Research & reports

Human Sciences Research Council · Figshare · South Africa

A 2025 study from South Africa's Western Cape used propensity score matching on data from 220 households — those participating in Department of Agriculture-funded backyard garden projects plus a control group — to assess urban agriculture's contribution to household food security. Households engaged in urban agriculture benefited from greater dietary diversity and income from selling produce, but the study found no significant positive contribution of urban agriculture to food security.

Byamungu Lincoln Zabuloni, Maxwell Mudhara, Joyce Chitja · Food and Energy Security · South Africa

A study assessing the impact of home- and community-garden programs on household food security status in uMzumbe Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, using random and purposive sampling to survey 223 respondents with a structured questionnaire and a Tobit regression model to examine determinants. Total income (p<0.001), extension services (p<0.01), credit access (p<0.05), age, farm size (p<0.01) and education level (p<0.05) positively affected food security status, while household size (p<0.001), home gardens (p<0.01) and community gardens (p<0.01) negatively affected it. The study concludes that implementing home and community garden programs alone was not enough to improve households' food security status in uMzumbe Municipality.

Merishca Naicker, Denver Naidoo, Mjabuliseni Simon Cloapas Ngidi · African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies · South Africa

This mixed-methods study surveyed 120 community garden participants in Ward 18, Umdoni Municipality, South Africa, to assess the impact of community gardens on household food security. The survey found that 58.3% of participants did not receive sufficient food from the gardens, and only 15.8% achieved food security, with 40% experiencing moderate food insecurity. Despite their establishment, community gardens appeared ineffective in substantially improving household food security, with challenges including climate change impacts.

Marié J. du Toit, Olivia Rendón, Viktoria Cologna, Sarel S. Cilliers, Martin Dallimer · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · South Africa

A case study in a low-income former township area in South Africa, involving 140 home garden owners, found that gardens did not substantially contribute to household food security. Only 10% of households were completely food secure, and dietary diversity was very low. Key constraints included cultural practices, a focus on ornamental plants, and reliance on purchased food.

Anjali Mistry, Manfred Spocter · · South Africa (Cape Town)

A study in a middle-class suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, investigated edible cultivation and garden waste management in domestic gardens. While potential gardening space averaged two-thirds of residential plots, 129 respondents primarily cultivated lawns, not food, with minimal vegetable production. Residents often used private gardening services for waste disposal, and on-site garden waste disposal techniques need promotion.

Brittany Kesselman, Mvuselelo Ngcoya, Daniela Casale · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · South Africa

This paper, based on research from two urban gardens in Johannesburg, South Africa, argues that contemporary urban dietary norms pose a challenge to urban agroecology. The dietary norms and practices of Johannesburg residents are poorly aligned with the production requirements and outputs of urban agroecology. Lessons from other countries suggest that the benefits of agroecology could be enhanced by targeting changes in food preparation and consumption practices.

Dorothée Boccanfuso, Marie-Ève Yergeau · Cahiers de recherche · Africa

This study presents a diagnostic assessment of the urban and peri-urban agriculture (AUP) sector in Mali, based on a literature review and individual interviews with stakeholders in Bamako, forming the first stage of a research project intended to measure AUP's impact on poverty and food security. The literature review found that few studies measure AUP's impact, that existing results are mixed and inconsistent, and that there is a lack of solid evidence on the topic. The Bamako interviews surfaced the sector's economic, social, and environmental issues in the Malian context and confirmed, from key stakeholders, the relevance and necessity of the planned research project.

Liku Workalemahu Habtemariam, KetemaAbebe Tufa, Lise Byskov Herslund, Patience Mguni · Progress in Development Studies · Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)

This article explores water resource management in Addis Ababa's condominium housing and urban agriculture cooperatives to identify challenges and potentials for water-resilient livelihoods. Findings indicate both communities are heavily affected by water stress, with farming communities being vulnerable due to natural asset dependence but more flexible than condominium residents facing malfunctioning infrastructure. Potential for resilience exists if policy frameworks integrate local situations with landscape-based stormwater management.

Sky Roberts, Charlie M. Shackleton · Land · South Africa

This study investigated urban community food gardens in four towns in South Africa, using surveys and GIS analysis over three decades. It found that common motivations included cash poverty (37%) and the need to grow food (34%), with reported benefits such as a healthy lifestyle (58%) and food consumption (54%). A significant challenge was theft of garden infrastructure or produce, and there were declines in the number and area of urban community gardens, with only 16% of gardens from the 1980s still operating in the 2000s.

Jonathan Crush, Bruce Frayne, Cameron McCordic · Journal of food security · Africa

This study uses household survey data from Maseru, Lesotho, to assess the relationship between household engagement in urban agriculture and food security. It found no consistent, statistically significant relationship between urban agriculture practice and food security; some urban agriculture practices were associated with significantly greater odds of food security only among middle-income households in the sample. Because the observed benefits appeared conditional on household income, the study concludes that a generalized, production-centered approach to food insecurity may not be the most effective means of addressing household food insecurity in Maseru.

Simon Hazell, Victoria Delbridge, Beatrice Conradie · UR UCT Undergraduate Research · South Africa

A study in Lavender Hill, Cape Town, South Africa, interviewed 50 participants in the Mothers Unite programme to assess the benefits and constraints of homestead-based urban agriculture. Despite the potential for food gardening to alleviate food insecurity and free up 11% of household income, two-thirds of the group had not tried it. Barriers to adoption included lack of space and limited cash flow, with respondents showing little concern for water or compost costs.

Marijke D’Haese, Nick Vink, Tharcisse Nkunzimana, Ellen Van Damme, Johan van Rooyen, Anne-Marie Remaut, Lotte Staelens, Luc D’Haese · Development Southern Africa · South Africa

Food insecurity remains high in rural KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. This study collected data from 390 beneficiary households in 2010 to assess the perceived impact of the Empowerment for Food Security Programme, launched in 2007, on food security. Findings confirmed that experience-based food insecurity levels were still high, despite the agricultural support program and government income transfers. However, respondents attributed improved dietary diversity and better access to resources to the program.

Stephen Odede. Shisanya, Sheryl L. Hendriks · Development Southern Africa · South Africa

This study evaluated the contribution of community gardens to alleviating food insecurity for 53 community gardeners in Maphephetheni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, it was found that 89% of these households were anxious about food supplies, consumed insufficient food, and were severely food insecure. Additionally, 72% consumed poor quality food. Community gardens were unable to solve the problem of food insecurity, but their contribution to consumption cannot be entirely ignored.

M. Tshitangoni, A. Okorie, Joseph Francis · Scientific Research and Essays · South Africa

In Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa, the performance of 30 poverty alleviation projects (12 community gardens, 8 poultry, 2 piggery, 2 bakery, 6 other) was reviewed. Based on structured questionnaires with 108 respondents, project performance differed by type. All bakery projects were successful, poultry projects achieved 62% success, and community garden and other projects each achieved 33% success. In contrast, all piggery projects performed poorly.

Jonathan Crush, Alice J. Hovorka, Daniel Tevera · Progress in Development Studies · Africa

This article examines the contemporary importance of household food production in poor urban communities across 11 Southern African Development Community (SADC) cities. It finds that urban food production is not particularly significant in most communities, with many more households relying on supermarkets and the informal sector for food access. Furthermore, few households derive income from selling produce, though the situation varies considerably by city.

Morongoa Rosina Pako · · South Africa

This qualitative study assesses the Mogabane Community Garden Project in South Africa to determine why it did not reach its objective of poverty reduction in the community. It situates the project against South Africa's poverty lines — roughly 33% of the population living on less than R271/month, 50% on less than R422/month, and 79.1% on less than R1,230/month, with the highest poverty rates in the Eastern Cape (68.3%) and Limpopo (60.7%) provinces and the lowest in the Western Cape (20%) and Gauteng (28.8%) — and the government's post-1994 anti-poverty programs spanning social assistance, employment generation, enterprise development, basic household security, social services, disaster relief, and employment-related social insurance. Against this backdrop, the study assessed the Mogabane project and confirmed that it failed to achieve its poverty-reduction objective.

W. Van Averbeke · Water SA · South Africa (Pretoria)

This study in five informal settlements of Atteridgeville, Pretoria, South Africa, used a pilot study, household survey, and multiple case studies to assess urban farming's contribution to food security and household income. While over half of households participated in urban farming, its contribution to total household income and food security was generally modest. Main constraints included lack of space and limited access to irrigation water.

Nigel L. Webb, Harrison Kasumba · Africanus Journal of Development Studies · South Africa

In Ezibeleni near Queenstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa, a sustainable-development framework was used to gather empirical findings on vegetable crop cultivation, covering duration of crop consumption, the value of produce to households, environmental benefits, and social/psychological benefits. Both the scale of cultivation and the benefits obtained were found to be modest, reinforcing prior studies that focused on the actual practice of urban agriculture rather than its hypothetical potential.

Yali E. Woyessa, Etheresia Pretorius, Pieter S. van Heerden, M. Hensley, L. van Rensburg · WIT transactions on ecology and the environment · South Africa

This field survey in the Modder River basin, South Africa, investigated the potential expansion and implications of a rainwater harvesting technique introduced to small-scale farmers. While a rapid spread within home yard sizes was expected, no significant spread to community gardens or beyond was anticipated in the short term. This limitation was attributed to socio-economic constraints, including poverty and a lack of appropriate tools and basic farming skills.

Rachel Slater · Development Southern Africa · South Africa

This study examined urban agriculture (UA) in Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on its contribution to low-income households. It found that UA's contribution to income generation and expenditure substitution is limited. However, UA is important to women in low-income households in ways less directly related to monetary gain, being used for empowerment, establishing social networks, symbolizing a sense of security, and encouraging community development.

Dick Foeken, A. Mboganie-Mwangi · Leiden Repository (Leiden University) · Africa

Using survey data collected in 1994 in Korogocho, one of Nairobi's slum areas in Kenya, this study examined whether access to farmland influences a household's food situation. Access to land had a positive impact on urban households' overall welfare, but not necessarily on their food situation. Households with access to a rural plot appeared better off in terms of self-reported food situation than households without any land access, and access to rural land appeared more favorable for food situation than access to urban land alone. Among the very poor households in Korogocho who claimed access to rural land, half did not actually use that land themselves.

A. Mboganie-Mwangi, Dick Foeken · Leiden Repository (Leiden University) · Kenya (Nairobi)

A 1996 study in Nairobi, Kenya, compared the food security and nutritional status of low-income households engaged in urban agriculture with those not farming. It found that urban farmers primarily produced for home consumption and faced theft as a major problem. While the Undugu Society Urban Agriculture Project (USUAP) group showed better food situations and higher energy and protein intakes than other groups, all three groups had inadequate energy intake on average. The long-term beneficial effect of urban agriculture on nutritional status was negligible.