Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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9077 results(143 / 364)
Assessing Reliability of Recycled Water in Wicking Beds for Sustainable Urban Agriculture
2021· Earth · Australia
Assesses the reliability of using recycled water in wicking beds, described as a simple system that can provide high yield and water use efficiency, for sustainable urban agriculture.
DIYHealthEvaluation of Lettuce Growth, Yield, and Economic Viability Grown Vertically on Unutilized Building Wall in Dhaka City
2021· Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Bangladesh (Dhaka)
Evaluates the growth, yield and economic viability of lettuce grown vertically on a building wall in Dhaka, finding a green-leaf cultivar in an organic medium significantly outperformed other treatments.
DIYEconomicsA Novel Green Alternative for a Room Prototype Constructed with Entire Recycled PET Bottles and a Green Roof Composed of Waste Materials
2021· Applied Sciences · Global
Proposes a prototype room for low-income users enabling self-construction and upcycling of widely available waste materials, including a green roof of waste materials, with mechanical tests on filled PET bottles and PET-bottle/concrete blocks.
DIYOrganic cycleExpanding the Level of Technological Readiness for a Low-Cost Vertical Hydroponic System
2021· Inventions · Global
Presents a design advancing the technological readiness of a low-cost vertical hydroponic system using lighter, cheaper materials such as aluminum and PVC with integrated drip irrigation for resource-limited settings.
DIYEconomicsAssessing sense of community at farmers markets: A systematic review
2021Russomanno J., Jabson Tree J. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · USA
A PRISMA-guided systematic review of how sense of community (belonging) at farmers markets shapes customer engagement, and how markets relate to food access for low-income shoppers.
CommunityEconomicsWelfareUrban Agriculture Education and Youth Civic Engagement in the U.S.: A Scoping Review
2021· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · USA
A scoping review of how urban agriculture education programs foster youth civic engagement, leadership, and understanding of social justice in the United States.
Food educationCommunityPolicyCultivating Community Resilience With Agency and Sociality in Gardens for Health and Healing
2021· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · USA
A study of how agency and sociality within gardens designed for health and healing cultivate participant wellbeing and community resilience.
HealthCommunityWelfareHealthy Garden Plots? Harvesting Stories of Social Connectedness from Community Gardens
2021Glover T. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · USA
A qualitative study of a Midwestern U.S. community garden, examining stories of social connectedness produced through shared garden participation and their public-health significance.
CommunityHealthHorticultural Therapy Reduces Biomarkers of Immunosenescence and Inflammaging in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Feasibility Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
2021Wong G.C.L., Ng T.K.S., Lee J.L., Lim P.Y., Larbi A. · The Journals of Gerontology: Series A · Singapore
A feasibility pilot RCT with 59 community-dwelling older adults in Singapore found that a horticultural therapy program was associated with reduced biomarkers of T-cell exhaustion and inflammaging.
ElderlyHealthImpact of home garden interventions on household access to vegetables for nutrition security in Kavrepalanchok district of Nepal
2021· Horticulture International Journal · Nepal (Kavrepalanchok)
Evaluates how home garden interventions contributed to household access to vegetables and nutrition security in Nepal's Kavrepalanchok district during the COVID-19 period.
HealthWelfareFood educationBeekeeping in, of or for the city? A socioecological perspective on urban apiculture
2021Sponsler D. B. · People and Nature · Global (review)
A socioecological perspective on urban apiculture examining whether urban beekeeping serves cities, bees, or beekeepers, and its implications for wild pollinator conservation and management.
PollinatorsPolicyPost-harvest losses in rural-urban value chains: Evidence from Ethiopia
2021Minten B., Tamru S., Reardon T. · Food Policy · Ethiopia
Analyses self-reported post-harvest losses across farmers, wholesalers, processors, and retailers along rural-urban value chains for teff and liquid milk in Ethiopia.
Food lossEconomicsA Conceptual Framework for Incorporation of Composting in Closed-Loop Urban Controlled Environment Agriculture
2021Dsouza A., Price G., Dixon M., Graham T. · Sustainability · Canada
Presents a conceptual framework for incorporating composting into closed-loop urban controlled environment agriculture to recycle nutrients from organic waste streams.
CompostFood lossOrganic cycleClosed-Loop Biodigesters on Small-Scale Farms in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review
2021Kulkarni I., Zang J., Leandro W., Parikh P., Adler I., Da Fonseca-Zang W., Campos L. · Water · Low- and middle-income countries (review)
A review of closed-loop biodigesters on small-scale farms in low- and middle-income countries, converting organic waste into energy and nutrient-rich digestate fertilizer integrated with food production.
Organic cycleFood lossEconomicsAre heavy metals in urban garden soils linked to vulnerable populations? A case study from Guelph, Canada
2021· Scientific Reports · Guelph, Canada
Analyzing heavy metals in urban garden soils in Guelph, the study examines links between contamination and vulnerable populations, raising environmental-justice concerns that soil contamination in urban gardens may impose unequal health risks.
HealthCommunityPublic action and policy implementation: a comparative analysis of Urban Agriculture in three regions of São Paulo
2021Alves Mário Aquino, de Oliveira Lya Cynthia Porto · Local Environment · Brazil (São Paulo)
Compares municipal urban-agriculture policy implementation across three São Paulo regions. Despite policy on the books, implementation is carried out 'timidly'—strong in the south, weak in the east, and almost nonexistent in the north—driven by uneven land access and NGO presence.
PolicyGovernance of urban agriculture in African cities: Gaps and opportunities for innovation in Accra, Ghana
2021Puppim de Oliveira José A., Ahmed Abubakari · Journal of Cleaner Production · Ghana (Accra)
Empirical study of urban-agriculture governance in Accra. Finds UA marginalised by a lack of policy directives, fragmented institutions, and unfair land-use and tenure decisions, so government neglect leaves urban farming informal and unable to realise its potential benefits.
PolicyAdvancing food democracy: The potential and limits of food policy positions in local government
2021Berglund E., Hassanein N., Lachapelle P., Stephens C. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · USA
Interviews 11 municipal and county food-policy staff to assess dedicated government food-policy positions. Finds their impact is constrained by limited authority, resources, and institutional standing, documenting the practical limits of embedding food policy in local government.
PolicyIs School Gardening Combined with Physical Activity Intervention Effective for Improving Childhood Obesity? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
2021Yufei Qi, Sareena Hanim Hamzah, Erya Gu, Haonan Wang, Yue Xi, Minghui Sun, Siyu Rong, Qian Lin · Nutrients · Global
A meta-analysis pooling 14 randomised controlled trials covering 9,187 children aged 7–12 that tested school gardening combined with physical activity. Fruit and vegetable intake increased significantly, but the intervention showed no clear effect on BMI and related obesity measures, with only a modest positive direction for weight reduction. The result separates dietary behaviour change from anthropometric change and shows that whether school gardens are judged effective against obesity depends heavily on which outcome is measured.
Food educationHealthUrban collective garden participation and health: a systematic literature review of potential benefits for free-living adults
2021Marion Tharrey, Nicole Darmon · Nutrition Reviews · Global
A systematic review searching January 2000 to August 2020 for quantitative studies on urban collective gardening and health among free-living adults in high-income countries; 15 of 1,261 identified articles met the criteria. Gardeners reported higher fruit and vegetable consumption than non-gardeners and most studies found positive associations with mental and social health, while results for physical activity and physiological measures were mixed. However, 13 of the 15 studies were cross-sectional and subject to selection bias and only 3 used objective measurement, so the authors conclude that longitudinal studies are needed before the suggested health benefits can be regarded as confirmed.
HealthCommunitySearching for the plot: narrative self-making and urban agriculture during the economic crisis in Slovenia
2021Petra Matijevic · Agriculture and Human Values · Slovenia (Ljubljana)
An ethnographic study in Ljubljana, Slovenia, carried out between summer 2014 and autumn 2015: informal conversations with 57 growers across 13 sites, 25 semi-structured life-history interviews, and participant observation on the researcher's own rented plot. Plot-taking surged during the post-2009 debt crisis (an 8% economic contraction; unemployment rising from 7% to 13% by 2013), and one gardening association had roughly 350 member households by 2015, over 40% of whom joined after 2010. The author argues, however, that this surge did not work as household food or income provisioning. Newcomers who took up plots for economic reasons frequently abandoned them within a year; those who did grow food continued to rely on market produce; and people at the very bottom of the economic scale had neither the skills, tools nor time to feed themselves from a plot. Growers were strongly opposed to selling surpluses and gave them away instead. The paper concludes that urban gardening functioned as a narrative practice repairing biographical rupture after unemployment or retirement, not as an informal economy.
EconomicsCommunityWelfareReviewing financing barriers and strategies for urban nature-based solutions
2021Helen Toxopeus, Friedemann Polzin · Journal of Environmental Management · Global
A systematic review of academic literature identified key barriers and strategies for financing urban nature-based solutions (NBS), including urban agriculture. Two overarching barriers were found: a lack of coordination between private and public financiers, and difficulties in integrating NBS benefits into valuation and accounting methods. The review concluded that an integrated accounting and valuation framework for NBS is currently lacking, and strategies often focus on encouraging co-financing from private beneficiaries.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyCommunityCan Allotment Gardens (AGs) Be Considered an Example of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) Based on the Use of Historical Green Infrastructure?
2021Barbara Sowińska-Świerkosz, Malwina Michalik-Śnieżek, Alicja Bieske-Matejak · Sustainability · Poland
This study analyzed the potential of allotment gardens (AGs) in Poland to be considered nature-based solutions (NBS), examining their use of green/blue infrastructure, problem-solving capabilities, benefits, and economic efficiency. The study identified institutional barriers, irregular distribution of benefits, and deficiencies in economic efficiency as significant obstacles. It concluded that AGs, while a type of unsophisticated NBS, have limited effectiveness.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsClosing Water Cycles in the Built Environment through Nature-Based Solutions: The Contribution of Vertical Greening Systems and Green Roofs
2021David Pearlmutter, Bernhard Pucher, Cristina Sousa Coutinho Calheiros, Karin A. Hoffmann, Andreas Aicher, Pedro Pinho, Alessandro Stracqualursi, Alisa Koroļova, Alma Pobrić, Ana Galvão, Ayça Tokuç, Bilge Baş, Dimitra Theochari, Dragan Milošević, Emanuela Giancola, Gaetano Bertino, Joana Castellar, Julia Flaszynska, Makbulenur Onur, Mari Carmen Garcia Mateo, Maria Beatrice Andreucci, Maria Milousi, Mariana Fonseca, Sara Di Lonardo, Veronika Gežík, Ulrike Pitha, Thomas Nehls · Water · Global
This paper proposes a new paradigm for closing urban water cycles using nature-based solutions, specifically green roofs and vertical greening systems (VGS). Simulations of VGS evapotranspiration performance in six cities (Copenhagen, Berlin, Lisbon, Rome, Istanbul, Tel Aviv) showed that VGS could recycle 44% (Lisbon) to 100% (Berlin, Istanbul) of rainwater roof runoff, with greywater bridging dry month shortages. Additionally, 27–53% of building greywater could be managed on greened surfaces.
Organic cycleClimate changePeri-urban agricultureGardens’ contribution to people and urban green space
2021Helena I. Hanson, Emma Eckberg, Malin Widenberg, Johanna Alkan Olsson · Urban forestry & urban greening · Sweden (Lund)
This study explored private gardens' contribution to urban biodiversity and garden owners' wellbeing (in terms of cultural ecosystem services) in Lund, Sweden, through a garden land-use inventory and interviews with 35 garden owners. Results showed that urban development influences gardens' biodiversity potential by limiting available space or garden vegetation, with new properties having small gardens containing few biodiversity features and large trees. Important cultural ecosystem services included social bonds, recreation, nature experiences, and relaxation, which were influenced by age and gender.
BiodiversityHealthUrban–rural linkagePolicy