Using multivariate factor analysis with 120 producers from November 2023 to February 2024, findings indicated urban agriculture ensures food security and reduces food scarcity concerns. However, the activity lacks public policy incentives for seed acquisition and land titling, hindering its advancement.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsWelfareClimate changeA produção de alimentos na agricultura urbana em tempos de insegurança alimentar: uma experiência com hortas no município de Palmas, Tocantins- Brasil
2025Francisco Pereira de Sousa, Clareana Maria Guimarães Franco, Cássio Bruno Sá de Souza, Débora de Paula Brito Fogaça, Marcos Paulo Parente Araújo, Maíra Santiago Pires Parente, Henrique D. Silva, Dirlley Douglas Alves de Oliveira · Caderno Pedagógico · Brazil
A qualitative and quantitative study in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil, aimed to understand the interfaces of the Palmas City Hall's community garden project. Based on ethnographic research, action research, and field study, the results showed that this local practice enhances community participation in urban garden planting in northern Palmas. It aligns with Sustainable Development Goals and is a viable tool for minimizing food insecurity and hunger reduction. However, the project requires structural adjustments, promotion of public and private partnerships, and support from universities and civil society for healthy sustainability.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyAlways Been (English)
2024Yarrow Koning, Sofía Abreu · Occasional Paper Series · United States (Florida)
This abstract describes a nature journaling session held in a community garden as part of an LGBTQ+ youth summer day camp in Florida in summer 2022. The session took place shortly before new anti-LGBTQ+ laws, including the "Don't Say Gay" law, went into effect, which are intended to erase LGBTQ+ people and histories from schools and highlight the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ educators and youth.
Governance failureCommunityFood educationWelfareMETODOLOGIA PARA AÇÕES COMUNITÁRIAS SUSTENTÁVEIS – PRÁTICAS DE INTEGRAÇÃO DO MODELO DAS CINCO HÉLICES EM UMA HORTA COMUNITÁRIA BRASILEIRA
2024Rosângela 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.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicy“Connecting With Good People and Good Plants”: Community Gardener Experiences in New York State During the COVID-19 Pandemic
2022Tomasz B. Falkowski, Bethany Jorgensen, Donald A. Rakow, Ashmita Das, Stewart A.W. Diemont, Theresa Selfa, Austin B. Arrington · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States
A study in four New York cities analyzed the benefits and challenges of community gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic through surveys and semi-structured interviews with community gardeners. Gardeners experienced benefits such as connection, mental and physical well-being, and a safe refuge, but the biggest challenge was limited socializing due to personal behavioral changes and garden rules. This research suggests that while community gardens can be resilient sites of reprieve during crises, the pandemic also exposed their vulnerabilities.
Governance failureCommunityHealthWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceBarriers of Local Organizations for Providing Free Food Support in the Priority Neighborhood, Toronto: What We Need Further
2022Qazi Shafayetul Islam, Nasima Akter · European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety · Canada (Toronto)
This qualitative study, involving nine community organization representatives and 15 volunteers in Toronto's priority neighborhoods, identified significant barriers to providing and receiving free food support during COVID-19. Community members faced a lack of information, language barriers, social stigma, and fear of COVID-19. Organizations struggled with insufficient information on needs, limited transportation, storage space, committed volunteers, and funding, highlighting systemic and financial challenges in effective food support programs.
Governance failureWelfareCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEmpreendedorismo e riscos da criminalidade na agricultura urbana: o caso do bairro Curuçambá, Região Metropolitana de Belém
2022Paulo Silvano Magno Fróes-Júnior, Fabrício Khoury Rebello, Marcos Antônio Souza dos Santos, Cyntia Meireles Martins, Maria Lúcia Bahia Lopes, João Paulo Borges de Loureiro · Conjecturas · Brazil (Belém)
This study interviewed 63 urban farmers in Curuçambá, Belém Metropolitan Region, Brazil, analyzing business management and entrepreneurial skills amidst urbanization and crime risks. It found that 98.41% of businesses are family-managed, but 52.38% have little management experience, with 76.19% never keeping financial records and 81.71% never seeking technical assistance. A significant 33.33% of farmers rated criminality as "very high" severity, indicating that a lack of public safety severely limits commercial performance and investment in urban agriculture.
Governance failureEconomicsCommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceCultivando relações no Arranjo Local da Penha: A mobilização de mulheres a partir das práticas de agricultura urbana na favela
2021Mariana Portilho, Camila Rodrigues, Annelise Caetano Fraga Fernandez · Cidades, comunidades e território/Cidades comunidades e territórios · Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
This study describes the formation of Arranjo Local da Penha, a community network created in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro's Penha favela complex, focused on urban agriculture and led by women. Through fieldwork and participant observation, the study analyzed themes of women and agroecology, health, and healthy eating. The network promoted women's empowerment and access to healthy food, but faced limits in the mobilization and development of urban agriculture.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHealthWelfareUrban–rural linkageThe Harlem Charade
2018Jazmin 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.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyWelfareTeens as Teachers in the Garden: Cultivating a Sustainable Model for Teaching Healthy Living
2018Virginia L. J. Bolshakova, John Gieng, C. Sheena Sidhu, Mary Vollinger, Lorena Gimeno, Jessica Guild · Journal of Youth Development · United States (California)
The "Healthy Living Ambassador" school garden program in low-income communities integrated resources from schools, community programs, and the University of California Cooperative Extension. This program utilized culturally competent teenagers as teachers to educate elementary school youth on healthy living. The successes and challenges of the program development were discussed, revealing that public schools often lack the resources and support to establish sustainable garden-based programming.
Governance failureFood educationHealthCommunityWelfareAgricultura urbana e gestão territorial em Recife/PE/Brasil: qual o lugar da agricultura urbana no planejamento da cidade?
2016Rúbio José Ferreira, Cláudio Jorge Moura de Castilho · Ateliê Geográfico · Brazil (Recife)
This text examines the place of urban agriculture and its practitioners in the urban planning process in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The main results indicate that urban agriculture and urban farmers are not effectively considered by Recife's urban planning technicians. This may be due to urban agriculture being a social practice used by people from the "lowest layers" of society in a marginal area of the local urban economy.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityEconomicsWelfareA política brasileira de segurança alimentar e nutricional: concepção e resultados
2015Walter Belik · Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional · Brazil
This article discusses the use of the Food and Nutritional Security concept in Brazil's Fome Zero Project and its implementation through various programs initiated in the past decade. It concludes by calling attention to the need to improve programs related to supply, food and nutritional education, and urban agriculture to enable the functioning of an integrated Food and Nutritional Security system.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareFood educationInitiating and sustaining community gardens and community kitchens: A preliminary study in Nova Scotia
2014Tim Cashion, I. Forbes, Irena Knežević · · Canada
This preliminary study in Nova Scotia, Canada, explored the initiation and sustainability of community food initiatives through in-depth interviews with coordinators. The research identified that these initiatives are in a precarious state due to reliance on volunteers, land ownership issues, and a lack of consistent funding. Despite these challenges, they persist through community support and coordinator dedication.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsWelfarePolicyGrowing a just garden: environmental justice and the development of a community garden policy for Hamilton, Ontario
2013Erika S. Jermé, Sarah Wakefield · Planning Theory & Practice · Canada (Hamilton)
This paper uses the process of drafting a community garden policy in Hamilton, Canada, as a case study. It illustrates how an environmental justice framework could inform effective and inclusive policy creation, while noting that barriers within the policy process could mitigate against the meaningful incorporation of environmental justice concerns. It concludes that greater inter-departmental and community collaboration, along with the routine application of an environmental justice lens, could mitigate the ill effects of inequitable resource distribution.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyWelfareUrban Livelihoods under a Changing Climate*: Perspectives on Urban Agriculture and Planning in Lusaka, Zambia
2012Danny Simatele, Tony Binns, Munacinga Simatele · Journal of Human Development and Capabilities · Zambia (Lusaka)
This field-based research in Lusaka, Zambia, examines the impact of climate change and urban governance on urban agriculture, which serves as a source of food and income for poor households amidst deteriorating economies. The study finds that urban agriculture is often excluded from urban development and planning policy, posing significant challenges for small-scale farmers to achieve food security. A lack of policies supporting the urban poor, combined with climatic changes like drought and flooding, makes it difficult for households to adapt to the changing urban environment.
Governance failureClimate changePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareA Community Diabetes Education and Gardening Project to Improve Diabetes Care in a Northwest American Indian Tribe
2000Donna Armstrong · The Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Care · United States
This study aimed to design a culturally appropriate diabetes education program for a Northwest American Indian tribe. A community-based intervention, including workshops on health themes and a community garden, was designed to address multiple barriers to diabetes care. However, prior to the implementation of the community workshops and evaluations, the tribal government chose to discontinue receiving federal funding for this project.
Governance failureCommunityHealthFood educationWelfare