Research & reports

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on the Haber (Haber-Bosch) process for industrial ammonia synthesis states that, as of 2018, the process produced 230 million tonnes of anhydrous ammonia per year, and that 'nearly 50%' of the nitrogen found in human tissues originated from it. Ammonia production is said to account for 1-2% of global energy consumption, 3-5% of natural gas production, and 3% of global carbon emissions, while nitrogen use efficiency is typically less than 50%, with farm runoff from excess use disrupting biological habitats. The article also credits the process with supporting global population growth from about 2 billion in the early 20th century to over 8 billion today.

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on nitrogen fixation (the chemical process converting inert nitrogen gas into biologically usable nitrogen compounds) states that, as one legume example, nitrogen fixation by red clover can range from 50 to 200 lb/acre (56 to 224 kg/ha). It states the marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium is thought to account for 'almost half' of nitrogen fixation in marine systems globally, and that the amount of nitrogen fixed in the ocean is at least as much as on land. It also credits the spread of Haber-process nitrogen fertilizer with helping expand the human population from about 2 billion in the early 20th century to over 8 billion today.

· Wikipedia · Global

The URL for 'Peak phosphorus' now redirects to the Reserves section of Wikipedia's 'Phosphorus' article. Per a 2023 USGS estimate, world commercially extractable phosphate rock reserves are 72 billion tons, against 2022 world mining production of 220 million tons — implying roughly 300 years of supply at zero growth. Before new deposits were discovered in Norway in 2023, Earth's commercially affordable phosphorus reserves were expected to be depleted in 50-100 years. Reserve estimates are described as contested: a 2010 IFDC report is criticized by a 2014 review as presenting 'an inflated picture of global reserves,' particularly for Morocco, where largely hypothetical and inferred resources were simply relabeled 'reserves.' The article also states that a shortage in rock phosphate or significant price increases might negatively affect world food security. Mitigation measures cited include reducing agricultural runoff (no-till farming, contour tilling, windbreaks), incinerating phosphorus-rich sewage sludge and recovering the ash, and recovering phosphorus-rich materials such as struvite from waste — though current recovery technologies are described as not yet cost-effective given phosphorus market prices.

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on 'metabolic rift' explains that German agricultural chemist Justus von Liebig, in his 1840 'Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology,' argued that if all solid and liquid excreta of city inhabitants were returned to farmers, land productivity could be maintained for centuries virtually unimpaired. Marx, combining his understanding of the labor process with Liebig's analysis, wrote in Capital Vol. 1 that capitalist production, by concentrating population in cities, 'disturbs the metabolic interaction between man and the earth' and prevents the return of soil constituents consumed by humans as food and clothing — defining this as 'an irreparable rift in the interdependent process of social metabolism.' John Bellamy Foster, in his 2000 book 'Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature,' reassessed Marx's ecological perspective, arguing the metabolic rift concept enabled the development of a critique of environmental degradation. The article notes that as food and fiber were transported over long distances, soil nutrients moved to cities as agricultural produce but were not returned as human and animal waste, producing 'a one-way flow of materials' — a plundering of the soil to sustain society's reproduction.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on agriculture in Singapore. The country imports about 90% of its food. The 2019 'Singapore 30 by 30' goal (30% of nutritional needs grown locally by 2030) was revised in November 2025 into a new target of 20% for produce like leafy vegetables and 30% for protein (including seafood and eggs) by 2035. As of 2024, there were 225 farms (153 land-based, 72 sea-based) with total production value of S$231 million.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on the Singapore Food Agency, established on 1 April 2019, consolidating the food-related functions of the former Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) along with parts of the National Environment Agency and Health Sciences Authority. The '30 by 30' goal — raising home-grown food from 10% to 30% of nutritional needs by 2030 — was announced on 8 March 2019, and was revised again in 2025.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on community gardening in Singapore. The 'Community in Bloom' scheme, launched in May 2005 at Mayfair Park Estate, had grown to over 2,000 community gardens by 2025. The 'allotment gardens' scheme, introduced in 2016, expanded at roughly 300 plots per year from 2016 to 2021 and had exceeded 2,500 plots by 2025. A 2022 survey found 88% of plants grown were edible.

· Wikipedia · Singapore

This Wikipedia article on food security in Singapore states that about 90 percent of the country's food comes from overseas imports, and that the government set the '30 by 30' goal to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030. It further states new targets for 2035 to produce 20 per cent of the country's fibre consumption and 30 per cent of protein consumption (eggs and seafood) domestically, and that as of 2024 eight per cent of fibre and 26 per cent of protein consumed in Singapore was produced domestically.

· Wikipedia · Singapore

This Wikipedia article on Lim Chu Kang, a 17.3 km2 area in Singapore's North Region, describes it as the nation's main agricultural zone, housing a diverse range of farms engaged in food production, aquaculture, and agri-technology. Approximately 62 farms operated in the western part before being cleared progressively from April 2020 to December 2022 for military development. As of 2025 the area had a population of only 30, one of Singapore's least populated planning areas.

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on social capital defines it as networks of relationships that are productive towards advancing the goals of individuals and groups, and presents Robert Putnam's distinction between bonding social capital (the value assigned to networks between homogeneous groups) and bridging social capital (the value assigned to networks between socially heterogeneous groups). It cites criminal gangs as generating bonding capital and choirs or bowling clubs as generating bridging capital, illustrating that social capital is not always beneficial to society as a whole.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · FAO · Global

An overview of FAO's 'City Region Food Systems' (CRFS) approach under its Food for the Cities Programme, which frames all actors, processes and relationships involved in producing, processing, distributing and consuming food as linking urban centres with their surrounding rural and peri-urban areas, aiming to improve economic, social and environmental sustainability with an emphasis on supporting local government policy shifts.

ByBi · ByBi · Norway

An introduction to 'The Pollinator Passage', launched in 2015 by Oslo beekeeping organization ByBi with funding from the Norwegian Environment Agency, mobilizing citizens to create flowering 'stepping stones' across the city — from large flowering farming areas to balcony flower pots — to build urban pollinator habitat. Since its launch, Norway has adopted a National Pollinator Strategy, Oslo has established an Urban Agriculture Program and a roof/facade greening strategy, and ByBi now manages pollinator-friendly practices in the city's cemeteries and the three royal gardens of Oslo.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on 'victory gardens' — vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at homes and in public parks during World War I and II to supplement food rations and boost civilian morale. In the US during WWI, over 5 million gardens were established, with produce valued at more than $1.2 billion by war's end. In WWII, the US had 18 million victory gardens by May 1943 (12 million urban, 6 million farm-based), accounting for about one-third of US vegetable production; in 1944, 9-10 million short tons were harvested, matching total commercial fresh-vegetable production. In Britain, allotments roughly doubled to about 1.4 million by 1943.

· Wikipedia · Global

The Wikipedia article on compost describes it as a mixture used as plant fertilizer that improves soil's physical, chemical and biological properties, made by decomposing plant/food waste and manure. It requires four elements — carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and water — with an optimal carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of about 25:1. About 20% of landfill waste is compostable material such as food, and composting reduces methane emissions compared to landfilling organic material.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on terra preta, a fertile anthropogenic dark soil found across the Amazon Basin, formed between 450 BCE and 950 CE and rich in low-temperature charcoal and pottery shards. It notes black carbon content reaching up to 9% (versus 0.5% in surrounding soils), depths of up to 2 meters, a regeneration rate of about 1 centimeter per year, an estimated coverage of 0.1-0.3% (6,300 to 18,900 square kilometres) of the Amazon Basin, and modern biochar-based attempts to recreate it.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on care farming, the use of farming practices to provide healing, mental health, social, or educational care. It cites the 19th-century Riddrie farm school in Scotland (1866-1871), where of 158 boys admitted, 64 were later considered to be living respectable and productive lives, though the program ended due to financial constraints. It references practices in the UK, Netherlands, US, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium (Flanders) without giving specific farm-count or participant statistics, and notes potential benefits for offender rehabilitation and as an adjunct therapy for anxiety and depression, while stressing the need for more rigorous research.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on attention restoration theory (ART), developed by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan in their 1989 book The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective, which holds that exposure to nature helps recovery from directed attention fatigue. It cites a 2025 meta-analysis finding consistent benefits to executive function and working memory after at least 30 minutes of nature exposure, with effects plateauing around 200-300 minutes, and notes findings that people who spent at least two hours in nature in the past week were more likely to report feeling healthy and well.

· Wikipedia · Global

A Wikipedia article on Mycobacterium vaccae, a non-pathogenic soil bacterium first cultured from cattle dung and also isolated from soil in Lang'o District, Uganda. It cites research in which heat-killed bacteria injected into mice raised serotonin levels and lowered anxiety, and live bacteria led mice to navigate a maze twice as fast with less anxious behavior. It also notes a meta-analysis of 54 clinical trials finding improved sputum conversion and radiological outcomes in tuberculosis treatment, and a 2019 study finding a lipid from the bacterium blocks several pro-inflammatory pathways in immune cells.

· Wikipedia · Global

Soil is a complex three-phase system of minerals, organic matter, gases, water, and organisms that supports plant growth and soil life. A typical soil is about 50% solids (45% mineral, 5% organic matter) and 50% pore space, with microbial density around 10^8 organisms per gram and pore-space CO2 concentrations 10 to 100 times atmospheric levels.

· Wikipedia · Global

Soil compaction is a geotechnical process that removes air between soil particles under stress, increasing density. It is essential as a support layer in construction but reduces water infiltration and root growth in agriculture. The degree of compaction is assessed relative to maximum dry density determined by tests such as the Proctor test; the article presents no specific numeric data.

· Wikipedia · Global

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a long-standing technique for collecting rainwater from roofs and other surfaces into tanks or reservoirs, used worldwide for water supply in water-scarce areas, flood mitigation, and cost savings. Frankfurt Airport's system saves about 1 million cubic meters of water per year, Mumbai has mandated RWH infrastructure for new buildings above certain sizes since 2002, and typical UK households can reduce water use by 20-30% through RWH.

· Wikipedia · Global

Food neophobia is a fear of new things, referring specifically to a child's tendency to reject unfamiliar foods. About two-thirds of the variation is attributed to genetics, with psychosocial factors (observing parents' food preferences) and heightened bitterness sensitivity (supertasters) also implicated. Effective strategies include offering non-food rewards for trying new foods, parental modeling, and repeated exposure (acceptance may require around 15 tries), while pressure or punishment worsens the problem.

· Wikipedia · Global

The mere-exposure effect is the phenomenon whereby liking increases simply from familiarity with a stimulus, also called the familiarity principle in social psychology. Robert Zajonc led research on it from the 1960s to 1990s, showing that an initial fear/avoidance response to novel stimuli decreases with repeated exposure and turns into liking. A meta-analysis of 208 experiments by Bornstein (1989) found an effect size of r=0.26, with the effect typically reaching its maximum within 10-20 presentations.

· Wikipedia · Global

Experiential learning is defined as learning through experience, or more specifically learning through reflection on doing, distinguished from classroom-based learning by the learner's active role. David A. Kolb systematized the modern theory in the 1970s, building on the work of Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget. Learning is described as a cycle of four stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, with genuine learning requiring active engagement, reflection, analytical skills, and decision-making/problem-solving skills.

· Wikipedia · Global

A school garden is an area designated for students to learn how to grow plants and produce at school, aimed at improving students' health, social development, and academic achievement. In Europe, the practice began in Schleswig-Holstein in 1819 and spread, reaching about 20,000 schools in Austria, 45,000 in France, 8,000 in Russia, and 2,500 in Sweden by the early 20th century. Research suggests the experiential nature of gardening increases preference for and consumption of fruits and vegetables, though more quantitative research is needed to prove benefits to children's health and wellbeing.