Research & reports

Julian Hasford, Sheldon Caruana · Canadian Journal of Children s Rights / Revue canadienne des droits des enfants · Canada

A reflective piece on the experience of mobilizing Black youth in food sovereignty activism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Authors who were part of the project's leadership team present personal narratives describing the process of establishing a Black youth-led farm project in southern Ontario, Canada, and reflect on lessons learned, including challenges of engaging in youth-led projects within the constraints of virtual spaces.

Hongya Tang · Journal of Architectural Research and Development · Global

A conceptual paper examining the aesthetic education function of urban agricultural landscape. It argues that urban agricultural landscape carries a distinct local aesthetic value expressed mainly through the beauty of traditional agricultural skills, agricultural landscapes, and agricultural activities, and classifies its vernacular aesthetic education development into three modes based on differing ways people interact with the environment: a viewing mode, short-time contact, and long-time immersion.

Neven Tandarić, Charles Watkins, Christopher D. Ives · Urban forestry & urban greening · Europe

Interviewing users of community and allotment gardens in Zagreb, Croatia, this study explored motivations for gardening and how different forms of garden management shape the generation of cultural ecosystem services (CES), supplementing and contextualizing responses with interviews of urban planners, academics, and gardening activists. Using the Fish et al. (2016) framework to identify CES in interviews, the study grouped gardeners' motivations into six categories: escape, usefulness and tradition, home-grown produce, socializing, wellness, and private oasis. Food production was found to be only of secondary importance as a motivator of urban gardening.

Ana María Bartolomé Sualdea, Beatriz Urbano · Revista española de estudios agrosociales y pesqueros/Revista española de estudios agrosociales y pesqueros · Spain

A case study of Palencia, in Castilla y León, Spain, analyzes urban agriculture's potential to address new challenges facing cities. It examines the challenges set out in the city's Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategy (EDUSI) and urban agriculture's possible contribution to them, calculates the potential from recovering abandoned horticultural land using geographic information system agricultural data, and conducts semi-structured surveys and site visits with managers of urban agriculture initiatives. Results show a drastic decline in horticultural land in Palencia city alongside large multifunctional recovery potential, but existing urban agriculture experiences indicate a need for dedicated managers, detailed analysis of usable agricultural land, resolution of land allocation, and greater support and regulation to develop urban farming models serving social, occupational, leisure, participatory and productive functions.

Ezra Spira-Cohen · The Latin Americanist · Brazil

Using Brazil's Council on Food and Nutritional Security (Consea) as a case, this study examines how participatory institutions affect policy implementation. In Rio de Janeiro, a coalition of civil society actors mobilized around urban agriculture through the Municipal Consea, reframing and reinterpreting national directives originally oriented toward rural family farming, which resulted in the expansion and implementation of these programs and altered the relationship between urban farmers and institutional actors. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2015-2016 consisting of interviews and participatory observation, the research analyzes the role of this local participatory institution in fostering civil society collaboration, state-society relations, and institutional change.

Indiyah Murwani, Siti Muslikah, Siti Asmaniyah Mardiyani · Cendekia Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community service program in RW VI, Jatimulyo sub-district, Malang, Indonesia, aimed to make productive, economic use of yards that had been largely unused for planting, by improving housewives' knowledge and skills in organic vegetable cultivation to strengthen local food security. Structured in introduction, implementation and evaluation phases, the urban farming training received a positive and enthusiastic response from local residents, who reported benefits to health, psychological well-being and household economy, described vegetable growing as easy, enjoyable, healthy and cost-reducing, and noted the area had become greener than before.

Luz Andrea Táutiva-Merchán, Tomás Enrique León-Sicard, María Fernanda Garrido Rubiano · Agricultura Sociedad y Desarrollo · Colombia

A study of three existing urban agriculture demonstration spaces run by the Colombian Corporation for Agricultural Research (AGROSAVIA) in the departments of Córdoba, Cundinamarca and Nariño, Colombia, characterized their economic, social, institutional and technological features and analyzed participants' perceptions of training workshops held between 2015 and 2016. Based on 17 semi-structured interviews, 64 online surveys and the systematization of two collaborative-construction workshops with external actors, the study developed a proposal centered on experience exchange directed mainly at women (66%) and students aged 18-28 (30%), and suggested community activities in "satellite" spaces focused on recovering knowledge and collaborative research, supported by four lines of action: knowledge exchange, co-innovation, dissemination, and training.

Celia Martínez Hidalgo, Jesús Ángel Martínez, Germán Camino · Institutional Repository of the University of Granada (University of Granada) · Spain

This is a description of the LIFE Lugo + Biodinámico project in Lugo, Spain, which uses a climate-adaptation urban-planning strategy intended to let Lugo — and, by extension, other mid-sized European cities — adapt resiliently to climate change. Framed around UN environmental objectives for resilient and sustainable cities, the project's actions include establishing an urban forest, designing Spain's first "multi-ecological neighborhood," constructing Spain's first public building built with Galician timber, and compiling a catalog of sustainable urban design solutions intended for export to other European cities. Among its 28 interrelated actions, the urban-agriculture component involves creating ground-level and vertical vegetable-garden zones within the neighborhood as spaces for both social interaction and food production, and a pilot initiative called "Impulso Verde" examines construction and planning measures intended to contribute to passive carbon sequestration.

Diep, Vu Bach, Dinh Hong Linh, Mai Viet Anh, Điep, Vu Bach · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

Against a backdrop of continuously shrinking agricultural land as it gives way to urban and industrial development, this article analyzes models of urban agriculture development in Thai Nguyen, a province in Vietnam's northern midland and mountainous region with strengths in urban agriculture, using descriptive, comparative, and analytical statistical methods over the period 2015–2020.

Judy Orton · Digital Archive @ GSU · United States

Two studies examined ecology-centered experiences — experiences with living things — among children and adolescents in the United States. Study 1 was a yearlong ethnographic study at an urban community garden in a large city in the southeastern United States, finding through participant observation and informal interviews with staff and participants that children had opportunities to learn about ecology through such experiences. Study 2 found that ecological thought — a pattern of thinking that privileges relationships between living things — did not predict environmental attitudes and behaviors, and that while ecology-centered experiences alone did predict environmental attitudes and behaviors, this predictive relationship disappeared once environmental responsibility support was taken into account.

Brandy Phipps, Brian Kowalkowski, Jeremy Wescott, McFadden Brandon, Craig Schluttenhofer, K. V. Nedunuri · Current Developments in Nutrition · United States

A study protocol for measuring the impact of a "farm-to-fork" program on food security and nutrition among the Menominee Nation, located on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin, United States. A 2015 Community Food Assessment found 73% of respondents cited hunger as a concern, and the county ranks last in the state for both food security and health outcomes, while 65% of respondents expressed interest in growing their own food if assistance were available. The protocol plans four years of interventions including a new aquaponics facility and education programming at farmers' markets, using pre- and post-surveys plus county health data to measure production, self-efficacy and nutrient intake; it hypothesizes increases in production, self-efficacy and consumption of nutrient-dense foods, but results are not yet reported.

Clive L. Spash, Andreas Exner, Stephanie Arzberger, Livia Cepoiu, Carla Weinzierl · WU Research · Europe

A study analyzing how edible city initiatives emerge, who creates, supports or impedes them, and how they develop, focusing on the relationships between city administration/government actors and civil society. Based on interviews with city administration, government and civil society actors and case comparisons drawing on media reports from Austria, Germany and France, it found that unlike community gardens, the City of Vienna does not yet substantially support the edible city idea. It concludes that edible city initiatives emerging from joint activity between city administrations/governments and civil society actors have the greatest potential to foster civic action and collective empowerment.

Concepción Santiago Cubas, Concepción Paredes Gil · Modern Environmental Science and Engineering · Spain

A study on Gran Canaria, Spain co-composted municipal and agricultural plant residues with three manure types — chicken, goat and cow — in an open dynamic windrow system of three trapezoidal piles (1.5 m high, 2.5 m wide, 16 m long), mixed at 37.6% straw, 32.7% manure and 29.7% pruning residue by fresh weight. Temperature, humidity and physico-chemical parameters were tracked through the process. All three piles reached the sanitation threshold required by regulation (≥60°C for at least 7 days) and produced compost suitable for agricultural use.

Monika Egerer · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · Germany

Researchers documented Lasioglossum limbellum, a bee species not previously recorded in the Berlin, Germany region, in a community garden built on concrete slabs and planted with annual and perennial vegetation. The species nests in cavities in soft rock cliffs, a habitat that does not functionally exist in urban areas, making its presence in the garden notable; the report presents the discovery as a basis for further research on wild-bee diversity and distribution changes in urban areas.

Lucia Masón, Lucia Manzione, Angelica Ronconi, Francesca Pazzaglia · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Europe

A within-subjects study of 65 second- and third-grade students in Europe compared a single regular lesson taught in a green school garden with a similar lesson taught in the classroom. Cognitive measures were selective and sustained attention and math calculation performance; affective measures were positive/negative mood and perceived environmental restorativeness. After the green-space lesson, children showed greater selective attention and better math calculation performance on two tasks than after the classroom lesson. Children with higher self-reported emotional difficulties showed a larger increase in selective attention, a statistically significant increase in positive affect, and a near-significant decrease in negative affect. Students also rated the green space as more restorative than the classroom.

Selly Oktarina, Sumardjo Sumardjo, Ninuk Purnaningsih, Dwi Retno Hapsari · Nyimak Journal of Communication · Indonesia

An explanatory survey study analyzed participatory communication among women farmers in the urban farming program in Bogor City and Bogor Regency, Indonesia, and the factors affecting it. Using a quantitative approach supported by qualitative data, data were collected from 231 women farmer respondents via cluster sampling across urban, semi-urban and rural clusters, and analyzed using scoring, difference tests, and structural equation modelling (SEM). Results show that the level of participatory communication in the urban farming program was medium, as measured by dialogue atmosphere, dialogue participation, and degree of convergence. Factors significantly influencing participatory communication were respondent characteristics, champion/facilitator competence, exposure to media communication, and institutional support.

Christopher Young, Nicole Bauer · Urban forestry & urban greening · Europe

This mixed-methods study examined the experience and effects of allotment garden loss among gardeners in Zurich, Switzerland, using field conversations with gardeners from an area slated for clearance and a natural experiment surveying the same gardener population before (2018) and after (2019) the clearance to measure effects on social networks, social support, and general and mental health. Qualitative analysis showed the (imminent) loss of the garden was a distressing experience for most participants, corroborated by descriptive survey results; ANCOVA models of the quantitative data supported a negative effect of garden loss on the number of social contacts and on emotional well-being, but not on other factors measured.

Athalla Rania Insyra, Annisa Rahmani Qastharin · Asian Journal of Research in Business and Management · Indonesia

Using PLS-SEM, this study analyzed how online social-media activities affect consumer attitude and willingness to pay for green products, taking the Indonesian startup PLUS, which sells a planting-kit green product tied to the growth of urban farming in Indonesia, as its case. Survey responses from 228 Indonesian men and women who had bought or engaged with green products via social media showed that entertainment, interaction, trendiness and word-of-mouth in social-media marketing had a significant positive effect on attitude toward green products, while customization was not a significant predictor of consumer attitude; positive attitude in turn had a significant positive effect on willingness to pay.

Kate A. Congreves · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems ·

An opinion article published in the Urban Agriculture section of Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems on 19 August 2022. The available abstract contains only bibliographic information, with no stated study details or findings on urban horticulture.

Yuliana Bhara Mberu, Robertus Mas Rayawulan, Marchiani Rosario Seran · ATRIUM - Jurnal Arsitektur · Indonesia

A qualitative descriptive study examined the use of the open space between two road lanes on Frans Seda Street in Fatululi, Kupang City (population 423,800 across 6 sub-districts and 51 urban villages), the capital of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, where local residents grow vegetables. Data were collected through direct observation, interviews and literature review. The space is planted with both ornamental and food crops, and the study describes it as an example of urban agriculture during the Covid-19 outbreak that realizes ecological, economic, socio-cultural and aesthetic functions.

Ana Spataru, Robert Faggian, Victor A Sposito · International Journal of Agricultural Resources Governance and Ecology · Global

A paper proposing a comprehensive conceptual framework for assessing metropolitan peri-urban agriculture. It argues that peri-urban agriculture provides non-commodity benefits — food security, farm viability, environmental stewardship, and landscape and socio-cultural preservation — that free markets under-recognize, and that the double vulnerability created by urban pressure and systemic agricultural change has led to myopic policy interventions. The proposed framework integrates the concepts of multifunctional agriculture, resilience, climate-smart agriculture and alternative food networks into 21 enabling features across five dimensions.

S. Alan Walters, Christina Gajewski, Amir Sadeghpour, John W. Groninger · Climate · United States

An experiment at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, USA, evaluated culinary herb production on an extensive green roof (about 8 cm deep) under twice-weekly, weekly, and fortnightly watering (1 L per plant), testing perennial garlic chives, lavender, lemon balm, and winter thyme, plus annual basil. All perennial herbs produced more dry biomass and greater overwintering potential under the two more frequent watering schedules, and basil grew well with weekly watering, but weekly watering was required across all perennial herbs to achieve commercially viable growth, vigor, and overwinter survival.

M. Noor Salim, Edi Wibowo, Darwati Susilastuti, Tungga Buana Diana · International Journal of Science and Society · Indonesia

Based on a survey of 112 residents engaged in urban agriculture in Jakarta City, Indonesia, this study analyzed how economic, health, and environmental variables affect community expectations for participation in sustainable urban farming. All three variables, both individually and jointly, positively influenced participation expectations, with an adjusted R-squared of 0.704 — the study reports that 70.4% of variation in community participation expectations is explained by economic factors, with the remainder attributed to health and other environmental factors.

Darwati Susilastuti, Aditiameri, Vivi Lusia · Jurnal Bakti Masyarakat Indonesia · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This community-outreach report addresses RW 01 in Cipinang Melayu, East Jakarta, Indonesia, where residents were running separate, unintegrated, low-productivity activities on land under the Becakayu Toll Road — hydroponic vegetables, catfish and tilapia farming, chicken and pigeon raising, horticulture, and seasonal crops including turi (Sesbania grandiflora) grown as a fence plant. Through outreach that taught participants the integrated farming system (IFS) concept and helped them build an IFS map, and by introducing turi as a liquid organic fertilizer, feed supplement, and compost, the yield of mustard plants increased by 100%.

Nur Bahiah Mohamed Haris, Nur Amanina Yunus, Jasmin Arif Shah · International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences · Malaysia

A structured questionnaire (via Google Form) using simple random sampling surveyed 353 participants across Peninsular Malaysia, applying the Community Readiness Model (CRM) framework and analyzing the data in IBM SPSS (version 26) to assess levels of the independent variables knowledge, attitude, and leadership alongside community readiness for urban farming practices. Levels of all three independent variables and of community readiness were high, and knowledge, attitude, and leadership each contributed significantly to community readiness.