Research & reports

Khumalo N. Z., Sibanda M., Mdoda L. · Frontiers in Nutrition · 南アフリカ・エテクウィニ市（ダーバン）

A multi-stage sample of 412 small-scale urban crop farmers in eThekwini municipality, South Africa, with a conditional mixed process model relating a composite index of climate-smart agriculture adoption (agroforestry, conservation agriculture, crop diversification, rotation, cover crops, drought-tolerant crops, mulching, organic manure, wetland use, soil conservation) to farm income and a wealth index. Adoption was positively associated with both, but the authors state the estimated income association is "relatively modest" and should be read with caution. Several socio-economic variables showed counterintuitive associations, and because existing agricultural training showed a weak association with income-enhancing adoption, the authors call for context-specific, outcome-oriented training and extension rather than more of the same.

Liz Ignowski, John Luis Lagdameo, Liel Gonzalez, Arma Bertuso, Pepijn Schreinemachers · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems 11(1) · Philippines (Quezon City, Metro Manila)

A quantitative survey of 300 urban food producers in Quezon City, one of the 17 cities of Metro Manila, examining who practises urban agriculture, the methods and technologies used, the challenges met and the benefits gained. Production is mainly small-scale and subsistence-oriented, with commercialisation limited except among those with access to agricultural land. Self-produced food does increase access to fruit and vegetables, but participation reflects economic vulnerability rather than food sufficiency, and both scale and commercialisation depend strongly on land access — a structural barrier in dense cities. The authors conclude that urban agriculture in Quezon City acts as a safety net rather than an income source, while also providing enjoyment and stress relief, and that urban food-security policy should be realistic about the limited role of urban food production.

James Comtois · Institutional Investor · Global

Signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment grew from 63 institutions with $6.5 trillion under management in 2006 to 2,450 with $80 trillion in 2019. The article reports a research paper by Demirer and Zhang arguing that institutional ESG investing is largely herding driven by fad, reputational concern and fund flows, and has improved neither corporate ESG engagement nor investment performance. At the time of writing, global ESG fund inflows had fallen 50 per cent over the previous year, with a record $12 billion withdrawn in a single quarter.

Nkrumah B. · Urban Science · アフリカ（都市部・系統的レビュー）

A systematic review of the irony between abundant arable land and persistent hunger in African cities. It asks why a disproportionate share of urban residents do not produce their own food, even as food insecurity rises with heavy reliance on market-bought food, high poverty and rapid urbanisation, screening peer-reviewed literature via PRISMA and five inclusion benchmarks to clarify the debate on low uptake of urban agriculture.

Meredith L. Mull, Mario Torralba · Frontiers in Nutrition · Global

This exploratory Q-methodology study investigated how university students in sustainability programs conceptualize sustainable food systems. Analysis revealed five distinct narratives, with consensus on food security and transparent governance. However, elements like urban agriculture, GMOs, and food traditions were consistently deprioritized by the participants. The findings emphasize incorporating plural perspectives and context-sensitive approaches in food system research and policy.

Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, Singapore · Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, Singapore · Singapore

On 26 September 2025, Minister Grace Fu replied to a parliamentary question on progress toward the "30 by 30" goal, stating that less than 10% of Singapore's food consumption is currently produced domestically. She called the goal "aspirational," set before COVID-19 under more favourable conditions, while noting locally produced hen eggs exceed 30% and beansprouts exceed 50% of local consumption, and that the alternative protein industry faces high energy costs and insufficient consumer acceptance.

Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, Aruna Joshi · Cell Reports Sustainability · Global

This systematic analysis of 1,450 urban agriculture publications examined its impacts on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It found urban agriculture is linked to all SDGs, with 142 targets showing positive sentiments and 136 showing negative sentiments, with positive sentiments roughly double the negative. The study concludes that urban agriculture does not inherently contribute to sustainability, as its impacts depend on specific practices and require tackling identified hurdles.

Bernard Afiik Akanpabadai Akanbang, Millicent Awialie Akaateba, Prosper Issahaku Korah · Discover Cities · Ghana (Wa)

This exploratory cross-sectional survey in seven rapidly growing neighborhoods in Wa, Ghana, administered 285 questionnaires to residents to understand motivations, challenges, and constraints of home gardening. Results showed 56% of respondents had gardens, primarily motivated by beautification (56.1%) and food production (52.3%). Limited space (49%) and busy schedules (34%) were identified as main barriers. The study found that while garden ownership aligned with the autonomy need, the relationship need, which correlates with environmental motivations, was notably low among residents. This indicates a limited effect of environmental awareness on home gardening motivation in the surveyed population.

Juliette Colinas, Francesca Ugolini, Mohammad Reza Khalilnezhad · Sustainability · Iran (Birjand)

In Birjand, Iran, a qualitative approach explored the usage and perception of public fruit trees and attitudes towards public usage and participation in two urban green spaces (Tohid Park and Akbarieh Garden). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve visitors, four administrators, and eight workers. Almost all visitors had a high interest in picking fruit, but usage in these green spaces was low, partly due to social norms.

Lena Katharina Mietz, Bárbara Civit, Alejandro Pablo Arena · Environmental & Socio-economic Studies · Argentina (Mendoza)

This study investigated vegetable consumption patterns, interest in vegetable production, opinions on urban agriculture, and barriers in the metropolitan city of Mendoza, Argentina. Using quantitative research methods and a citizen survey, the results showed strong interest from citizens in urban agriculture, but also identified barriers such as lack of time and resources.

April M. Roggio, Jason Evans · Sustainability · Global

Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) are locally-rooted agroecological governance mechanisms that have garnered interest globally. However, there is little evidence of their development in the United States, where community supported agriculture (CSA) and farmer's markets grew instead, though many of these mechanisms failed to sustain interest and support. This study explores factors driving PGS creation in other global regions and identifies factors shaping a different trajectory for local agriculture in the United States.

Salvatore Engel‐Di Mauro, George Martin · · Global

Claims that urban food production raises food security and creates a more just society are questionable and contradicted by data from the Global North. Urban land is insufficient, sunlight is often inadequate, and soil pollution is widespread. Technological attempts like vertical and rooftop farming have limited feasibility, may worsen environmental and social problems, and do not address major food sources, access, or waste. Furthermore, urban gardens are increasingly linked with socially devastating gentrification.

Larissa Maas, Leila Amaral Gontijo · Saúde e Sociedade · Global

This case study investigated the cognitive demands and work complexity for urban organic farmers whose main economic activity is selling their products. The findings indicate that the cognitive load for these farmers is high, contributing to complex work. The study notes a lack of existing research on the cognitive load of organic urban agriculture workers, as it is still a nascent movement.

Paule Olivia Akotto, Dorothée Boccanfuso, Marie-Ève Yergeau · Cahiers de recherche · Global

This exploratory review synthesizes 35 reports and articles published between 1980 and 2019 to assess the potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) to build resilience against poverty, food insecurity, and environmental challenges in developing countries. The review found that UPA creates one job for every 50 to 100 individuals, but these jobs are generally seasonal, and market access remains a significant constraint for farmers.

Azizan Marzuki, Ahmad Sahir Jais · PLANNING MALAYSIA · Malaysia

This qualitative exploratory review, based on a Systematic Literature Review of secondary data, investigated the connection between urban sprawl and its impact on agricultural productivity and food security in Malaysia. The study found that urbanization did affect Malaysia's food security self-sufficiency level, particularly for land-intensive food products like vegetables and livestock, due to the conversion of agricultural lands.

Ali Keyvanfar, Arezou Shafaghat, Tan Sze Inn, Sapura Mohamad · DigitalCommons - Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw State University) · Malaysia

This research developed the Sustainable Urban Farming Index Assessment (SUFIA) Model to quantify and evaluate the performance of urban farms' sustainable food production. Applying a critical literature review and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), the model identified reducing air pollution, soil health and water cleaning, and food sovereignty as critical for food productivity. When implemented at Zenxin Organic Farm in Malaysia for validation, the farm earned a Grade C, indicating it is a usable urban farm but requires substantial improvements in areas such as soil health, water cleaning, site design, and community environment.

Debra J. Davidson · International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food · Global

This study assessed the multiple emergent effects of urban agriculture activities through an extensive, interdisciplinary literature review to discuss its disruptive potential. It suggests that producing food in cities is not inherently transformative in itself, but the potential and observed new forms of social engagement emerging in many contexts can create institutional conditions that may disrupt conventional agri-food systems by building social capital as much as physical capital.

Alexey Valerevich Vasilchikov · Eurasian Law Journal · Russia

A study of urban agglomeration development trends in the regions of the Russian Federation, drawing on analyses from various Russian sociological research schools, examines the differentiation between cities — including million-plus cities — competing for natural, demographic, financial, and investment resources. It finds that large agglomerations act as monopolists that in many cases hinder the successful development of medium-sized and especially small Russian cities, further worsening inequality in living standards and quality of life across localities throughout the Russian Federation.

Héctor Ávila Sánchez · Investigaciones Geográficas Boletín del Instituto de Geografía · Global

This study analyzed the impact and potential of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) on urban food systems, focusing on cities in Western Europe, North America, and Latin America. It concluded that while UPA practices have increased, their presence in urban food systems remains limited, and their consideration in territorial public policies is still marginal. In developed countries, its impact has been primarily therapeutic, landscape-related, and for heritage preservation, while in poorer countries, it has contributed to self-sufficiency for low-income urban populations, public space recovery, social fabric strengthening, and community development.

Erwin van Tuijl, Gert-Jan Hospers, Leo van den Berg · European Spatial Research and Policy · Global

This paper explores the concept of Urban Agriculture (UA) and discusses its locational and strategic dimensions. Using case examples from cities worldwide, it shows that UA can contribute to the social, environmental, and economic pillars of sustainable city development; however, there are limitations that cities investing in urban agriculture should consider.

Shobha Shrestha · Nepalese journal of geoinformatics/Journal of geoinformatics Nepal · Nepal

Using GIS, remote sensing and spatial metrics, this study analyzed the spatial structure and dynamics of urban land use, including agricultural land use, in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, over the ten years from 2003 to 2012. Land use changed drastically over this period, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in the agriculture and built-up classes, signaling rapid urbanization; the valley's spatial structure moved toward a more heterogeneous and fragmented landscape, with new, isolated urban patches emerging inside what had been larger, contiguous agricultural patches and breaking them into smaller fragments.

Cécile Faliès · Problèmes d Amérique latine · Chile (Santiago)

This article provides an overview of agriculture around Santiago, Chile, based on fieldwork conducted since 2005. Despite the presence of agriculture linked to Santiago and Valparaiso, and the emergence of some forms like organic farming, it is difficult to classify this as urban agriculture due to the peripheral location and limited number of plots. The study indicates that urban agriculture, as commonly defined, has a limited presence in the Santiago metropolitan area.

Jonathan Crush · · Global

This article argues that cities of the Global South are experiencing a deepening crisis of food inaccessibility, marked by growing food poverty, hunger and malnutrition, lack of dietary diversity, child wasting and stunting, increased vulnerability to infectious and chronic disease, and a growing obesity epidemic. It states that this urban crisis remains largely invisible to the policy and research communities concerned with global food security, noting that there was more research and policy debate on urban food insecurity in the 1990s, when the Global South was less urbanized than today, and that concern with urban food security has since been displaced by the new international food security agenda and its pervasive anti-urban bias. It observes that the only aspect of urban food security currently commanding significant attention is urban agriculture, which it describes as widely, but improbably, seen as the key to achieving food security in cities of the Global South.

Alan Hallsworth, Alfred Wong · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global

A short commentary on urban gardening. It states that although urban gardening is highly popular among civic politicians and some vocal advocates, there is no basis to expect this food-supply concept could ever deliver fresher or lower-cost food to most people living within the structure of a modern urbanized society.