Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
3241 results(109 / 130)
Low Carbon and Environmental Protection:A New Conception of Contemporary Western Cultural Movement of Agricultural Food
2012Zhu Qing-hai · Ecological Economy · Global
This paper describes a new cultural movement in agricultural food emerging in Western developed countries, driven by concerns over food safety, environmental pollution, global climate change, and inequality. This movement encompasses community-supported agriculture, food miles, and fair trade. These initiatives are presented as ensuring food safety, promoting regional economic development, safeguarding global fairness and justice, and influencing global environmental improvement.
CSA & TeikeiFood miles & supply chainClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPoultry Waste Management Techniques in Urban Agriculture and its Implications: A Case of Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria
2012Vide Adedayo · · Nigeria
A study of poultry waste management and utilization techniques in urban vegetable farms in metropolitan Lagos revealed that poultry waste is poorly collected, packaged, and transported. Proper knowledge on treatment is lacking due to insufficient skill, space, time, and capital. Furthermore, a significant difference was found between poultry waste utilization, crop yield, and revenue in the study area.
Governance failureOrganic cycleEconomicsCommunityortolocoZurich: Urban agriculture as an economy of solidarity
2012Marit Rosol, P. Schweizer · City · Switzerland (Zurich)
This paper investigated how urban agriculture projects based on Solidarity Economics principles can develop new economic forms as an alternative to neo-liberal capitalism, focusing on the Swiss gardening cooperative ortoloco. For two years, ortoloco, a peri-urban organic farm with explicit political aims beyond food supply, successfully applied and continuously developed these principles in its economic practice. The project demonstrates the potential for developing new economic forms based on solidarity.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePeri-urban agricultureUrban Agriculture Production Mode 2:Research and Development of Ornamental Vegetable
2012Yang Dan-ni · Journal of Changjiang Vegetables · Global
This paper examines the changing functions of vegetable production in urban agriculture and highlights the significance of promoting ornamental vegetable production and marketing. It proposes that the research and development of ornamental vegetables represents a viable urban agriculture production mode, facilitating cultivation shifts from rural areas to cities, enterprises to families, and fields to balconies. Key development areas include cultivar selection, equipment innovation, cultivation technology, marketing, and service system construction.
DIYEconomicsUrban–rural linkageGrowing alone, growing together, growing apart?: Reflections on the social organisation of voluntary urban food production in Britain
2012Richard Wiltshire, Louise Geoghegan · Research Portal (King's College London) · United Kingdom
This chapter explores the social organization of voluntary urban food production in Britain, identifying two dominant modes: collective activities and individual allotment gardens. It notes that the organization of unpaid labor is an under-researched aspect and a key restraint on urban agriculture's expansion. The study found that relations between these two modes can be antagonistic, particularly when land is scarce.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsOperational pattern and contribution of urban farming in an emerging megacity: evidence from Lagos, Nigeria
2012Mohamed Olaitan Lawal, Ibrahim Rotimi Aliu · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Nigeria (Lagos)
A study interviewed 202 urban vegetable farmers in four areas of Lagos, Nigeria, to understand urban farming operations and contributions. Farmers typically owned linear plots under 120m by 60m, primarily growing green vegetables (Celosia argientes) and using local tools, chemical fertilizers, and irrigation wells. They used produce for household consumption, sold to local marketers, and helped stabilize vegetable prices.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsThe Contribution of Women to Food Security and Livelihoods through Urban Agriculture in the City of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
2012Fungai Hamilton Mudzengerere · · Zimbabwe (Bulawayo)
This research investigated the contribution of women to food security and family livelihoods through urban agriculture in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Primary data collected through observations and interviews showed that women practice urban agriculture more than men and play a crucial role in household food security. While women make decisions on crop types, harvest times, and markets, they face challenges with land ownership, financing, and market access, which negatively affect their agricultural activities.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareEconomicsCommunityResearch on SWOT Analysis of Urban Agricul Development in Tongling and the Countermeasures
2012Tian Zhi-an · Science Technology and Industry · China (Tongling)
A SWOT analysis of urban agriculture development in Tongling City, China, found that the city's urban agriculture conditions are mature. The study recommends leveraging policy support, planning guidance, and scientific and technological support to accelerate its development.
PolicyEconomicsCommunitySustaining livelihoods under a changing climate: the case of urban agriculture in Lusaka, Zambia
2012Mulala Danny Simatele, Tony Binns, Munacinga Simatele · Journal of Environmental Planning and Management · Zambia (Lusaka)
This paper, based on recent field-based research in Lusaka, Zambia, examines the relationships between urban agriculture (UA) and extreme weather conditions, and their impact on the livelihood options of the urban poor. Despite its significance as a source of food and income in many sub-Saharan African cities, UA has not been integrated into urban development and planning policy and has come under increasing pressure from extreme weather events like droughts and flooding over the last two decades.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyEconomicsAnalysis and Optimization of the Industrial Structure in Quanzhou City with the “West Coast of the Taiwan Straits” as the Background
2012Qiu Yan · Journal of Quanzhou Normal University · China (Quanzhou)
This article analyzed Quanzhou City's past ten years of three production sectors, labor structure trends, and their influence on the Strait West Coast economic area's industrial structure. Using GDP proportion, contribution rate, structural similarity, and comparative labor productivity, it suggested that Quanzhou should optimize its industrial structure and promote cross-strait economic zone development. Optimization suggestions included advancing agricultural multi-function transformation, forming regional urban agriculture, fostering strategic emerging industries, and strengthening modern service industries.
EconomicsPolicyDiscussion on Tianjin urban fisheries' development
2012Huang Xue-qun · · China (Tianjin)
This paper analyzed the development status of Tianjin urban fishery, finding it to be in an early stage. Problems identified included a low level of industrial development, an unscientific development mode, and weak innovation capability. The study proposed development paths and measures for industrial transformation and upgrading.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyCommunityAnalysis Based on Diamond Model of Nanchang Urban Modern Agriculture Competitiveness
2012Wenjuan Hu · Tianjin Agricultural Sciences · China (Nanchang)
This paper analyzed the competitive power of Nanchang urban agriculture using the Diamond model. The analysis considered production factors, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, business strategies and structure, and horizontal competition. The study presented countermeasures and suggestions, including developing low-carbon agriculture and optimizing organizational forms.
EconomicsPolicyClimate change地域固有の食文化が観光の対象となるまでの形成過程に関する一考察：大和の伝統野菜を事例として
2011Katakami T. · 観光研究 (Journal of the Japan Institute of Tourism Research) · Japan
Using Yamato traditional vegetables, examines the process by which place-specific food culture becomes a tourism resource, stressing the role of key persons creatively managing how the culture is supplied to others.
Heirloom & landraceCommunityEconomicsFood educationUrban agriculture and poverty reduction: Evaluating how food production in cities contributes to food security, employment and income in Malawi
2011Mkwambisi D. D., Fraser E. D. G., Dougill A. J. · Journal of International Development 23(2):181-203 · Malawi
Evaluates how urban food production in Malawi contributes to food security, employment and income, showing its role as a livelihood strategy for the poor while identifying constraints in land, inputs and institutional support.
EconomicsWelfarePeri-urbanisation and multifunctional adaptation of agriculture around Copenhagen
2011Zasada, I., Fertner, C., Piorr, A., Nielsen, T.A.S. · Geografisk Tidsskrift–Danish Journal of Geography 111(1), 59–72 · Denmark
A regression analysis of peri-urban agriculture around Copenhagen, showing that different urbanization processes shape the spatial distribution of multifunctional adaptation strategies (leisure- and environment-oriented).
EconomicsSustainable Urban Agriculture in Cuba
2011Koont S. · University Press of Florida (Contemporary Cuba series) · Cuba
This book provides a comprehensive account of Cuba's world-leading sustainable urban agriculture program, documenting a thousand-fold increase in urban agricultural output since 1994 and analyzing how government organizational infrastructure and human capital investment enabled this transformation.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsOrganic cycleNourishing women: toward a feminist political ecology of community supported agriculture in the United States
2011Lucy Jarosz · Gender Place & Culture · United States
This article examines the motivations of women farmers involved in community supported agriculture (CSA) in a US metropolitan region, based on interviews. It argues that these women's motivations reflect an ethics of care, centering their work on nourishing themselves and others. Their choices are shaped by the urban context, race, and middle-class status, expressing self-care and a post-capitalist politics that challenges neoliberal subject formation.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsSafe food, green food, good food: Chinese Community Supported Agriculture and the rising middle class
2011Yan Shi, Cunwang Cheng, Peng Lei, Tiejun Wen, Caroline Merrifield · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · China (Beijing)
This paper examined the relationship between the Chinese middle class and sustainable agriculture, from the perspective of establishing and operating Beijing's first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, amidst growing middle-class interest in "green" and sustainable food. The study discussed the farm's environmental and institutional sustainability, and explored the potential for future success with CSA models in China based on evidence from this case.
CSA & TeikeiFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsClimate changeLegitimating community supported agriculture through American pastoralist ideology
2011Melea Press, Eric J. Arnould · Journal of Consumer Culture · United States
This study examines how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs gained legitimacy as a market form in the United States, using a socio-historical lens. It argues that American pastoralist ideology, linking historical agrarian ideals with modern CSAs, helped integrate them into the mainstream. The research suggests that the Internet further aided this legitimation by fostering personal commercial communications and de-massification, reinforcing egalitarian principles and community perceptions central to pastoralist ideology while masking cultural contradictions.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsCross-Location Analysis of the Impact of Household Socioeconomic Status on Participation in Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in West Africa
2011Luc Hippolyte Dossa, Andreas Buerkert, Eva Schlecht · Human Ecology · Sub-Saharan Africa
A study surveyed 700 randomly selected households across Kano (Nigeria), Bobo Dioulasso (Burkina Faso), and Sikasso (Mali) to explore the relationship between household socioeconomic status (SES) and participation in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). The results showed no significant differences in UPA participation rates across socioeconomic groups. Instead, UPA participation was significantly and positively related to household size.
Limited or null effectUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsWelfareAllotment Gardens: A Reflection of History, Heritage, Community and Self
2011Lesley Acton · Papers from the Institute of Archaeology · Global
This article examines the changing demand for allotment gardens and the motivations of plot holders, refuting the assumption that economic reasons are primary. It finds that while allotments have historically alleviated hunger, the social aspect primarily motivates most plot holders. Allotments are valued by individuals and collectives as part of history and cultural heritage.
CommunityWelfareEconomicsThe Contribution of Agricultural Land to Urban Resilience: Reflections from Russia
2011Louiza M. Boukharaeva, Marcel Marloie · Espaces et sociétés · Russia
In Russia, the collective management of urban gardens provides places for relaxation and food production, attracting all population categories. These gardens are considered socially compensatory, stabilizing, and therapeutic, acting as shock absorbers for social, economic, and food crises.
Urban–rural linkageCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHealthEconomicsCommunity Supported Agriculture in the Urban Fringe: Empirical Evidence for Project Feasibility in the Metropolitan Area of Naples (Italy)
2011Gianni Cicia, Francesca Colantuoni, Del Giudice Teresa, Stefano Pascucci · International journal on food system dynamics · Italy
This study analyzed the effects of urbanization on farm land use and organization in the protected area of the Campi Flegrei Regional Park, a peri-urban rural area in the Neapolitan metropolitan area. Researchers distinguished farms into three behavioral-social groups based on specific features to identify the best-suited type for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) implementation. A market scenario was predicted for each group without intervention.
CSA & TeikeiPeri-urban agricultureEconomicsGreening Buffalo's Vacant Lots
2011Chris Szczygiel · eCommons (Cornell University) · United States (Buffalo)
Greening vacant lots is one of the most cost-effective ways for the city of Buffalo to improve its neighborhoods. A program to clean up, green up, and maintain vacant lots can combat blight, raise property values and tax revenue, lower crime rates, and improve residents' quality of life. Greening lots can provide various community benefits, including jobs, educational opportunities, and a local source of fresh, nutritious food.
CommunityEconomicsFood educationHealthFarmers' Professional Cooperative Organization is Important Industrial Organization to Develop Modern Urban Agriculture——A Case Study in Wuhan,Central City in Central China
2011Yang Yu-xian · Huazhong Nongye Daxue xuebao · China (Wuhan)
This paper investigates farmers' professional cooperative organizations in Wuhan, China, examining their social basis, characteristics, and organizational forms. It identifies these cooperatives as a new type of rural economic organization and an effective vehicle for modern urban agriculture. The study concludes that developing such organizations is necessary for them to become an important industrial basis for modern urban agriculture and rural areas.
CommunityEconomicsPolicy