Research & reports

Lukas Egli, Judith Rüschhoff, Joerg A. Priess · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global

A systematic review of quantitative empirical research on the sustainability effects of community-supported agriculture (CSA) covered 39 studies. Fewer than 30% of the studies assessed ecological sustainability aspects, but where CSA farms were compared to reference systems, they mostly performed better on resource use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. Most studies assessed social aspects; many showed that CSA still fails to reach low-income households, so members do not represent the average population, while CSA membership was associated with improved health and sustainability behavior. Economic variables were assessed in more than half of the studies, but knowledge of CSA's relative economic performance remains scarce, though early studies indicate high economic viability. The review calls for more research on ecological aspects specifically, comparisons across farming and marketing systems, and integration of knowledge from theses and practical sources in multiple languages.

Daniela S. Gómez-López · ECORFAN Journal Republic of El Salvador · Global

A paper providing a comprehensive analysis of the state of convergence between the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and sustainability, covering 2009 to 2023, using a combined heuristic and hermeneutic literature review methodology. SSE, built on principles of cooperation, equity and citizen participation, is presented as a key tool for addressing inequality and promoting decent employment, while sustainability is framed as improving living conditions without compromising the future. The paper argues that SSE promotes sustainable economic practices aligned with the 2030 Agenda, and illustrates SSE's application through regional case studies spanning urban agriculture, circular economy, recycling cooperatives, and socioeconomic development projects.

Arun Kafle, James Hopeward, Baden Myers · Horticulturae · Global

A study modeling the social, economic, and environmental potential of urban agriculture (UA), based on information from 40 distinct locations in each of two regions: Adelaide, South Australia and the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Modelling estimated equivalent employment, scale appropriateness, and earnings relative to labor use from commercial urban farming and gardening-style UA, together with carbon dioxide emissions for two vegetable types. The study examined the influence of distance and production scale under manual-to-modest mechanization for urban vegetable production, finding that the interplay between labor use and mechanization can favor scale-appropriate UA practices with better labor productivity and economic and social advantage. Distribution — assumed to be by car for UA — contributed the largest share of emissions, while the production component, even with mechanization, contributed a relatively small portion per unit of production. The study recommends that governments and planners facilitate scale-appropriate mechanization through better planning and policy instruments to support UA's sustainability.

Amy Hui‐Mei Lin, Andrea Gómez‐Maqueo · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global

A review paper (2023) examines the challenge of strengthening food security — especially production of staple food carbohydrates — in places with limited or unavailable land and natural resources, using the city-state of Singapore as its case. Unlike some alternative foods such as cultured meat, producing carbohydrate foods through conventional agri-food approaches requires substantial natural resources unavailable in regions like Singapore, so the paper argues for developing new, sustainable methods to increase the quantity and nutritional quality of carbohydrate-rich foods. It reviews technology developments such as indoor vertical farming and urban farming used to improve crop quality and production, and recommends exploring underutilized and unconventional resilient, nutrient-dense crops, identifying hidden resources in local ecosystems such as revalorizing agri-food processing byproducts, and producing alternative carbohydrates including microbial and synthetic sources, suggesting Singapore's experience and approaches may serve as an example and inspire creativity for other regions.

Arun Kafle, James Hopeward, Baden Myers · Sustainability · Global

An integrated modelling framework using proxy measures for economic benefit (net margin), social benefit (full-time farmer employment equivalent per consumer) and environmental benefit (CO2 emission reduction) was applied to two contrasting development settings, Adelaide, Australia, and the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, to examine the characteristics of urban agriculture (UA). Using two-stage optimisation across three mechanisation levels (non-mechanised, garden tiller, garden cultivator), two purposes (gardening or commercial), two crop-value categories and two market mechanisms, the model found that no single UA form maximises economic, environmental and social (employment) objectives simultaneously: commercial UA, in which both land and labour are costed, was favoured for maximising profit or reducing CO2 emissions, while gardening-form UA was favoured for maximising employment participation. In Adelaide the model favoured commercial UA for best-case profit and carbon emissions but gardening UA for employment maximisation, while in the Kathmandu Valley the model selected gardening UA under the given assumptions.

Mokoena Oratilwe Penwell, Ntuli Thembelihle Sam, Ramarumo Tshepo, Seeletse Solly Matshonisa · International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Studies · Global

A conceptual paper argues that crowdsourcing and synergy (CSS) platforms could optimize activities for small-scale dairy farmers (SSDFs) in low- and middle-income economies, where market withdrawal by small farmers is disrupting producer-consumer relationships. Built on logic-based reasoning rather than empirical data, the paper contends that crowd-collaborative farming (CCF) could improve local market performance depending on member composition, and calls for further research on revenue-distribution mechanisms and for training SSDFs in CCF, particularly those facing high failure rates and debt.

P. Post, H. Hengsdijk · · Global

This study inventoried and characterized food production systems in Rincon, Bonaire, combining literature review and online key-informant interviews with biophysical analysis and calculations of land and water requirements for several production scales, and applying a SWOT analysis to multiple production systems. It found that increasing year-round fruit and vegetable production in Rincon, and Bonaire more broadly, is challenging and may not be feasible without support, given limited and irregular water availability, an unsupportive business environment, and harsh conditions from pests, diseases, and weather; without sufficient support to expand water availability, local agricultural knowledge, and a suitable business environment, neither capital-intensive nor small-scale crop production is likely to improve the availability of healthy food or employment opportunities.

Laura Ospina, Paula Parra · Pensamiento udecino · Colombia

A documentary literature review examines the importance of urban agriculture, urbanization and community participation in the context of community gardens in Colombia. It draws on high-quality scientific texts from portals including Scielo, Publindex and Scopus, plus undergraduate, master's and doctoral theses, along with a review of statistical data for each variable studied. The results point to social, economic and environmental implications and the importance of participation in these spaces. The review concludes that urban gardens are a strategy that can offset negative externalities of the current capitalist urban model -- environmental degradation, pollution, poverty, inequality -- and can positively affect residents' quality of life, becoming consolidated as spaces linking social and environmental concerns and enabling new territorial configurations.

Savills · Savills · Global

A September 2023 Savills report estimating the total value of global real estate (residential, commercial, and agricultural land) at $379.7 trillion in 2022 — more than global equities ($98.9tn) and debt securities ($129.8tn) combined, and nearly four times global GDP ($100.6tn). Residential property accounts for 76% ($287.6tn) of the total, which fell 2.8% from 2021 but remained 18.7% above pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

The Rockefeller Foundation · The Rockefeller Foundation (Bellagio Bulletin, From the Archives) · Global

An archive piece from the Rockefeller Foundation recounting how meetings at its Bellagio Center in October 2007 and June 2008 defined 'impact investing' — using profit-seeking investment to generate social and environmental good — and led to the founding of the GIIN in 2009. The Obama administration committed over $2.3 billion to impact investing initiatives from 2009, and the G8 hosted its first Social Impact Investing Forum in 2013, the same year the Foundation closed its own impact investing programme. By 2013 more than 40 funds and 15 investors managing nearly $3 billion worked with GIIRS, and the total impact capital tracked by the GIIN stands at $1.164 trillion.

Corporación de Promoción Económica CONQUITO · CONQUITO · Ecuador

CONQUITO's 2023 annual accountability report. It confirms the corporation's founding under Quito Metropolitan Council Resolution No. C 0193 (March 28, 2003), and reports that the AGRUPAR urban agriculture project's 2023 target of training 20,000 people in production techniques and food security was exceeded, reaching 20,808 people (104.04% of goal), with a month-by-month breakdown of participants trained.

Ilieva R.T., Cohen N., Israel M., Specht K., Fox-Kämper R., Fargue-Lelièvre A., Poniży L., Schoen V., Caputo S., Kirby C.K., Goldstein B., Newell J.P., Blythe C. · Land (MDPI), 11(5):622 · Global

A systematic review of 272 peer-reviewed publications drawing on urban-agriculture sites in 57 countries, organizing socio-cultural benefits into four domains: cohesive communities, health and well-being, economic opportunities, and education. Community connection and learning emerged as the most frequently reported benefits.

FAO, Rikolto, RUAF · Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rikolto & RUAF · Global

A comprehensive guide co-published by FAO, Rikolto and RUAF for local decision-makers, urban planners and practitioners. It frames urban and peri-urban agriculture from production through to urban food systems and policy, promoting reduced food loss via short supply chains, biodiversity protection, social inclusion, and urban-rural linkages.

Evans D.L., Falagán N., Hardman C.A., Kourmpetli S., Liu L., Mead B.R., Davies J.A.C. · Ecosystem Services, 54, 101405 · Global

A systematic review synthesizing 157 peer-reviewed articles that compares which ecosystem services are delivered by different types of urban agriculture and green infrastructure. It finds that community gardens, green spaces and parks deliver the most diverse services, that local climate and air-quality regulation are best provided by green infrastructure alone, and that biological control and genetic-diversity maintenance peak when green infrastructure is combined with urban agriculture.

Greater London Authority, Arup · Greater London Authority (GLA) · Global

A GLA report institutionalising 'meanwhile use' of vacant land/units awaiting development, presenting support via competitions, guidance, land provision and time-limited change-of-use permissions for interim community uses including gardens.

Kafle A., Hopeward J., Myers B. · Horticulturae 8(8):691 · Australia, Nepal

Analyzes urban agriculture viability across 40 sites in Adelaide and the Kathmandu Valley, calculating margins and benefit-cost ratios from land, labour and distribution costs, finding land cost the primary driver and labour a critical constraint to scalability.

Dias G. M., Ayer N. W., Khosla S., Van Acker R., Young S. B., Whitney S., Hendricks P. · Sustainable Cities and Society 87:104198 · Global

Text-mining review of commercial urban agriculture literature, identifying economic drivers such as employment generation, supply-chain cost reduction, and market proximity as the main forces behind for-profit urban farming.

Li M., Jia N., Lenzen M., Malik A., Wei L., Jin Y., Raubenheimer D. · Nature Food · Global

A global accounting showing that food miles account for about 20% of total food-system CO₂ emissions (3.0 GtCO₂e), giving scientific grounding to the carbon benefit of shortening food transport through local consumption.

CoSAI, IWMI · CoSAI / IWMI (International Water Management Institute) · Global

Identifies priority investment areas for urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Global South—Asia holds 49% of the world's urban irrigated cropland—and proposes investment priorities across technology, policy and finance.

Baldini C., Marasas M.E., Tittonell P., Drozd A.A. · Land Use Policy · Argentina (La Plata)

Using multicriteria analysis in La Plata's periurban horticultural belt, the study maps land-use aptitude and identifies conflict zones between urban expansion and agricultural production, calling for integrated sustainable planning.

Wadumestrige Dona C.T.G., Mohan G., Fukushi K. · Current Research in Environmental Sustainability · Sri Lanka (Colombo)

A perception survey of 402 small-scale farmers in Colombo District found positive attitudes toward the social, economic, and environmental benefits of urban agriculture, with environmental benefits rated highest, supporting home and community gardens as viable open-space management strategies for shrinking cities.

Ishak N., Abdullah R., Mohd Rosli N.S., Abdul Majid H., Abdul Halim N.S., Ariffin F. · Quaestiones Geographicae, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 57–72 · Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)

A survey of 106 urban farmers across 17 community gardens in Kuala Lumpur identified weather variability, land access, and financial constraints as the primary obstacles to urban food production, highlighting the need for targeted policy support.

Murdad R., Muhiddin M., Osman W.H., Tajidin N.E., Haida Z., Awang A., Jalloh M.B. · Sustainability (MDPI), Vol. 14, No. 7, Article 4155 · Malaysia

This review examines how COVID-19 disrupted Malaysia's fresh food supply chain and argues that urban farming approaches—including community gardens, vertical farming, and hydroponics—can meaningfully strengthen urban food security for Malaysian households.

Gumisiriza M.S., Ndakidemi P.A., Mbega E.R. · MethodsX, 9:101882 · Tanzania

A methods paper presenting a simplified, non-greenhouse hydroponic system built from low-cost, readily available materials using the Kratky method, with detailed step-by-step instructions. Requiring no specialised equipment or power, it offers a reproducible, self-buildable approach to soilless vegetable growing in confined urban spaces, supporting DIY and maker-style citizen food production.

Fernandes L., Fernandes J.R., Tavares P.B. · Solar · Portugal

Builds and tests two indirect solar dryer prototypes for fruits and vegetables using low-cost, reused materials (wood, styrofoam, recycled aluminum cans). Reports drying kinetics comparable to a commercial electric dryer, cutting waste from domestic over-production.