Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
11393 results(111 / 456)
Embedding opportunities for poverty alleviation in urban green infrastructure design and management using South Africa as a case example
2024Charlie M. Shackleton, Peta Brom, Nanamhla Gwedla, Abraham R. Matamanda, Mallika Sardeshpande, Sopna Kumar-Nair · Cities · South Africa
Using South Africa as a case example, the study scored six types of urban green infrastructure (UGI) — amenity spaces, blue infrastructure, natural/semi-natural lands, urban parks, urban agriculture and verges — against five dimensions of poverty alleviation: cash or non-cash income, skills development and learning, physical and mental health, reduced vulnerability and risk, and participation in decision-making, rating current and future potential alongside the degree of change required. Urban agriculture was scored as having the highest current potential to contribute to poverty alleviation and verges the lowest, while parks and amenity spaces offered the greatest returns per effort and verges were identified as key sites for pro-poor intervention due to their wide distribution. Overall, the study concluded that greater investment and changes in the attitudes of authorities would have a bigger impact on poverty alleviation across all UGI types than changes to policy and procedure.
WelfarePolicyCommunityEconomicsSoil health and carbon storage in community gardens in the Perth metropolitan area, Australia
2024Haochen Zhao, James T. O’Connor, Sarah Zou, Zakaria M. Solaiman, Bede S. Mickan, Nanthi Bolan · Soil Use and Management · Australia
At six community gardens across three soil mapping units — calcareous deep sands, coloured sand and pale sands — in the Perth metropolitan area, Australia, soil samples were compared between cultivated raised beds and adjacent bare ground used as a control. Raised-bed soils showed lower bulk density, higher pH buffering capacity, more available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, greater cation exchange capacity, total carbon and microbial biomass than surrounding urban soil, and were estimated to have accumulated 0.55 kg of carbon per square meter (5.5 t/ha) in the top 10 cm, with no significant heavy metal contamination detected in any of the garden soils. The improved soil health and carbon storage were attributed mainly to regular application of compost produced within the gardens.
CommunityClimate changeOrganic cycleHeterogenic nature of guerrilla gardening
2024Agnieszka Gralińska–Toborek · Journal of AESTHETICS & CULTURE · Global
A discussion piece categorizes guerrilla gardening — the grassroots activity of planting vegetation in public spaces — into four types: gardening, activism, art and farming, each further subdivided into areas such as beautifying urban spaces, promoting social change, providing food, advancing education and building community. It notes that empirical research increasingly points to a discrepancy between the modest practice of gardeners and the more expansive expectations of theorists, symbolized by the movement's use of military terminology, and observes that research on guerrilla gardening lacks in-depth aesthetic reflection.
DIYCommunityPolicyAntibiotic resistance in urban soils: Dynamics and mitigation strategies
2024Annamaria Gentile, Luca Di Stasio, Gianmaria Oliva, Giovanni Vigliottá, Angela Cicatelli, Francesco Guarino, Werther Guidi Nissim, Massimo Labra, Stefano Castiglione · Environmental Research · Global
A review examines the dynamics of antibiotic resistance (AR) in urban soils, cataloguing multiple sources that introduce antibiotics into urban soil, including domestic wastewater, industrial effluent and urban agricultural practices, as well as microplastics and domestic animal excrement. It states that the selective pressure from these anthropogenic sources promotes the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria through horizontal gene transfer among soil microorganisms, poses a significant public health threat by potentially transferring resistance genes to human pathogens via direct contact, food consumption and water ingestion, and disrupts microbial community dynamics in ways that affect soil fertility, plant growth and overall environmental quality.
Contamination & food safetyHealthLand Use and Its Consequences
2024Madison Powers · · Global
This chapter surveys the food-security implications of agricultural land use, unsustainable features of widespread food production practices, and the debate over agricultural intensification versus extensification, then examines land use's consequences beyond the land itself for groundwater, surface water, oceans, ambient air quality, and planetary systems. It explains the causes of forest destruction and fragmentation driven by the global expansion of land used for "high-risk commodities," the linkage between deforestation and declining terrestrial biodiversity, and the global market dynamics driving both crises. It assesses socioeconomic and ecological shortcomings in some proposed nature-based solutions, showing that they perpetuate an unsustainable business-as-usual approach, and summarizes how these land-use issues are conceptualized as human-rights concerns and translated into policy proposals.
Environmental trade-offsPolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceURBAN LANDSCAPE DESIGN - A COMMUNITY-ORIENTED PROPOSAL FOR CRAIOVA OLD TOWN
2024Andreea Melinescu · Annals of the University of Craiova Series Biology Horticulture Food products processing technology Environmental engineering · Europe
This study focuses on designing a green space in the Old Town of Craiova, Romania. Using 3D landscaping software, a 270 m² area was designed with terraces covered in Wisteria sinensis, green walls, aromatic plants, and fruit trees, applying the Edible City Solutions concept, plus community-oriented elements such as a stage for events. The project is presented as a model for sustainable urban green spaces intended to enhance social interaction and environmental quality.
CommunityDIYPelatihan Hidroponik bagi Ibu-Ibu PKK untuk Menciptakan Kawasan Urban Farming
2024Ni’matul Istiqomah, Magistyo Purboyo Priambodo, Nur Anita Yunikawati, Wahjoedi Wahjoedi · International Journal of Community Service Learning · Indonesia
This report describes a hydroponic-farming training program for 35 women members of the PKK family-welfare movement in Kauman Kelurahan, Malang, Indonesia, aimed at upgrading skills in hydroponic cultivation on narrow land and reviving community activity that had stalled during the Covid-19 pandemic. The training combined socialization with hands-on demonstrations covering both standard hydroponic equipment (such as pipes) and methods using everyday household items, and it reports increased knowledge and skill in hydroponic cultivation among participants.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareAgroecologia, sociedade civil, políticas públicas e agroecologia urbana: a construção do Sistema Participativo de Garantia da Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte
2024Bruno Dias Magalhães, D. B. Almeida, Gabriel Mattos Ornelas, Lara Andrade Silva Viana, Flávia de Paula Duque Brasil, Carneiro, Ricardo José, 1955-, Fundação João Pinheiro, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Universidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, Fundação João Pinheiro, Fundação João Pinheiro, Fundação João Pinheiro · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil
An analysis of the process of building the Participatory Guarantee System (SPG) for organic/agroecological production in the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region (RMBH), Brazil. The SPG's construction traces back to 2004, driven mainly by social movements and civil society actors engaged with urban agroecology; in 2018 the Belo Horizonte municipal government initiated the first protocol of intentions to strengthen agroecology in the RMBH, creating an Inter-institutional Support Committee with SPG consolidation as one of its goals. The article traces this articulation trajectory, emphasizing civil society and social movements' role in what it frames as a "peri-institutional" space, examining how the Committee builds capacities as agroecology draws closer to the state, while also questioning how much real autonomy and agency the people who actually produce and sell within this arrangement retain.
PolicyCommunityOrganic cycleAgricultura Urbana: Funções e Potencialidades
2024C. HAURESKO · · Brazil
The available abstract text is fragmentary, breaking off mid-sentence after stating that "society, democracy, and sustainable development are taking on new and inspiring forms of struggle and adaptation" and that academic research on Latin America allows for a deeper understanding of the transformations and challenges its societies face. It does not contain specific content—methods or findings—about urban agriculture itself despite the title.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityParticipatory Demonstration and Evaluation of Bread Wheat and Teff Technologies: The Case of Urban Agriculture at Akaki Kaliti Sub-City in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2024Chernet Assefa, Addisu Getahun, Endale Mekonnen · Middle East Research Journal of Economics and Management · Ethiopia
A participatory demonstration conducted in three districts of the Akaki Kaliti sub-city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 2021/22 production year, in which a total of 61 farming households (47 male-headed, 14 female-headed) benefited, covering 14 hectares of bread wheat and 30 hectares of teff. The demonstrated technologies produced an average grain yield of 56.66 quintals/hectare for bread wheat and 22.16 quintals/hectare for teff, both higher than the national average. The study concludes that boosting agricultural production requires stakeholder attention to disseminating and adopting improved crop varieties with full production packages, using cluster farming to reduce poverty and ensure food security.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityEconomicsWelfareArtists invoke urban food security: Nature-based solutions when everything is imaginable
2024Linda Weintraub · Nature-Based Solutions · Global
This essay examines five contemporary artists whose works address urban food insecurity through individually and community-scaled, nature-based approaches rather than large-scale production and distribution systems. Analyzing both the content of the artists' food-related concerns and the unconventional strategies used to convey them, the essay argues these works are relevant to nature-based solutions (NBS) for urban food, noting some approaches appear suited to scaling up while others point to a need to relax regulations that inhibit experimentation.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityIn the Face of Climate Change and Food Insecurity in the Middle East and North African Regions
2024Tarek Ben Hassen, Hamid El Bilali · · Global
This book chapter combines bibliographical and topical analysis of scholarly and gray literature with case studies from Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries to examine the state of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) amid regional climate pressures — rising temperatures and frequent droughts damaging limited water resources and threatening agriculture and food security. The chapter reports that UPA in the region lacks adequate infrastructure and resources, including access to water, suitable land and equipment, and that in many MENA cities, the absence of government initiatives combined with land tenure problems and high land prices makes UPA less prevalent and less viable; it concludes that improved policy support and enabling regulations — including zoning rules and financial and technical support — are needed to expand UPA in the region.
Governance failurePolicyPeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeFiltration Systems in Fishery Aquaculture
2024Rioaldi Sugandhy, Ayi Yustianti, Yoga Nugraha, Rizky Prananda, Yuli Andriani · Indonesian Journal Of Aquaculture Medium · Indonesia
This literature-based, qualitative content-analysis study examined filtration systems used to maintain water quality in small-scale aquaculture ("urban farming" aimed at self-sufficient food security), covering mechanical media (cotton, dacron), biological media (bio balls, ceramic rings) and chemical media (activated carbon, zeolite). It found that the type of filter media used affects water quality, fish growth and survival, and that using vegetables as supplementary filtration also affected water quality.
CommunityHealthDigital agriculturePOTENSI PERTANIAN BERBASIS DUKUNGAN KOMUNITAS SEBAGAI SOLUSI PERSOALAN PETANI KECIL DI INDONESIA
2024Catharina Any Sulistyowati, Suraya Afiff, Muhammad Baiquni, Mia Siscawati · Analisis Kebijakan Pertanian · Indonesia
This literature study, drawing on Scopus-indexed social science journal articles on community-supported agriculture (CSA) published between 1994 and 2022, examined CSA's potential to address problems facing small farmers in Indonesia, including low income, low productivity, crop failure, price fluctuation, infertile land and debt bondage. It identifies financing the transition from chemical to sustainable agriculture, access to land, farmers' quality of life and farmers' capacity as key elements on the production side, and consumer motivation and awareness, member contributions, member inclusiveness and member sustainability as key elements on the consumer-support side, concluding that supporting institutional development and policy is also essential.
CommunityCSA & TeikeiEconomicsStrategi Penguatan Petani Milenial Melalui Budidaya Microgreens di Desa Cipayung
2024Regita Fatya Azzahra, Muhammad Iqbal Nurulhaq, Leonard Dharmawan · JURNAL PENYULUHAN PEMBANGUNAN · Indonesia
A qualitative descriptive study with SWOT analysis of millennial farmers in Desa Cipayung, Indonesia, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture's young-farmer program. It aims to identify the potential and problems facing these farmers and to formulate a group-strengthening strategy and farm-development program. The study proposes strategies such as drawing on field agricultural extension officers to optimize use of available land and natural resources, applying best agricultural practices, and directing millennial farmer group members toward microgreens production to meet market demand.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceDIYCreating Local “Citizen's Governance Spaces” in Austerity Contexts : Food Recuperation and Urban Gardening in Montréal (Canada) as Ways to Pragmatically Invent Alternatives
2024Laurence Bhérer, Pascale Dufour, Françoise Montambeault · Urban Affairs Review · Canada
A two-level analysis tracing the trajectory of urban gardening and dumpster diving/food recuperation practices in Montréal, Canada, from grassroots emergence to inclusion within institutional frameworks. Rather than treating citizen-led initiatives as either co-opted by formal institutions under austerity or as pure "spaces of resistance" to neoliberalism, the study shows that individuals and loosely organized collectives involved in these practices are embedded in complex relationships with local institutions and third-sector organizations, which in turn structure the practices and their consequences. It describes this institutionalization as occurring gradually, through practitioners' interactions with each other and with their social and institutional environment.
CommunityPolicyWelfareFood lossPenerapan Konsep Urban Farming Melalui Pemanfaatan Lahan Terbatas di Pemukiman Wilayah Perkotaan
2024Arta Kusumaningrum, Didik Widiyantono, Uswatun Hasanah, Dyah Panuntun Utami, Istiko Agus Wicaksono, Isna Windani · Surya Abdimas · Indonesia
Describes a community-service (pengabdian) activity introducing the concept of urban farming using limited urban residential space — pots arranged on walls and fences — to a Women Farmer Group (KWT) at Perum Pepabri Borokulon in Purworejo Regency, Indonesia. The activity combined secondary data collection, key-informant interviews, focus group discussion, extension training, implementation of urban farming, and monitoring and evaluation. It reports that urban farming proved suitable for implementation in this urban residential setting and that it could supply food at the household scale and increase household income for members of the women farmer group.
DIYCommunityWelfareUrban Agriculture: A Solution to Land Constraints Amidst Urbanization
2024Bambang Tri Kurnianto · West Science Nature and Technology · Global
A review article examining urban farming practices — including rooftop gardens, vertical farms and community gardens — as approaches to the land scarcity and food-security pressures of rapid urbanization. Drawing on case studies from cities worldwide, it discusses their reported role in improving food access, reducing carbon footprints and fostering social cohesion, and argues for integrating urban agriculture into urban planning together with supportive policy and community engagement. The article does not report original data, a defined study site, or quantified outcomes.
PolicyClimate changeWelfareFood sovereignty & justicePROYEK PENCEGAHAN STUNTING MELALUI EDUKASI PERTANIAN PERKOTAAN DAN PENGANEKARAGAMAN PANGAN PADA TINGKAT RUMAH TANGGA
2024Andree Wijaya Setiawan, Yohanes Hendro Agus, Nugraheni Widyawati, Endang Pudjihartati, Maria Marina Herawati, Suprihati Suprihati, Djoko Murdono, Kezia Natalia, Jonathan Galih Raka Kusuma, Sabrina Ayu, Exvaricha Exvaricha, Yuliana Pratiwi Asti · JMM (Jurnal Masyarakat Mandiri) · Indonesia
In Semarang Regency, Indonesia, a community-service programme delivered adult-learning (Andragogy) lectures and hands-on practice in urban-agriculture-based appropriate technologies to 50 participants, including high school students, high school teachers, PKK (family welfare) members and village officials, to address household-level stunting prevention. Post-activity questionnaire evaluation found 84% of participants gained knowledge related to the material, and 86% became skilled and wanted to apply what they had learned.
Food educationHealthDA VARANDA AO TELHADO: COMO A AGRICULTURA URBANA ESTÁ TRANSFORMANDO ESPAÇOS URBANOS
2024Raul Augusto Barroso, Otavio Neto · Revista Multidisciplinar do Nordeste Mineiro · Brazil
A literature review of scientific articles, established websites, books and magazines — searched online using keywords such as "urban agriculture," "urban gardens," "vertical gardens," "small-space agriculture" and "sustainable agriculture" — examined how urban agriculture is transforming urban spaces. An initial 622 related documents were identified and narrowed to the most recent (2021-2022), leaving 20 used in the analysis. The results show urban agriculture consolidating as a transformative force that shapes urban spaces beyond simple food production, providing both environmental and social benefits, promoting food security for participants and their communities, and making use of underused and often abandoned spaces.
CommunityPolicyPEMBELAJARAN DARI PENDAMPINGAN PEMANFAATAN RAIN GARDEN DAN ECO-ENZYME UNTUK AGROSILVOFISHERY DAN PEKARANGAN PANGAN LESTARI
2024Fitta Setiajiati · Cannarium · Indonesia
A community outreach and mentoring program in Kelurahan Mulyaharja, Bogor City, Indonesia, ran from September to October 2021 with members of the KWT Ciharashas women farmers group. After surveys and discussions with local officials, tourism managers and farmer groups, the team introduced rain garden installation and eco-enzyme production as low-cost urban farming methods, building a demonstration plot on farmer-group land. Residents who had not previously heard of rain gardens or eco-enzymes engaged enthusiastically, and the activity produced more optimal land use along with improvements in aesthetics and environmental health.
CommunityOrganic cycleNavigating the environmental, economic and social impacts of sustainable agriculture and food systems: a review
2024Rosli Muhammad NAIM, Maisarah Abdul MUTALIB, Aida Soraya SHAMSUDDIN, Mohd Nizam LANI, Indang Ariati ARIFFIN, Shirley Gee Hoon TANG · Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering · Global
A review article on sustainable agriculture and food systems characterizes sustainable agriculture as farming practices that meet immediate needs while preserving future generations' capacity to meet theirs, with sustained productivity, pollution reduction, and economic viability as primary aims. Drawing on existing research, it reports benefits including climate resilience, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved water quality, enhanced biodiversity, improved soil fertility, and stronger rural livelihoods, alongside challenges such as substantial transition costs, conflicting policy objectives, and the persistence of conventional methods. The review identifies strategies including agroforestry, agroecology, urban agriculture, farmer knowledge exchange, ecosystem-service payments, and shorter supply chains as ways to accelerate progress, contingent on appropriate policy and incentive support.
PolicyClimate changeEconomicsSeeds of change: fostering nutritional education through school kitchen gardens
2024Maira Mubashir, Romaina Iqbal, Sabahat Naz · Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association · Asia
A commentary in the Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association argues that 82% of adolescents are at risk of non-communicable diseases due to physical inactivity and low fruit and vegetable intake, citing a Karachi study in which schoolchildren's consumption of discretionary foods exceeded their vegetable intake. The piece presents school kitchen gardens as a strategy to promote dietary diversification and vegetable consumption, describing them as an interactive platform where children plant, tend, and harvest produce while learning about vegetable types, growth, and nutritional value, and cites a prior systematic review reporting improved children's knowledge of food, nutrition, gardening, and science.
Food educationHealthCommunityCharacteristics of urban milkweed gardens that influence monarch butterfly egg abundance
2024Karen R. Klinger, Aster F. Hasle, Karen S. Oberhauser · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · United States (New York City)
Working with community scientists in the Chicago metropolitan area, researchers monitored monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) eggs and caterpillars on milkweed patches in yards and community gardens. Peak egg counts per patch ranged from zero to 170 across observation years; patch age and the presence of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) affected whether eggs were present, and patches with the highest egg counts tended to have A. syriaca, more milkweed plants, and greater diversity of blooming nectar plants.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCommunityThe limits of right-sizing: analyzing social housing strategies in French shrinking cities
2024A. Fanny, António Ferreira, Paulo Conceição · Urban Geography · France
This paper analyzes social housing strategies grounded in "right-sizing"—including demolishing vacant housing, consolidating urban development, and converting vacant land into community gardens—in two shrinking French cities, Le Creusot and Montluçon. The analysis found that while both cities implement some quantitative adjustment of housing supply to demand, their actual strategies are considerably more complex, combining multiple synergistic lines of action, and the paper highlights that right-sizing as an analytical concept remains constrained by austerity principles.
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