Research & reports

Margaret Armar‐Klemesu, Daniel Maxwell, N. Bakker, Marielle Dubbeling, S. Gündel, U. Sabel-Koschella, H. de Zeeuw · · Ghana (Accra)

This abstract describes the geographical and climatic characteristics of Accra, Ghana. Accra is located on the east coast, near the Greenwich meridian and 5 degrees north of the Equator. The climate is hot and humid, with mean temperatures ranging from 24°C in August to 27°C in March, and an average annual rainfall of 730 mm, mostly in June, July, and October.

Safiètou T. Fall, Abdou Salam Fall, Ibrahima Cissé, Badiane Aminata, Cheikh Alassane Fall, Maty Ba Diao · Bulletin de l’APAD · Senegal (Dakar)

This paper discusses the integration of horticulture and livestock in urban agricultural systems in the Niayes zone of Senegal. The underperformance of rural agriculture and food deficits have encouraged the development of urban and peri-urban agricultural activities for several decades. The contribution of this urban agriculture to city supply in Senegal is not well known.

Helen L. La Trobe, Tim Acott · International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology · Global

An article arguing that while organic farming can address many environmental problems associated with agricultural intensification, it cannot on its own fully resolve the social and economic problems caused by the globalization of the food system, against a backdrop of increasingly industrialized, mechanized and chemical-input-dependent agriculture. It argues organic farming needs to be combined with local and regional direct marketing — such as farmers' markets, food box delivery schemes and Community Supported Agriculture — to move toward a more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable agrofood system.

David Billings · · United States

A study of Portland, Oregon, examines claims that the well-documented benefits of community gardens are inequitably distributed across society. Portland is recognized as a sustainability leader with an abundance of community gardens and urban agriculture, yet it is also one of the whitest urban cities in the United States, where people of color — and the black community in particular — have faced a legacy of oppression and marginalization. Based on 17 in-depth interviews and extensive observation of community gardens, the research finds that the whiteness of these garden spaces functions to marginalize black individuals and contributes to the ongoing oppression of the black community. It also documents how Portland's black community engages in community gardening as a means of resisting these and broader effects of structural racism.

Laura DeLind, A. Ferguson · Human Organization · United States

This paper explores the role of gender within Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) using a Michigan CSA as a case study. It notes that women constitute a majority of active CSA membership and seeks to understand what attracts them and the nature of their involvement. The study finds preliminary answers within the wider context of new social movements.

Paule Moustier · Agritrop (Cirad) · Africa

Case studies conducted in Africa on urban household food supply systems evaluated the relative roles of urban and rural agriculture. These studies highlighted a strong complementarity between urban and rural sources in terms of products and periods, linking these observations to differences in production and marketing systems. To stabilize urban food supply in quantity and quality, support programs for farmers and traders should target both urban/peri-urban and rural areas in a differentiated but articulated manner.

Angela Moskow · Environment and Urbanization · Cuba

The promotion of urban agriculture in Havana, Cuba, as a response to the acute food scarcity that developed after Soviet aid and trade were sharply curtailed in 1989, is examined through research including interviews with households engaged in urban agriculture. The paper describes the contribution of Havana's 26,000 self-provision gardens to household nutrition and income and to community environmental quality, and discusses lessons that can be drawn from this experience.

Eduardo H. Rapoport, Ana H. Ladio · Bosque (Valdivia) · Argentina

This study gathered information on the potential contribution of non-timber forest products to the food system of developing countries. Natural plant communities normally contain about 10% native vascular species that can be edible, and this proportion can rise to 20-30% in disturbed habitats, or 30-90% when only weeds are considered. Point-sample frequencies of edible individuals recorded along transects in suburban Austrocedrus chilensis forests near Bariloche, Argentina, ranged from 15% to 66%. The probability of finding at least one edible plant in a random 0.25 m² sample (calculated from n=317 samples) was 0.675, rising to near 1.0 when calculated per hectare. In western Patagonia, the number of exotic edible weed species exceeds 90. The mean available edible biomass in vacant lots in Bariloche was 1,253 ± 392.8 kg/ha, based on 193 samples of 1/4 m² each. The study includes a table of quantitative frequencies for edible weeds and a list of 60 native food plants from Patagonian forests.

Godfrey D. Mudimu, Shepherd Siziba, Benjamin Hanyani‐Mlambo · OpenDocs (Institute of Development Studies) · Zimbabwe (Harare)

This study in Harare, Zimbabwe, examined the socio-economics of urban crop production on municipal lands, cultivators' views, and land use conflicts. Urban agriculture, a widespread practice for subsistence maize and food security, is not supported by planners and conflicts with urban land use provisions. Findings revealed a serious lack of environmental concern among cultivators, with most ignoring stream bank regulations and lacking knowledge of environmental effects.

Tony Binns, Kenneth Lynch · Journal of International Development · Africa

This paper addresses the escalating demand for fresh foodstuffs in rapidly urbanizing Sub-Saharan Africa, where urban agriculture is a widespread activity. Based on a literature survey and empirical evidence from Kano and Dar es Salaam, it presents a framework for analyzing urban agriculture. The study proposes policy recommendations aimed at enhancing the future sustainability of urban agriculture.

Christian M. Rogerson, Rogerson, Christian M. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · South Africa

This paper aims to analyze the existing challenge of urban poverty in South Africa and examine the potential role of urban agriculture as a component of a pro-poor urban development strategy.

B. Pound, Adrienne Martin, Mark Thomas, B. J. Njokwe · · South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal)

This publication integrates theory and practical work from Farming Systems and Farmer Participatory Research courses held at the Institute of Natural Resources and associated institutions in KwaZulu-Natal during 1996 and 1997. Its objectives are to provide reference material for FSR/FPR, demonstrate how its principles and methods can be applied to real situations, and record the situation, suggestions, and priorities of rural and peri-urban families in Vulindlela District. It also presents the Urban Agriculture workshop in Sobantu Village as a case study of participatory workshop methods.

ASM Karaan, Nabilaa Mohamed · Development Southern Africa · South Africa

This article presents recommendations and policy directives for urban agricultural initiatives, based on an evaluation of Abalimi Bezekhaya's gardening promotion activities in Cape Metropolitan Area townships. Field research used participatory methodologies with gardeners to understand their motivations, constraints, and opinions on Abalimi Bezekhaya's services. The evaluation suggested improvements for the organization's services and highlighted urban agriculture's potential as an entrepreneurial activity, provided policy, agricultural development, land reform, and livelihood creation issues are addressed.

Dick Foeken, A. Mboganie-Mwangi · Leiden Repository (Leiden University) · Africa

Using survey data collected in 1994 in Korogocho, one of Nairobi's slum areas in Kenya, this study examined whether access to farmland influences a household's food situation. Access to land had a positive impact on urban households' overall welfare, but not necessarily on their food situation. Households with access to a rural plot appeared better off in terms of self-reported food situation than households without any land access, and access to rural land appeared more favorable for food situation than access to urban land alone. Among the very poor households in Korogocho who claimed access to rural land, half did not actually use that land themselves.

Dream of Wild Health · Dream of Wild Health · United States

Dream of Wild Health (DWH), founded in 1998 (its predecessor Peta Wakan Tipi began in 1986), is a Native-led nonprofit. On its 30-acre farm in Hugo, Minnesota, it runs Indigenous seed-saving, traditional food and youth education programmes, and operates an Indigenous food network from its Minneapolis office. In 2022 the farm produced 13.5 tons of food; as of 2024 it had 20 full-time staff and had planted 1,000 trees since 2022.

Koji ITONAGA · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Global

This paper describes alternative urban designs, including permaculture, eco-village movements, cohousing, community gardens, and city farms. Based on data gathered from international conferences and research in Australia, America, and Europe, the author proposes "Permaculture-City" as a restructured city model. This model integrates habitation with food production areas and eco-villages.

Godfrey D. Mudimu · Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography · Zimbabwe (Harare)

This study examines the role of women in urban agriculture and perceptions of urban space use for agriculture in Harare, Zimbabwe. Despite its utility in meeting household food needs, urban agriculture is not planned for or supported by urban planners and managers as a legitimate urban land use. The activities of women, who are the main participants in urban agriculture, directly conflict with planning provisions for urban space. The study offers empirical insight on perceptions of space use for agriculture in an urban tropical environment, where conflicts can arise from different perceptions and alternative uses.

A. Mboganie-Mwangi, Dick Foeken · Leiden Repository (Leiden University) · Kenya (Nairobi)

A 1996 study in Nairobi, Kenya, compared the food security and nutritional status of low-income households engaged in urban agriculture with those not farming. It found that urban farmers primarily produced for home consumption and faced theft as a major problem. While the Undugu Society Urban Agriculture Project (USUAP) group showed better food situations and higher energy and protein intakes than other groups, all three groups had inadequate energy intake on average. The long-term beneficial effect of urban agriculture on nutritional status was negligible.

Hans Jansen, David J. Midmore, P.H. Binh, S. Valasayya, L.C. Tru · Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science · Vietnam

This study in peri-urban Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, examined the income and cropping systems of small vegetable farms (average 0.8 ha, 60% dedicated to vegetables). Vegetables yielded about $1000 in total revenues or $650 added value per farm annually, with added value per hectare per day being double or more than that for rice. Constraints included labor limitations (especially for irrigation), high input costs for organic materials, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, as well as pests, low and variable vegetable prices, and an apparent overuse of chemical fertilizers and insecticides.

Yasmin Y. Coovadia · · South Africa

Large cities and metropolitan areas in South Africa are experiencing increasing urbanization and urban poverty. Residents of informal settlements secure shelter with minimal resources, create income-earning opportunities in the informal sector, and make efforts to supplement household food supplies through direct production within the city. Urban agriculture serves as a survival strategy for these residents.

Kenneth Lynch · Sustainable Development · Africa

This paper examines Agenda 21's Chapter 7 on sustainable human settlements and surveys the growing body of publications on food supply to urban areas in the less developed world, with a particular focus on fruit and vegetables, urban agriculture, and food marketing. It discusses the main aspects of Agenda 21's Chapter 7 relating to sustainable human settlements and the role emerging research on urban food systems can play in establishing sustainable development in cities of less developed countries, with particular attention paid to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

P. Anyang’ Nyong’o, Donald B. Freeman · Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines · Kenya

This study by Donald Freeman examined informal urban agriculture in Nairobi, Kenya, through on-site surveys of 618 small-scale cultivators in ten different areas. It describes urban farmers, their land use practices, and crops, and discusses the development and significance of urban agriculture within Kenya's social and economic development. The findings suggest a need to redefine urban productive activities in the Third World to include basic food production in cities.

H. B. Tukey · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Global

This paper defines urban horticulture as the functional use of plants to improve urban environments. It states that urban horticulture contributes to screening views, food production, reducing noise and air pollution, ameliorating urban climates, and improving human well-being. The abstract notes that information on city plants often comes from observations and anecdotes, and that strategies from commercial agriculture do not always apply well to urban horticulture.

Pyar Ali Memon, Diana Lee-Smith · Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines · Kenya

Based on a recent survey by the Mazingira Institute in Nairobi, this article analyzes the nature of urban agriculture in Kenyan cities, focusing on food supply as part of the informal urban economy. Urban agriculture, involving crops and livestock, is a common activity in African urban centers and a key element of poor households' economies, despite being often overlooked by urban planners. The article argues that African urban theory must incorporate this vital aspect of urban reality.

Daniel Maxwell, Samuel Zziwa · Ecology of Food and Nutrition · Uganda (Kampala)

This study examines urban agriculture in Kampala, Uganda, as an adaptive response to economic hardships. It identifies significant constraints, including institutional obstacles to accessing underutilized urban land, municipal bylaws that suppress urban agriculture, and urban officials' indifferent to hostile views. The study found that these bylaws and views are based on misleading or false generalizations about urban agriculture.