Research & reports

Isabel María Madaleno · Food, nutrition and agriculture · Global

An essay argues that urban agriculture—food and non-food production occurring throughout urban and peri-urban fabric—could improve city dwellers' nutritional status and food security, strengthen food self-reliance and employment prospects, and make survival strategies more effective. It describes urban agriculture as a setting where children, young people, and adults engage directly in safe food production and develop respect for farmers' work, surveys the evolution of cities and green-space use in Europe and North America, presents recent urban agriculture experiences in African, European, and Latin American countries, and advocates urban agriculture as a local solution to social, ecological, political, and economic problems.

Dindo Campilan, R. Boncodin, Constancio De Guzman · · Philippines

In Metro Manila, Philippines, the CIP-convened Strategic Initiative for Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (SIUPA) contributed to improved coordination and enhanced capacity for urban agriculture, which ranges locally from backyard and container gardens for subsistence to commercial vegetable farms for household income. A partnership between SIUPA and the Philippines' Inter-Regional Integrated Research, Development and Extension Program on Urban Agriculture (IIRDEP) addressed food safety, production systems, and environmental protection, and the number of agricultural activities in the metropolis increased markedly over the two years prior to publication as households pursued urban agriculture in response to a worsening economic and environmental situation.

Maxwell D., Levin C., Armar-Klemesu M., Ruel M., Morris S., Ahiadeke C. · IFPRI Research Report 112, International Food Policy Research Institute · Ghana

Based on a 1996-97 survey, this IFPRI report analyzes the relationship between urban poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition in Accra, developing food and livelihood security indicators suited to urban settings and examining nutrition outcomes among the urban poor.

Cynthia A. Cone, Andrea Myhre · Human Organization · Global

A five-year study of eight Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms examined farm members' perceptions and behavior, including motivations for membership and women's roles. The study raises questions about the long-term sustainability of CSA, citing tension between farmers' lifestyles and needs, and shareholders' constraints and competing values.

Simon Clarke, Elena Varshavskaya, Сергей Алашеев, Marina Karelina · Work Employment and Society · Russia

This paper examines the "myth of the urban peasant" in Russia, which suggests urban households survive economic collapse through subsistence agriculture. Based on official and survey data analysis, it shows that while many urban households grow food, those with low incomes are least likely to do so, and subsistence production complements rather than replaces paid employment. Furthermore, those who grow their own food work long hours for little return, spending no less on purchased food than those who grow nothing.

范凯 · 中共贵州省委党校学报 · China

This paper investigates the development of urban agriculture in the region along the Shenda Expressway and Huanghai Avenue in China. Currently, the area features 14 high-efficiency grain fields over 67 hectares, 26 high-efficiency vegetable parks over 6.7 hectares, and nearly 200 high-quality agricultural projects across 10 categories, including orchards, nurseries, flower bases, and aquaculture farms, along with over 3000 high-efficiency agricultural parks. Urban agriculture is becoming a main force in the region's economic development and shows specific development trends.

Susan Andreatta · Culture & Agriculture · United States

This paper describes marketing opportunities for small-scale, limited-resource organic producers in Central North Carolina, United States. It examines farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture programs, highlighting how growers advocate and educate consumers about local agriculture. The study discusses the increasing demand for local organic food and strategies for growers to enhance community support, suggesting that alternative production and niche marketing could help sustain small-scale growers amidst farm loss and declining conventional agricultural prices.

James Leo Garrett, Garrett, James L. · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Global

This work presents a table of contents for a publication addressing urban food and nutrition security in the developing world. It covers topics such as urbanization, rural-urban interdependence, urban livelihoods, food supply and distribution, the significance of urban agriculture, nutrition transition, urban women's work-life balance, urban health threats, and programming for urban food and nutrition security.

유병규 · · Global

This paper argues that peri-urban agriculture faces difficulties in maintaining its agricultural production function alone due to external factors such as rising land prices, urban development, the IMF crisis, and WTO agricultural renegotiations. It proposes that to revitalize peri-urban agriculture, a multi-industrialization strategy is needed, emphasizing not only agricultural production but also the spatial concept of "rural areas" by incorporating secondary and tertiary industry concepts. Specifically, the paper suggests that multi-industrialization strategies within the spatial concept of urban-integrated rural areas, such as the creation of "urban agricultural villages," are essential for the maintenance and development of agriculture.

Dick Foeken, Samuel Owuor · Leiden Repository (Leiden University) · Kenya (Nakuru)

A general survey was conducted in June-July 1999 on farming practices by inhabitants of Nakuru town, Kenya. The survey collected basic data on the extent of farming, types of farming, food produced, inputs used, constraints faced, characteristics of farming households, reasons for urban farming, and the extent of rural farming by town dwellers.

Andres Dasso, Teobaldo Pinzas · · Peru

In Lima, Peru, a city with an infertile sandy environment and 0.0 mm average rainfall, urban agriculture has been implemented since the late 1980s to improve the living conditions of the resource-poor urban population. This initiative addresses the rapid urban growth experienced by Lima between the 1950s and 1990s, primarily due to migration.

Marta Novo, Catherine Murphy, N. Bakker, Marielle Dubbeling, S. Gündel, U. Sabel-Koschella, H. de Zeeuw · · Cuba (Havana)

This abstract provides demographic and administrative details of Havana, Cuba, noting its area of 721 km² and a population of 2.2 million, representing 20% of Cuba's total population. It highlights a population density of 3,014 persons/km² and mentions the city's division into 15 municipalities and 104 people's councils. The abstract does not contain information about urban agriculture itself, only contextual data about Havana.

Joshua J. Cousins · · United States (Oregon)

This qualitative study examined local food networks in Washington County, Oregon, focusing on small-scale agricultural landscapes and farmers selling through farmers markets or CSAs. It explored farmers' concerns about urbanization, farmland preservation, and their difficulties participating in local food networks. The research concluded that local food sold through alternative venues can help preserve and develop specific farm sites.

A. Yoveva, B. Gocheva, G. Voykova, B. Borissov, A. Spassov, N. Bakker, Marielle Dubbeling, S. Gündel, U. Sabel-Koschella, H. de Zeeuw · · Bulgaria (Sofia)

This abstract describes Bulgaria's geographical location, surface area, and general natural conditions favorable for agriculture. Bulgaria is located on the Balkan peninsula and covers 111,000 square kilometers. Climatic data provided include average winter temperature of 1.6°C, summer average of 21°C, mean annual temperature of 10°C, and mean annual rainfall of 813.6 mm.

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.

N. Purnomohadi, N. Bakker, Marielle Dubbeling, S. Gündel, U. Sabel-Koschella, H. de Zeeuw · · Indonesia (Jakarta)

This piece's abstract describes the physical conditions of Jakarta's Special Capital City Region (DKI): an average annual temperature of 27C, humidity of 80-90%, annual rainfall of about 2,000 mm (highest in January, lowest in September), an area of about 650 km2, a population density of 12,495 people per km2, population growth of 2.4% per year, and low, flat land of 0-50 m elevation with fertile alluvial soils.

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.

Rachel Nugent, N. Bakker, Marielle Dubbeling, S. Gündel, U. Sabel-Koschella, H. de Zeeuw · · Global

This piece opens with general context on urban growth in the developing world — expanding cities add jobs and services while facing pressure to provide public services amid existing unemployment, with many new jobs aimed at unskilled and less-educated workers, both migrants and city-born residents. The available text does not present specific urban agriculture findings, methods, or data.

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.

Megumi Higuchi · Japanese Journal of Human Geography · Japan

This paper analyzed the Minuma Fureai Garden in Kawaguchi City, Saitama prefecture, finding that its operation costs exceed annual income from user fees (15,000 Yen/person/year), with municipal subsidies covering 18% of total income. While land use regulations keep rent low, deregulation could threaten the garden's existence. A user survey revealed 70% of users were over 50, and 60% re-applied after a one-year contract, though this varied by distance.

Daniel Maxwell, Wordsworth Odame Larbi, Grace Mary Lamptey, Sawudatu Zakariah, Margaret Armar‐Klemesu · Third World Planning Review · Ghana (Accra)

This paper compares four cases within peri-urban Greater Accra, Ghana, to assess the impact of rapid urban sprawl on the surrounding area. The study examines cases including land loss to housing, protection of agricultural land from urban sprawl, environmental degradation due to urbanization, and commercialization of peri-urban agricultural production from changing market demand. The paper also reviews the perspective that rapid peri-urban growth leads to the destruction of agricultural livelihoods without necessarily replacing them with alternative economic activity.

John A. G. Briggs, Davis Mwamfupe · Scottish Geographical Journal · Tanzania (Dar-es-Salaam)

Drawing on recent evidence from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, this paper suggests that a combination of structural adjustment measures and the eased economic crisis in the 1990s changed conditions, resulting in the increasing commodification of land in the peri-urban zone. This shift transformed the peri-urban zone into an area of investment and economic opportunity, rather than survival, leading to the increasing exclusion of poorer urban groups. Furthermore, confusion arising from current Tanzanian land law, particularly tensions between customary and statutory law, complicates the situation.

· TSpace (University of Toronto) · Uganda

The determinants and impact of integrating forage legumes into intensive smallholder crop/livestock systems in peri-urban areas of central Uganda were investigated using an interview schedule with 90 smallholder milk producers and an econometric model. Findings showed that integration is more likely among farmers with less farmland or proximity to milk and input markets. Farmers integrating legumes into elephant grass obtain more herbage that remains greener into the dry season, spend less on artificial insemination services, and their animals have a lower incidence of disease.

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.