Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3241 results(129 / 130)
The significance and praxis of community‐based sustainability projects: Community gardens in western Australia
1998Laura Stocker, Kate Barnett · Local Environment · Australia (Western Australia)
This paper reviews the types and roles of community gardens, which are managed by community members and contribute to Local Agenda 21 planning and sustainable communities. It presents a case study of a community garden in Western Australia, analyzing lessons learned and the potential contributions of such gardens to physical, ecological, sociocultural, and economic sustainability. Community gardens produce fresh organic food, create community spaces, and disseminate community science.
CommunityFood educationOrganic cycleEconomicsStudying Children's Perceptions of Garden Benefits Using the Internet
1998Tina M. Waliczek, R. Daniel Lineberger, J.M. Zajicek · HortScience · Global
An online survey was conducted on the KinderGARDEN Web page to investigate children's perceptions of gardening benefits. Children responded via email, reporting on their gardening experiences, learning, and perceived advantages. Results indicated that children positively valued gardening for recreation, and also mentioned educational, environmental, aesthetic, social, and economic benefits. Specifically, 81% felt they learned about the environment, 54% about plants, 31% cited recreation/fun, and 15% mentioned socialization with friends and family.
Food educationCommunityHealthEconomicsThe performance and support of food gardens in some townships of the Cape Metropolitan Area: An evaluation of Abalimi Bezekhaya
1998ASM 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.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceSeed regulation: choices on the road to reform
1997Tripp R., Louwaars N. · Food Policy · Global
Analyzes how seed laws and regulatory systems shape farmers' freedom over their own seed and informal seed systems, presenting policy choices for reforming seed regulation in developing countries.
Heirloom & landracePolicyEconomicsFactors Influencing the Decision to Join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm
1997Jane Kolodinsky, Leslie L. Pelch · Journal of Sustainable Agriculture · United States (Vermont)
This study estimated the probability of becoming a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) member using a binomial logit regression model, based on data collected through phone interviews with members, ex-members, and non-members of three CSA farms in Vermont. Results indicated that price, productivity shifters, consumer beliefs, and awareness impact the probability of membership.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityLocational Character of Allotment Gardens and Landowners' Attitudes. A Case of Ichinomiya City in Aichi Pref.
1997Yasunari Miyake, Yasuo Matsumoto · JOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION · Japan (Ichinomiya City)
This study examined the future of allotment gardens in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture, by interviewing 20 landowners regarding land ownership and land use. Allotment distribution expanded into marginal urban regions, with new allotments concentrating in frontier areas. While most landowners were satisfied and intended to maintain allotments, those in urbanization promotion areas faced financial difficulties due to high taxes and motivation for land use conversion, indicating that allotment management will fail in these areas.
Economic viabilityCommunityUrban–rural linkageEconomicsUrban Agriculture: Ethnicity, Cattle Raising and Some Environmental Implications in the City of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
1997M. R. S. Mlozi · African Studies Review · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)
This article by Malongo R. S. Mlozi, published in African Studies Review in 1997, examines urban agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It specifically addresses the aspects of ethnicity, cattle raising, and their environmental implications within the city.
CommunityEconomicsRutgers Urban Gardening: A Case Study in Urban Agriculture
1996Ishwarbhai C. Patel · Journal of Agricultural & Food Information · United States (Newark)
The Rutgers Urban Gardening (RUG) program in Newark, New Jersey, transformed 30 acres of wasteland into 1,900 food gardens in 1994, engaging 6,500 residents. This initiative produced over $915,000 worth of food and recycled nearly 4,000 tons of city leaves, saving participants approximately $4 million over five years. The program also fostered social interaction, improved diets for 44% of participants, and enhanced neighborhoods.
CommunityHealthEconomicsCompostCOMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE: FILLING A NICHE MARKET
1996Richard L. Farnsworth, Saråhelen Thompson, Kathleen A. Drury, Richard E. Warner, Farnsworth, Richard L., Thompson, Sarahelen R., Drury, Kathleen A., Warner, Richard E. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Global
This research suggests that social objectives primarily drive CSA shareholders' decisions to join, with economic and "club-related" objectives being secondary. While the CSA movement is expected to grow, its emphasis on social objectives, inability to supply food year-round, and the development of size-neutral organic technologies will likely prevent it from becoming a major market channel in the next century.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsUrban agriculture in Dar es Salaam: Its contribution to solving the economic crisis and the damage it does to the environment
1996M. R. S. Mlozi · Development Southern Africa · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)
This article discusses urban agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, examining its role in helping residents cope with the country's economic crisis. The study also associates urban agriculture with environmental degradation in the city. Factors encouraging urban agriculture at four levels are identified, and concerted efforts at all four levels are suggested to mitigate further environmental degradation.
Environmental trade-offsEconomicsClimate changeUrban–rural linkageProfitability and sustainability of peri-urban vegetable production systems in Vietnam
1996Hans 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.
Peri-urban agricultureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Community Gardens as Contested Space
1995Karen Schmelzkopf · Geographical Review · United States (New York City)
This article examines community gardens in Loisaida, a high-crime, poverty-stricken area of Manhattan's Lower East Side in New York City. The gardens provide social and economic functions, serving as safe open spaces for socialization and sources of food. A major problem identified is the competition for these sites between gardening and housing development.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsURBAN AGRICULTURE AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY: IMPLICATIONS FOR PLANNING
1995Yasmin 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.
WelfareEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceOptions for municipal interventions in urban poverty alleviation
1995Emiel A. Wegelin, Karin M. Borgman · Environment and Urbanization · Global
This paper reviews the wide range of options available to municipalities in the Global South for alleviating or reducing poverty. These options include employment creation, improving low-income groups’ access to justice and protection from crime, and enhancing urban services such as water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, public transport, health care, and education. The paper also outlines how municipal action must encourage and support community-based organizations, NGOs, and the private sector, and how changes in regulatory frameworks for land management, urban agriculture, and housing can contribute to poverty alleviation.
WelfarePolicyEconomicsCommunityAn Improvement of Facilities and Management of Allotment Garden in an Urban Area
1995Rie Matsunaga, Hong Tae Lee, Isoya SHINJI · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan
This study aimed to gather ideas about desirable physical characteristics and management of allotment gardens in an urban area. Standardized questionnaires were mailed to 660 subjects, with 345 responses received. The results clarified current user attributes and usage situations, proposing future improvements regarding traffic means, distance, contract terms, use size, cultivation guidance, facilities or equipment, use charge, and services for urban allotment gardens.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsSmall scale irrigation using collector wells. Pilot project - Zimbabwe. Fifth progress report October 1994 - March 1995
1995Chris Lovell, E. Mazhangara, G. Mtetwa, Timothy Dube, Douglas Thompson, David Macdonald, C.H. Batchelor · NERC Open Research Archive (Natural Environment Research Council) · Zimbabwe
This report details the progress of a pilot project in Zimbabwe (October 1994 - March 1995) on small-scale irrigation using collector wells. Nine wells now provide domestic water to 1515 families, and 731 families have allotments in associated community gardens. The first scheme yielded a gross margin of Z$18903 per hectare in its fourth winter season, with an average of Z$22932 per hectare per year over four years. Initial results from five pilot schemes showed similarly high returns, averaging Z$23798 per hectare.
CommunityEconomicsA City of Farmers: Informal Urban Agriculture on the Open Spaces of Nairobi, Kenya
1994P. 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.
CommunityEconomicsUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceFood Systems and the Poor in Harare Under Conditions of Structural Adjustment
1994David Drakakis‐Smith · Geografiska Annaler Series B Human Geography · Africa
This paper focused on the impact of structural adjustment programs on the urban poor in Africa, specifically examining the urban food system in Harare, Zimbabwe. In Harare, food retailing is largely structured through supermarkets, which keeps costs high for the poor. While the informal sector has expanded, it remains relatively restricted and unorganized compared to Asian cities. Consequently, urban agriculture has grown extensively in house-gardens and illegally in the urban periphery, yet there is little coordinated or positive policy response from urban authorities.
Governance failureWelfareEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageUrban Agriculture in Kenya
1993Pyar 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.
EconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyUrban agriculture in Kampala: Indigenous adaptive response to the economic crisis
1993Daniel 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.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityCONSERVATIONOF FARMLAND IN URBAN AGRICULTURAL PROMOTION AREA
1993Hiroshi AIZAWA, Kensuke Inoue, Masazumi NOMA · Journal of Architecture Planning and Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) · Japan
This study explained the reasons for non-cultivation in urban agricultural promotion areas and examined future subjects for conserving normal farmland surrounded by urbanization promotion areas. The occurrence rate of wasteland and infringement on agricultural land diversion in non-cultivated land differed according to city planning regulations and cultivating forms. The reasons for non-cultivation were found to be greatly related to farmers' workers, land ownership scale, and planning law, with owners of large landholdings who had no workers due to advanced age showing little intention to maintain agricultural operations or conserve farmland.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsSupplying the City: The Role of Reservoirs
1993Indian Urban Landscape · · India
This study focuses on the diversity and complexity of agricultural production organization in urban landscapes of nonindustrial societies, specifically analyzing the role of reservoirs in the agricultural landscape around Vijayanagara, southern India. Vijayanagara's agricultural facilities and strategies were diverse in both form and scale, ranging from vast canal irrigation to small rain-fed plots. Reservoirs, as a single morphological type, crosscut traditional agricultural categories, indicating significant variability in productive organization and suggesting that ecological and organizational contexts, beyond facility typology, are crucial for understanding production.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsRecognizing Ethiopia's urban farmers.
1993Lee M · PubMed · Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, urban agriculture faces significant challenges due to government disapproval of public land use for farming and difficulty in obtaining credit. A 1983 survey in Addis Ababa found that 17% of 1352 households produced their own food on less than 25 sq. meters, with 90% of non-farmers citing lack of land. Despite urban agricultural cooperatives demonstrating 70% higher member income, their lack of government legalization prevents access to loans for productivity improvement.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceHealthWelfareClimate changeUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureFood educationBiodiversityCompostDIYElderlyFood lossHeirloom & landraceOrganic cyclePollinatorsFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiDigital agricultureUrban irrigation and cooperative organisations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1993Axumite G. Egziabher · Digital Library Of The Commons Repository (Indiana University) · Ethiopia
This paper summarized the character and role of urban agriculture in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the organization of producers for whom urban agriculture is the sole means of survival. While urban agriculture contributes to food provision, employment, and income for producers, cooperatives face the challenge that concerned authorities cannot grant them legal status for credit access due to their urban location.
Urban–rural linkageCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceFeeding Africa's Cities: The Role and Potential for Urban Agriculture
1992Christian M. Rogerson · Africa Insight · Africa
Professor C M Rogerson from the Department of Geography, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, assesses the role and potential of urban agriculture in sustaining Africa's rapidly growing cities.
Food sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageEconomics