Research & reports

· Wikipedia (スペイン語) · Cuba

This Spanish-language Wikipedia article on Cuba's 'Special Period' states GDP contracted 36% between 1990 and 1993 following the Soviet collapse, and daily caloric intake fell from 2,845 kcal in 1989 to 1,863 kcal in 1994, below the recommended minimum of 2,100-2,300 kcal. Loss of access to Soviet oil drove a shift to permaculture and organic agriculture (the rise of organopónicos) with help from international technicians. Recovery began in 1994, with GDP reaching 1990 levels again by 2007.

Global Network of Lighthouse Farms (Wageningen University & Research) · Global Network of Lighthouse Farms (Wageningen University & Research) · Cuba

This profile of Organopónico Vivero Alamar from Wageningen University's Global Network of Lighthouse Farms describes a UBPC (Basic Unit of Cooperative Production) founded in 1997 by 5 cooperative members, starting as an 800 sqm manually irrigated tree nursery. It has since grown to 10.14 ha with 150 cooperative members, 42 of them women, including nurseries, a 0.45 ha greenhouse, a rustic lab for breeding entomopathogens, a mycorrhizal fungi propagation center, and small-scale fruit and vegetable processing facilities. The page notes the farm has had to close due to COVID-19-related economic hardship and wildfires.

European Commission · European Commission (single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu) · Europe

This is the European Commission's official Critical Raw Materials (CRM) page. It confirms that both 'Phosphorus' and 'Phosphate Rock' appear as separate entries on the EU's 2023 fifth CRM list. The page illustrates supply-concentration risk with examples for other materials (China supplying 100% of heavy rare earth elements, Turkey 99% of boron, South Africa over 71% of platinum group metals), but does not itself state a specific EU import-dependency figure for phosphorus or phosphate rock.

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on the Haber (Haber-Bosch) process for industrial ammonia synthesis states that, as of 2018, the process produced 230 million tonnes of anhydrous ammonia per year, and that 'nearly 50%' of the nitrogen found in human tissues originated from it. Ammonia production is said to account for 1-2% of global energy consumption, 3-5% of natural gas production, and 3% of global carbon emissions, while nitrogen use efficiency is typically less than 50%, with farm runoff from excess use disrupting biological habitats. The article also credits the process with supporting global population growth from about 2 billion in the early 20th century to over 8 billion today.

· Wikipedia · Global

The URL for 'Peak phosphorus' now redirects to the Reserves section of Wikipedia's 'Phosphorus' article. Per a 2023 USGS estimate, world commercially extractable phosphate rock reserves are 72 billion tons, against 2022 world mining production of 220 million tons — implying roughly 300 years of supply at zero growth. Before new deposits were discovered in Norway in 2023, Earth's commercially affordable phosphorus reserves were expected to be depleted in 50-100 years. Reserve estimates are described as contested: a 2010 IFDC report is criticized by a 2014 review as presenting 'an inflated picture of global reserves,' particularly for Morocco, where largely hypothetical and inferred resources were simply relabeled 'reserves.' The article also states that a shortage in rock phosphate or significant price increases might negatively affect world food security. Mitigation measures cited include reducing agricultural runoff (no-till farming, contour tilling, windbreaks), incinerating phosphorus-rich sewage sludge and recovering the ash, and recovering phosphorus-rich materials such as struvite from waste — though current recovery technologies are described as not yet cost-effective given phosphorus market prices.

· Wikipedia · Netherlands

The URL 'Agriculture in the Netherlands' redirects to Wikipedia's general 'Netherlands' article. Despite being a densely populated country of 41,850 km2 and over 18 million people, the article states the Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of food and agricultural products by value, owing to its fertile soil, mild climate, intensive agriculture, and inventiveness.

European Social Fund Plus (European Commission) · European Social Fund Plus, Social Innovation Match · Netherlands

A case study of Herenboeren, a Dutch citizen-owned cooperative farm model started in 2016. Around 250 households jointly finance and govern each 'Herenboerderij', paying a one-off investment of roughly €2,000–2,500 and a monthly fee of about €45–80 (depending on location and meat consumption) in exchange for a weekly share of seasonal vegetables, fruit, eggs, and optionally meat. Professional farmers are employed to run nature-driven production. As of 2026 there are 23 operational farms across the Netherlands with more than 9,000 citizen members.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on agriculture in Singapore. The country imports about 90% of its food. The 2019 'Singapore 30 by 30' goal (30% of nutritional needs grown locally by 2030) was revised in November 2025 into a new target of 20% for produce like leafy vegetables and 30% for protein (including seafood and eggs) by 2035. As of 2024, there were 225 farms (153 land-based, 72 sea-based) with total production value of S$231 million.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on the Singapore Food Agency, established on 1 April 2019, consolidating the food-related functions of the former Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) along with parts of the National Environment Agency and Health Sciences Authority. The '30 by 30' goal — raising home-grown food from 10% to 30% of nutritional needs by 2030 — was announced on 8 March 2019, and was revised again in 2025.

· Wikipedia · Singapore

This Wikipedia article on food security in Singapore states that about 90 percent of the country's food comes from overseas imports, and that the government set the '30 by 30' goal to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030. It further states new targets for 2035 to produce 20 per cent of the country's fibre consumption and 30 per cent of protein consumption (eggs and seafood) domestically, and that as of 2024 eight per cent of fibre and 26 per cent of protein consumed in Singapore was produced domestically.

株式会社アグリメディア · 株式会社アグリメディア · Japan

The official site of 'Sharebatake', a members-only rental farm plot service operated by AGRIMEDIA Co., Ltd. Seeds, seedlings, fertilizer, and tools are provided on-site with experienced advisors on hand, letting members show up 'empty-handed'. It operates nationwide across regions including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Aichi, Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, and Fukuoka, with about 118 farm sites and roughly 15,138 plots as of end of July 2026.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

EPA's Brownfields and Land Revitalization program page describes grants and technical assistance for assessing, cleaning up, and reusing contaminated land. As of June 2026 it lists $270 million in brownfield grants and a $1.5 billion investment under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The page does not directly discuss urban agriculture.

Sole Food Street Farms · Sole Food Street Farms · Canada

Founded in 2009, Sole Food Street Farms is a social enterprise that converts vacant lots into productive farmland around Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. It trains and employs residents facing complex barriers, selling and donating fresh produce.

· Wikipedia · India

This Wikipedia article gives an overview of Indian agriculture. It states that agriculture employs more than 50% of India's workforce and contributes 20.2% to GDP per the 2020–21 Economic Survey, while productivity remains 30–60% of that in developed countries. The article does not specifically address urban farming, focusing instead on structural issues such as infrastructure gaps and farmer suicides.

· Wikipedia · Taiwan

The Wikipedia article 'Agriculture in Taiwan' summarizes Taiwan's agricultural sector. As of 2023, agriculture accounts for 1.51% of GDP with an output value of roughly NT$35.1 billion; there were about 760,000 farm households in 2022, and food self-sufficiency stood at 35% in 2020. The article notes Taiwan's growing vertical farming sector, including iFarm in Taoyuan, described as Asia's largest vertical farm as of 2018.

· Wikipedia · Taiwan

The Wikipedia article on Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture traces its lineage: the Council of Agriculture was formed under the Executive Yuan in 1984, and in May 2023 the Legislative Yuan passed the Organic Act elevating it to full ministry status as the Ministry of Agriculture, overseeing agriculture, forestry, fishery, animal husbandry and food affairs.

Philadelphia Water Department · Philadelphia Water Department · United States

Philadelphia Water Department's 25-year plan (2011-2036) is required to reduce combined sewer overflow pollution by at least 85 percent. In its first decade the program installed more than 2,800 green tools across nearly 800 sites, keeping more than 2.7 billion gallons of polluted water out of waterways. The Schuylkill River alone is credited with $589.9 million in annual economic impact, 6,154 jobs, and $37.7 million in annual tax revenue.

Jeong D., Li L., Perez-Quesada G. · Choices Magazine (Agricultural & Applied Economics Association), 2nd Quarter 2026 · United States

An analysis of community garden siting through an environmental cost-benefit framework, organised around two direct costs (land and water) and two externalities (water pollution and gentrification). Cheap vacant parcels can carry remediation and infrastructure costs that exceed those of pricier development-ready sites over a garden's planning horizon, and in arid regions irrigation can be up to 34% of annual maintenance cost. On the externality side, weak nutrient management lets nitrogen and phosphorus accumulate and risk groundwater contamination, and community gardens can raise adjacent property values by 3–4% initially and around 7% within five years, potentially displacing the lower-income residents they are meant to serve. The authors note that the absence of a comprehensive geo-referenced inventory of community gardens — with establishment dates, tenure arrangements and management practices — constrains rigorous cost quantification and causal analysis.

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.

Plinth · Plinth · United Kingdom

Published 5 April 2026 and updated 14 June 2026. Full cost recovery means funders covering not only a project's direct costs but its proportional share of overheads — rent, finance, IT, HR and chief-executive time. The article works through an example where two of ten staff (20 per cent of capacity) deliver a project, so £28,000 of £140,000 in annual overheads is added to £85,000 of direct costs for a £113,000 budget, and notes that overhead rates of 15–25 per cent are common sector guidance. It argues that accepting grants below true cost is a structural funding problem rather than a budgeting error, with consequences including staff burnout and governance risk, and notes that charity staff earn roughly 7 per cent less per hour than equivalent roles elsewhere in the economy.

内閣府 · 内閣府 · Japan

A Cabinet Office page describing the work of the single nationwide 'designated utilisation organisation' appointed by the Prime Minister under Japan's Dormant Deposits Utilisation Act (Act No. 101 of 2016). The Japan Network for Public Interest Activities (JANPIA) was designated on 11 January 2019 and must draw up an annual business plan for Cabinet Office approval, then select, supervise, inspect and evaluate the intermediary distribution organisations. The page carries associated documents dated 28 December 2023 and 30 March 2026.

内閣府 · 内閣府 · Japan

An explanatory deck on Japan's dormant deposits scheme published by the Cabinet Office in July 2026. Dormant deposits are accounts untouched for ten years or more; the enabling act passed as a member's bill in December 2016 and grant-making began in fiscal 2019, with activity-support organisations and equity investment added from 2024 under the June 2023 amendment. Dormant deposits transferred rose from ¥137.4 billion in FY2021 to ¥187.1 billion in FY2025, repayments to depositors rose from ¥25.2 billion to ¥58.7 billion over the same period, and transfers to the designated utilisation organisation ranged from ¥8.7 billion to ¥7.4 billion. As of the end of April 2026, 373 intermediary distribution organisations and 1,550 executing organisations had taken part, with an average grant of ¥154 million per project at the intermediary level and ¥16.24 million at the executing level.

MDRC · MDRC · United States

A project page for ABLE (Adolescent Behavioral Learning Experience) at New York City's Rikers Island, the first US social impact bond. Goldman Sachs invested $9.6 million over four years, backed by a $7.2 million guarantee from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The programme served 16- to 18-year-olds, a group with a recidivism rate near 50 per cent within a year and more than 200 additional days in jail over six years, against a New York City incarceration cost above $85,000 per person per year. Cognitive behavioural therapy was cited as capable of cutting recidivism by up to 25 per cent, and the payment threshold was set at a 10 per cent reduction; a pilot ran February–June 2012 and full implementation from September 2012 to August 2015, with Moral Reconation Therapy delivered by The Osborne Association and Friends of Island Academy.

· Wikipedia · Global

The GIIN is a New York nonprofit founded in September 2009 by Amit Bouri and Antony Bugg-Levine, publicly unveiled on 25 September 2009 by Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative. It exists to scale and professionalise impact investing, running conferences and market research and managing the IRIS impact-measurement standards (launched 2009, succeeded by IRIS+ in 2019) and the Operating Principles for Impact Management. It had 421 member organisations as of June 2025, revenue of $16,484,237 and total assets of $16,968,824 in 2022, and 186 companies across 40 countries had signed the Operating Principles as of March 2025.

Zhao H., Wardropper C.B., Cao H., Campbell C.G., Chang N.-B., Qiu J. · npj Urban Sustainability · United States (South Florida)

A University of Florida (UF/IFAS) study of where public support for urban agriculture actually comes from, combining a survey of 1,000 adults across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties (in English and Spanish) with AI-assisted analysis of thousands of US news stories over the past decade. Support is not monolithic: different behaviours have different drivers. A sense of community connection predicts financial donations; hands-on gardening experience predicts volunteering; a sense of shared responsibility predicts buying local produce and backing policy. News interest has risen especially since COVID-19, and is strongest in Florida and West Coast states. The authors conclude that outreach tailored to the specific behaviour being sought works better than one uniform message.