Research & reports

Tazrina Ananya, Yousuf Mahid, Afia Sultana Shanta, Roxana Hafiz · Journal of Bangladesh Institute of Planners · Bangladesh (Dhaka)

This study aimed to determine the suitability of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in the DMDP area of Bangladesh, focusing on Gazipur, Kaliganj, Rupganj, and Narayanganj Upazilas. UPA is considered a key component of survival strategies for poorer populations, contributing significantly to urban fresh food supply, and offering positive impacts such as improved nutrition, enhanced living environments, increased entrepreneurship, and poverty alleviation.

Brian R. Stockwell, I. Layden, Zebedee Nicholls, Jennifer Carter · Australasian Journal of Environmental Management · Australia

A four-year action research project in Australia's Pumicestone catchment developed and implemented the FarmFLOW framework to address rural diffuse pollution in peri-urban agricultural catchments. This framework was designed for catchments with diverse land uses. The project achieved its target of 30% of producers adopting all recommended best management practices, and over 80% began adopting new practices to reduce off-site nutrient movement by 2011. This resulted in social and economic benefits for producers and a reduced risk of chronic algal blooms in receiving waters.

Isabel María Madaleno, Gladys Armijo · Investigaciones Geográficas Boletín del Instituto de Geografía · Chile (Santiago de Chile), Portugal (Lisboa)

This study compared intra- and peri-urban agriculture in Santiago de Chile and Lisbon, Portugal, two capitals with similar climates. The research utilized satellite images, statistics, and sampling to analyze public policies that support primary sector activities in these urban environments. The objective was to identify similarities and differences in how urban agriculture contributes to social, economic, and environmental sustainability in these cities.

Evaristo Mwaba Kapungwe · Indonesian Journal of Biotechnology (Universitas Gadjah Mada) · Zambia

This study investigated farming practices related to heavy metal contaminated wastewater irrigated farming in two peri-urban areas of Zambia: New Farm in Mufulira and Chilumba Gardens in Kafue. Data was collected by observing crop cultivation activities at field plots along transects in stratified land zones. The results revealed that farming practices were characterized by traditional land management and multiple cropping systems, influenced by agro-ecological factors and the availability of heavy metal contaminated wastewater, which has the potential to contaminate soils and crops.

Chris Beer · Australian Planner · Australia

This paper examines how food security is conceptualized in Australian urban planning debates, focusing on urban and peri-urban agriculture and consumer access to healthy food. It argues these dimensions relate to planning's management of risk and freedom within liberal polities. The paper discusses tensions between scarcity, fear, affluence, and normative values in urban planning.

Désiré Jean‐Pascal Lompo, Sheick Sangaré, Emmanuel Compaoré, Michel Papoada Sedogo, Martina Předotová, Eva Schlecht, Andreas Buerkert · Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science · Burkina Faso (Bobo-Dioulasso)

This study determined horizontal fluxes of N, P, K, and C, and gaseous N and C emissions in two urban vegetable gardens in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, from March 2008 to March 2009. Emission rates peaked after fertilizer applications during hot midday hours, with annual gaseous N and C losses reaching 419 kg N ha−1 and 35862 kg C ha−1 at Kodéni, and 347 kg N ha−1 and 22364 kg C ha−1 at Kuinima. Ammonia emissions accounted for 73% and 77% of total estimated N losses, suggesting that nutrient management practices could benefit from better synchronizing nutrient-input rates with crop demands.

Xin Guan · Economic Research Guide · Global

This discussion emphasizes the necessity of village renovation planning in metropolitan rural outskirts, particularly when combined with new land use and urban village layout plans. It outlines five key considerations for such planning: linking with upper-level plans without direct copying, breaking village ownership boundaries to accelerate land transfer, promoting intensive land use and moving away from canal irrigation, planning for agricultural development to lead urban agriculture trends, and coordinating short-term and long-term goals while retaining flexible space.

Marit 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.

Abdullah Adam-Bradford, Duncan McGregor, Dávid Simon · · Ghana (Kumasi)

Rapid urbanization in Kumasi, Ghana, and its peri-urban areas leads to significant pollution and waste disposal problems, exacerbated by rapid growth, poverty, and weak local governance. Waste management services are rarely provided in these peri-urban areas despite increasing settlement densities. Community-based strategies promoting nutrient recycling, such as converting organic waste into compost for urban and peri-urban agriculture, offer opportunities to address these issues.

Andrea Calori · TERRITORIO · Global

The essay traces how agriculture has long been part of the urban planning policies of many cities and international institutions, while noting that agriculture and rural development only recently entered planning debates, delayed as part of the broader development of planning shaped by the 'overcoming of the rural' made explicit by 'modern' development. It connects several key turning points in how the role of the rural has been reconstructed globally in recent decades, offering new content for future action plans.

P. W. Mashela, K. M. Pofu, B. Nzanza · Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B - Soil & Plant Science · Global

To test whether cabbage (Brassica oleracea) leaves -- widely available as market waste in peri-urban agriculture -- could be used in a ground leaching technology (GLT) system to manage root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) and improve tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) growth, researchers ran a 2x2x2 factorial experiment combining Bacillus species, Brassica leaf extract, and nematode presence across two seasons under microplot conditions. At harvest, the Bacillus x Brassica x nematode interaction reduced final nematode population density, fresh fruit yield, dry shoot mass, plant height, and stem diameter, while the Bacillus x Brassica interaction increased tomato growth variables; Brassica alone reduced tomato productivity, and overall the extract's efficacy depended on microbial activity, leading the authors to conclude the material was not suitable for use in GLT systems.

Simon Mariwah, Jan-Olof Drangert · Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy · Ghana

A study in a peri-urban agricultural community in Ghana explored attitudes towards sanitized human excreta as fertilizer, collecting data from 154 households. It found a general negative attitude towards fresh excreta and its handling. While residents accepted excreta could be used as fertilizer, they were unwilling to use it on their own crops or consume such fertilized crops.

Gerald Forkuor, Olufunke Cofie · International Journal of Remote Sensing · Sierra Leone (Freetown)

A land-use and land-cover (LULC) change mapping exercise in Freetown, Sierra Leone, used multi-temporal Landsat data from 1974, 1986, and 2000 to map nine LULC classes. Built-up areas increased by at least 140% between 1974 and 2000, and 882 ha (27%) of agricultural lands in 1986 were converted to residential purposes by 2000. These conversions indicate a strong link between urbanization, agriculture, and deforestation, negatively impacting agricultural land availability.

Zikrullah Safi, Martina Předotová, Eva Schlecht, Andreas Buerkert · Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science · Afghanistan (Kabul)

A two-year study in Kabul, Afghanistan, measured horizontal flows of C, N, P, and K, and leaching losses of N and P in 21 vegetable gardens, 18 cereal fields, and vineyards. The findings suggest that soils in extensive cereal fields are at risk of N and K depletion, vegetable gardens face K depletion, and vineyards may be oversupplied with nutrients, potentially contributing to groundwater contamination. These results merit verification.

Michael D. Howard · Design Principles and Practices An International Journal—Annual Review · Australia (Melbourne)

This case study explores potential new land-use patterns in under-utilized spaces within an intensive horticultural region in peri-urban Melbourne, Victoria, where a mismatch between title boundaries and commercial production methods has created redundant land. The project aimed to increase efficiency, introduce cross-programming, and develop a recreation strategy. It offers a design framework for reorienting land use while preserving the unique qualities of such places.

Eckhard Hein, TW Kabore, A. Bilgo, SN Sall, Dominique Massé · International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences · Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou)

This study evaluated the impact of untreated municipal solid waste (MSW) on soil properties in peri-urban agricultural fields near Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Soils receiving MSW for 7 to 20 years showed up to a two-fold increase in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content, with older fields having higher increases. While microbial biomass was significantly higher in MSW-fertilized soils, microbial activity and catabolic diversity were not significantly different.

Rachel Carey, Fanny Krumholz, Kena Duignan, Kathy McConell, Jessica L. Browne, Catherine Burns, Mark Lawrence · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Australia (Victoria)

This policy analysis examined fruit and vegetable production in peri-urban areas of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It highlights that environmental pressures, the loss and cost of peri-urban agricultural land, and a cost-price squeeze due to rising input costs and low farm-gate prices combine to threaten the viability of the Victorian fruit and vegetable industries. These pressures suggest that the availability and affordability of fruit and vegetable supplies cannot be taken for granted.

Marie-Christine Zélem, Zelem, Marie-Christine · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Senegal (Dakar)

This study identifies numerous constraints hindering the widespread adoption of organic waste utilization in agriculture in the peri-urban area of Dakar, Senegal. These constraints include the nature, availability, and accessibility of organic waste, poorly controlled urbanization, effects of seasonal variation, resistance to changes, and medical risks. The project, which combines agriculture with city waste management, faces these challenges.

Duncan Hilchey · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global

Volume 1, issue 3 of this electronic journal presents open-call papers on food and agriculture-based community development, alongside a supplementary collection on urban and peri-urban agriculture. These papers, including the first published from Asia, Australia, and Africa, contribute to the breadth of topics covered in the journal.

Gerald Forkuor, Pay Drechsel, Olufunke Cofie · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Ghana

With land zoning for urban farming remaining a major obstacle to urban and peri-urban agriculture in most developing countries, a study used Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and multi-criteria analysis to demonstrate how city authorities can integrate farming into their planning. The study was conducted in five districts in and around Ghana's capital city, creating spatial layers representing six influencing factors. Results show that, of the five districts, Tema municipality has the highest percentage of land suitable for agriculture, while Akuapim South has the lowest.

Borce Dimeski, Philip O’Neill, Sarah James · · Australia

This historical analysis examines the reliability of Sydney-region agricultural data by reviewing Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and non-ABS reports on the Sydney area, including the Gosford and Wyong local government areas, from 1992 to 2009. It finds that although the ABS is widely regarded as the most reliable source for Australia's agricultural data generally, this has not held true for Sydney, where non-ABS reports have repeatedly questioned undercounting of small-scale peri-urban farms, particularly underestimates of the value and number of farms in the fresh vegetable industry; this pushed for methodology changes in the 2005-06 agricultural census that led to substantial upward revisions in ABS estimates of the value, area and number of Sydney farms.

Geoffrey Ross Owens · Africa · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

This article, using ethnographic and historical approaches, examines unplanned peri-urban settlements on Dar es Salaam's northern and western fringe, Tanzania, between 1975 and 2000. These districts were established by educated urban professionals who used urban farming as an economic diversification strategy. The study found that these settlements contributed to the reproduction of socio-economic inequality, attracting additional economically influential urban in-migrants after 1991.

I. Bame, J. C. Hughes, Louis Titshall, C.A. Buckley, R. J. Gilkes, N. Prakongkep · · Global

This soil column study investigated the effects of anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) effluent on chemical properties of three contrasting soils, relevant to peri-urban agriculture. Soil columns were leached with ABR effluent or distilled water using 16 pore volumes, then sectioned and analyzed for inorganic-N, P, and K. For all soils, nutrient content, particularly phosphorus, in the 0-2 cm layer was significantly higher than in the middle and bottom sections of the columns. Significant differences in phosphorus accumulation were observed between effluent-leached and water-leached soils.

Kohei Makita, Eric M. Fèvre, Charles Waiswa, Mark Bronsvoort, Mark C. Eisler, Susan C. Welburn · Land Use Policy · Uganda

This paper describes a spatial representation of the peri-urban interface (PUI) of Kampala, Uganda, and identifies socio-economic factors related to peri-urbanicity using rapid rural mapping. It notes that urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in rapidly expanding cities carries public health risks, such as zoonotic disease transmission. The study provides a methodology for describing the PUI in developing countries.

Alec Thornton, Etienne Nel, Godfrey Hampwaye · Development Southern Africa · Zambia

A review of urban agriculture in Zambia's four largest cities revealed that despite attempts by the Kaunda government in the 1960s–1970s to create supportive policies, there is currently a near absence of institutional support, constraining farmers' activities. A survey of 400 farmers confirmed the value of urban agriculture as a survival strategy but also highlighted the lack of necessary support measures.