Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
7626 results(146 / 306)
Intergenerational transfer of knowledge and mindset change through school gardens among indigenous children in Meghalaya, North East India
2020Melari Shisha Nongrum · · India (Meghalaya)
The North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS) facilitated the development of an Indigenous Food System Curriculum to enhance students' knowledge of their environment and food system in Meghalaya, India. Following the implementation of school gardens, schools began harvesting produce. NESFAS aimed to assess students' knowledge of indigenous foods in connection with the impact of these school gardens.
Food educationCommunityHeirloom & landraceFood sovereignty & justiceFood Plant Solutions
2020Karalyn Hingston, Natalie Ching · · Vietnam
Vietnam faces high stunting rates and pervasive nutritional deficiencies, especially among children. In Quang Nam Province, a Vietnamese non-profit organization partnered with an Australian-based Rotarian Action Group to improve the nutritional status of children. They implemented school garden programmes in the communes of Tam Phu and Dai Hung in response to high malnutrition rates and lack of access to affordable, nutritious foods. The implementation of these school learning gardens resulted in dramatic improvements in health outcomes for the students.
Food educationHealthCommunityاستخدام حدائق السطح کأحد تطبيقات شبکات البنية التحتية الخضراء لتحقيق استدامة المدن الجديدة
2020Zeinab Abd Elkader, Ahmed Haroun · Fayoum University Journal of Engineering · Egypt
The legislative and executive challenges of roof gardens in new cities in Egypt were clarified. Theoretical studies, including an applied study in Sheikh Zayed City, were presented. The research suggests that while roof gardens offer environmental, social, and economic benefits, challenges exist for their widespread application.
Governance failureClimate changePolicyCommunityEconomicsContemporary understandings of school gardens
2020Lexi Earl, Pat Thomson · · Global
This scholarship reviews current research on the history of school gardens, examining their purposes and practices through a discourse lens. It analyzes school garden movements in the US, Australia, and England, identifying a range of benefits and challenges. The study combines analyses to offer an analytic framework for case study materials.
Food educationCommunitySukseskan Gerakan Wanita Matilda (Mandiri, Terampil, Berdaya) di RT 49 Kelurahan Sepinggan
2020Rahayu Sri Waskitoningtyas, Nur Ismiyati · Abdimas Universal · Indonesia (Balikpapan)
This study investigated how urban residents of PKK RT 49 in Sepinggan Village, Balikpapan, Indonesia, engage in urban farming. Through observation and documentation, it found that urban farming benefits mothers in RT 49, enabling them to grow vegetables like chili, tomatoes, onions, lime, and pumpkin in their yards or using recycled containers.
DIYCommunityWelfareThe 2022 problem and urban farmland preservation, urban agricultural policy
2020Seiichiro Shiozawa · The Japanese Journal of Real Estate Sciences · Japan
This study examined the "2022 problem" in Japan, concerning the potential mass conversion of farmland designated as Production Green Space into residential land. It notes that these concerns have receded due to legal amendments and system establishment following the 2016 Basic Law for the Promotion of Urban Agriculture. The study suggests that future urban development should utilize urban farmland to increase regional value, proposing three key actions: establishing cooperation between urban farmers and residents, creating district-specific community development systems, and promoting appropriate land use.
PolicyUrban–rural linkageCommunityWhy garden in schools?
2020Lexi Earl, Pat Thomson · · Global
This chapter considers the challenges faced by school gardens. School gardens often have tenuous links with subjects other than health, nutrition, geography, or science, and practical challenges exist in their establishment and maintenance. Key issues of teacher learning, management of resources, and school identity and ethos are also highlighted regarding school change. The chapter concludes with unanswered questions about the prospects for school gardening, particularly whether and how school gardens might be part of an educational solution to the questions posed by the pandemic and climate collapse.
Governance failureFood educationCommunityClimate changeWhom Do Urban Agriculture Parks Provide Landscape Services to and How? A Case Study of Beijing, China
2020Miaomiao Xie, Manyu Li, Zhaoyang Li, Meng Xu, Yan Chen, Ran Wo, De Tong · Sustainability · China (Beijing)
This study investigated user profiles and landscape service provision in three urban agriculture parks (UAPs) in Beijing, China, based on 345 interviews. Most users had upper-middle incomes and were well-educated, with social connections varying by UAP type. Findings indicated that the scenery service was not adequately supplied, with 31.5% of areas failing to meet demand, suggesting six landscape types require optimization.
Limited or null effectCommunityEconomicsHealthPolicyBuilding Sustainable Local Food Solutions
2020Jennifer Sumner, Derya Tarhan, John Justin McMurtry · Working paper/Working paper CIRIEC ... · Canada
This paper explores how Indigenous communities in Canada address chronic food insecurity through the social and solidarity economy. Using a case study of the Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Community Collaborative, it illustrates how local initiatives such as community gardens, greenhouses, and co-operatives contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals, particularly zero hunger. The paper emphasizes community ownership, control, and benefits as key aspects of these models.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareFood educationThe morphological impact of municipal planning instruments on urban agriculture. The case of Lisbon’s Greater Area
2020Ana Mélice Dias, Teresa Marat-Mendes · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Portugal (Lisbon)
In Lisbon's Greater Area, Portugal, the morphological impact of municipal planning instruments (Municipal Master Plans) on urban agriculture was investigated. It was concluded that current planning regulations prioritize leisure and aesthetic solutions for urban agriculture uses, rather than design solutions that address economic growth or ecological diversity.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsCommunityEconomic Aspects of Urban Agriculture
2020Zornitsa Stoyanova, Galina Koleva · · Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, the economic aspects of urban agriculture were evaluated using a literature review and qualitative research methods. The study's purpose was to assess the economic aspects of urban agriculture to propose conclusions about its economic benefits for people and society in Bulgaria. No specific findings are presented.
EconomicsCommunityBuilding Indonesian Food Security A Review And Suggestions
2020Endah Sri Redjeki · INNOVATION RESEARCH JOURNAL · Indonesia
This review suggests that achieving food security in Indonesia during a pandemic requires conservation, seed banks, water reservoir construction, and urban farming. It emphasizes the need for a Penta helix approach, involving government, private sectors, institutions, local communities, and social entrepreneurs, to accelerate goal attainment.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyReconciliation and Resistance from the Ground Up: The Power of Affect in Chicago’s Community Gardens
2020Olivia Lee · Johns Hopkins University eBooks · United States (Chicago)
This study, drawing on affect theory, examines community gardens in Chicago's low-income, primarily Black South Side neighborhoods. It argues that while these gardens offer a spatial break from violence, they appear unable to fully counteract the ongoing marginalization by race and socioeconomic status. The gardens represent a quiet, nascent resistance against neoliberal injustices through intimate human-nature interaction.
Equity & displacementCommunityWelfareHealthFood sovereignty & justiceHorticultura ecológica e educação socioambiental: Ações do NEPEA no Colégio Estadual da Policia Militar de Goiás “Dr Tharsis Campos” – CEPMG em Catalão (Go)
2020Leonoura Katarina Santos, Cláudio José Bertazzo · · Brazil (Catalão)
This paper describes the Ecological Horticulture Program implemented by NEPEA at the Goias State Military Police College in Catalão, Brazil, aiming to promote socio-environmental education among elementary school students. The program used theoretical-practical classes and workshops to raise awareness about environmental sustainability, waste management, and organic production. Outcomes included composting processes, a school garden with 12 beds for various crops (e.g., lettuce, carrots), a nursery, and the creation of selective collection containers and awareness posters.
Food educationCommunityOrganic cycleClimate changeDirect producer‚Ä"consumer transactions: Community Supported Agriculture and its offshoots
2020Ted White · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · United States
Non-market sales, barter, trade, donations, and other creative transactions have been integral to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) since its inception, promoting creativity and new economic thinking due to its advance payment system for unknown harvests. Based on qualitative field research, primarily in the Northeastern United States, this chapter examines the innovative transactions that have enabled CSA and other Community Supported Enterprises (CSEs) to grow. While acknowledging that the 'Community Supported' model has not solved the challenge of providing adequate incomes for producers or attracting diverse participants, the chapter presents evidence of CSA as a vibrant system connecting producers and consumers through creative transactions.
Economic viabilityCSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityPre- and Post-Harvest Practices of Urban Leafy Green Vegetable Farmers in Accra, Ghana and Their Association with Microbial Quality of Vegetables Produced
2020Joycelyn K. Quansah, Cesar L. Escalante, Angela Parry‐Hanson Kunadu, Firibu Kwesi Saalia, Jinru Chen · Agriculture · Ghana (Accra)
A survey was conducted among 102 urban leafy green vegetable farmers from 12 farming areas in Accra, Ghana, to determine agricultural practices and their association with microbial safety of vegetables produced. It was observed that 70% of farmers used water from waste drains for irrigation, 99% used incompletely composted manure, 96% harvested with bare hands, and over 60% disagreed that polluted irrigation water can contaminate vegetables or make consumers sick. Vegetables cultivated by farmers with no formal education, less food safety knowledge, and those who disagreed about contaminated water causing illness were associated with higher fecal coliform and Enterococcus sp. counts.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityOrganic cycleStudying Nature
2020Jana Walsh · · Global
In this chapter, Jana Walsh recounts her experience implementing nature journaling in her school garden with kindergarten students over a school year. Her research examined children's and her own sense of place and belonging, sense of story, and use of authentic literacy. The account indicates that children engaged in powerful learning with the assistance of the journals and the setting, and experienced a sense of peace and calmness as they built connections with the natural world.
Food educationCommunityCommunity Gardens: A Tool for Health Promotion
2020Sarah DeSantis · · United States
This paper explored the association between community gardens and health promotion by reviewing twenty studies selected from two databases. The research found positive associations between community gardens and various health promotion outcomes across different populations. It concluded that community gardens are an effective tool for improving health promotion outcomes.
CommunityHealthOn whose land is the city to be built? Farmers, donors and the urban land question in Beira city, Mozambique
2020Murtah Shannon, Kei Otsuki, Annelies Zoomers, Mayke Kaag · Urban Studies · Mozambique (Beira)
This article examines the implications of global interventionism in African cities for existing claims to urban space, particularly those of farmers, using Beira, Mozambique, as a case study. A historical-political analysis demonstrates that urban farming has been a distinct feature of Beira's urbanism amidst successive and contradictory state-land regimes. A new urban regime, formed by municipal leaders and international donors, aims to erase urban agriculture from the city through urban 'development', indicating a need for better understanding of manifold claims to urban space beyond slum urbanism.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityUrban farming a gyakorlatban
2020Karácsony Zoltán · · Global
This paper presents three examples of urban plant cultivation directions. One of these,
Food educationCommunityDIYAgricultura urbana no semiárido: produção de plantas medicinais no sertão baiano
2020Rosy Kátia Souza Gonçalves, Hélder Ribeiro Freitas, Braz José do Nascimento Júnior, Lucas Ricardo Souza Almeida, Isabela Oliveira Leite, Amanda Santos Moura · · Brazil (Juazeiro)
This study mapped plant species cultivated and commercialized in the Community Garden of the Urban Social Center in Bairro Alto do Alencar, Juazeiro/BA, focusing on agroecological urban agriculture's role in medicinal plant production. Results showed that 61% of the 122 garden beds were occupied with medicinal herbs, regularly supplying basil, mallow, mastruz, holy leaf, and tanchagem, among others, to meet local demand. The cultivation of herbs, alongside vegetables, reflects a growing interest in health promotion through agroecological products.
CommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceShoots and leaves: exploring the impacts and fragile sustainability of sustainable place-making projects working with marginalised people
2020Sam Ramsden · Voluntary Sector Review · United Kingdom
This article explored an externally funded charity-led project in a deprived area of the UK, implementing urban agriculture, community gardening, and household energy activities. The project successfully engaged marginalized people, who strongly voiced outcomes including reduced isolation, improved mental health, and increased resilience and self-reliance. Environmental outcomes were less tangible but included improvements to the local environment and reduced energy usage. However, after the funding finished, marginalized participants were vulnerable to outcomes not being sustained in the long term.
Limited or null effectCommunityWelfareHealthEconomicsGreen School
2020S. Serra, P. Afonso, Tereza Cristina Lopes Duarte · Open Schools Journal for Open Science · Global
In a school in Portugal, an interdisciplinary "Green School" project, encompassing Natural Sciences, Mathematics, ICT, and other subjects, was implemented based on student interest. For this project, students were involved in planning, partnership building, execution, and maintenance of a school garden to improve school green spaces. As a result, throughout the school year, changes in behavior regarding the garden and care for green spaces were observed among participating students and the wider school community.
Food educationCommunityDIYGrowing Resistance to Systems of Oppression: An Exploration of the Transformative Power of Urban Agriculture
2020Samantha Noll · Open Philosophy · Global
This study explores how justice-oriented urban agriculture projects, guided by "food justice" and "food sovereignty" goals, transform city contexts by reducing regulatory barriers that could perpetuate systems of oppression. The study argues that by removing regulatory barriers, urban agriculture projects are transforming cityscapes in ways that cultivate justice at the system level.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyWelfareAGRICULTURA URBANA E SOBERANIA ALIMENTAR: UMA REFLEXÃO SOBRE A IMPORTÂNCIA DAS PRÁTICAS SOCIOAMBIENTAIS NA GRANDE GOIÂNIA (GO)
2020Lara Cristine Gomes Ferreira, Stéfanny da Cruz Nóbrega · Revista GeoNordeste · Brazil (Goiânia)
This study explores agroecological urban agriculture in the Greater Goiânia region of Brazil, aiming to qualify the debate on its current relevance, understand the role of socio-biodiversity and food sovereignty, and foster dialogue through socio-environmental education. The methodology included a theoretical-bibliographical review, secondary data collection, and action research at a public school in Goiânia. The findings suggest that agroecological urban agriculture is an alternative to reduce the negative effects of agribusiness and minimize socio-environmental problems, highlighting the importance of family farming and education for food sovereignty and social equality.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeCommunity