Research & reports

M. G. Dahiru, Onaiwu Idahosa Enabulele · · Nigeria (Kano)

Microbiological and physicochemical parameters of urban wastewater from the Jakara Canal in Kano were analyzed to assess its potential for irrigation. Mean fecal coliform counts ranged from 64.43 ± 63.20 MPN 100/ml to 216.85 ± 350.16 MPN 100/ml, increasing along the canal. All physicochemical parameters were within FEPA and WHO/FAO acceptable limits, but conductivity needed monitoring to avoid salinity.

Nyasha Chaminuka, Peter Makaye · Global Journal of Human-Social Science · Africa

This paper analyzes urban agriculture in Mkoba, Gweru, as a survival strategy for residents facing food insecurity and poverty, despite opposition from city authorities. It argues that urban agriculture is a resilient practice that has become a significant feature of urban livelihoods, often increasing the burden on women. The paper suggests that city authorities are losing the contest over urban spaces and should reform legislation to accommodate urban agriculture.

C.O. Edeoghon, DU Okoedo-Okojie · Journal of applied science and environmental management · Nigeria (Lagos State)

This study assessed the information needs of 140 youths involved in urban agriculture in Epe LGA, Lagos State, Nigeria, using structured questionnaires. Most respondents (71.4% unemployed) needed information on crop production (54.3%) and perceived urban agriculture as a solace for unemployment. Major agricultural tasks included vegetable, maize, cassava, and fish production. Unemployment was attributed to laziness, lack of knowledge, and god-fatherism, and perceived information needs were significantly associated with education level and primary occupation.

Robert Romborah Simiyu · Eastern Africa social science research review · Kenya (Eldoret)

This paper examines gender roles in urban gardening decision-making in Eldoret, Kenya, based on a survey of 160 households and 24 interviews. While men generally held more decision-making power, women leveraged social spaces and gender roles to secure significant influence in urban gardening. Women typically initiated gardening, preferred subsistence crops, and controlled consumption, whereas men's roles were more prominent in income-oriented gardening and sales decisions.

Sulaiman Yusuf, Olubunmi Lawrence Balogun, Olanike Falegbe · Journal of Agricultural Sciences Belgrade · Nigeria (Ibadan)

This study investigated the effect of urban household farming on food security status in Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria, using primary data from 110 urban farming households. Data were collected via structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke, and probit regression. Results showed that sex, years of schooling, marital status, household size, access to extension agents, hired labor, and type of farming enterprises are determinants of food security.

West Africa, Olufunke Cofie · · West Africa

An examination of urban agriculture (UA) development in West Africa reveals that despite its known benefits for food supply and livelihoods, UA is not fully recognized as an important component of urban development. This is due to high land demand from other sectors and perceived health risks by authorities. Policy makers need to address issues to institutionalize UA and integrate it into urban development plans.

Salome C.R. Korir, Jacob Rotich, Pacifica Mining · · Kenya (Eldoret)

This paper investigated the contribution of Urban Agriculture to the food security of residents of Eldoret Municipality, Kenya. The study aimed to lay the foundation for future policy formulation for Urban Agriculture in Kenya.

Nkirigacha, Imungi, J. K Cheminngwa · Global Journal of Biology, Agriculture & Health Sciences · Kenya (Nairobi)

This descriptive cross-sectional study assessed the contribution of urban agriculture to food security among 260 low-income households in Mwiki Location, Nairobi County, using semi-structured questionnaires. Findings showed 24% of respondents were farmers, 80% obtained food through purchases, and 17% from own production, with 72% having enough food. Despite indicating food security, urban agriculture practice in the area remains low.

Norman Kwikiriza, Wellington Jogo, Julius Juma Okello, Haile Tesfay, Frezer Asfaw, Kennedy Otieno Pambo, Kwikiriza, Norman, Jogo, Wellington, Okello, Julius J., Tesfay, Haile, Asfaw, Frezer, Pambo, Kennedy · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Ethiopia (Tigray region)

In Ethiopia's Tigray region, a 2-year project by the International Potato Center and partners promoted vitamin A-rich Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) production and consumption. The project piloted school-based nutritional campaigns, including school gardens and feeding programs, in 11 schools. These schools served as centers for disseminating OFSP planting material and information to parents.

Molly R Loftus · Scholarship @ Claremont (The Claremont Colleges) · Africa

This thesis comparatively analyzes environmental values in Ghana's and Senegal's coastal regions and their implications for the environment. It assesses the countries' approaches to urban farming, mining, fishing, and waste management to understand environmental issues. By comparing environmental degradation and efforts towards sustainable development, the thesis draws examples from Senegal's coastal management successes to recommend environmental policy for Ghana's Greater Accra Region.

Naudé Malan · Agrekon · South Africa (Johannesburg)

This article examines urban farmers' perspectives on Johannesburg's urban agriculture policy, part of its "food resilience" strategy, using participatory and social science research methods. Through facilitated workshops, farmers identified key themes for organizational development and urban agriculture, including Land and Water, External Stakeholders, Training, Tools and Technology, Marketing, Organizational Development, Permaculture, and Security. The findings provide crucial insights for policy implementation in Johannesburg.

Brittany Kesselman · ScholarWorks -A service of University of Vermont Libraries (University of Vermont) · South Africa (Johannesburg)

This proposal outlines ongoing PhD research aimed at understanding if and how urban community gardens contribute to food sovereignty in Johannesburg, South Africa, and determining actions to enhance their contribution. The research examines the way urban community gardens contribute to six key elements of food sovereignty: access to adequate food, sustainable income/livelihoods, localization and democratization of the food system, environmental sustainability, empowerment of marginalized groups, and promotion of gender equity.

Courtney M. Gallaher, Antoinette WinklerPrins, Mary Njenga, Nancy Karanja · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Kenya (Nairobi)

This research investigated how participation in sack gardening improved the livelihoods of farmers in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The study demonstrates that urban agriculture, particularly low-space activities like sack gardening, can be a viable and important livelihood strategy for households, even in densely populated slum environments.

Abdoul-Ramane Abdoulaye, Aboudou Yacoubou Mama Aboudou Ramanou · Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection · Benin (Parakou)

This study examined urban market-gardening in Parakou, Benin, as a solution for rural farmers migrating to the city, given the city's population growth and 65% poverty rate. Using documentary research, interviews, and field observation, the study found that market-gardening areas have evolved, reducing food insecurity through consistent produce availability. It also contributes to environmental protection by draining urban areas and preserving vegetable diversity, while increasing farmers' household incomes and creating employment.

Dominique Juhé-Beaulaton · · Benin

This study explores the history of urban agriculture in the ancient kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Benin) since the 17th century, using European traveler narratives and oral information. It reveals that cities like Abomey, Cana, and Ouidah were centers of agricultural innovation and plant preservation, with farming present in interstitial spaces. Early European contact fostered truck-farming, and colonial administration introduced agricultural stations and new town planning, yet local and European agricultural models coexisted without competition.

Vide Adedayo · Journal of Research in National Development · Nigeria (Lagos)

This study investigated poultry waste management in urban vegetable farms in Metropolitan Lagos from an ecosystem to human health perspective. Using a transdisciplinary approach, community participation, and socio-cultural, physiochemical, microbiological, and clinical information, the research revealed negative impacts and health problems associated with poultry waste management due to poor storage, composting, and packaging techniques. Consequently, adverse effects on users were identified.

Berhe, Sophia · National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia · Ethiopia

A comparative study in Akaki-Kaliti Sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, investigated the contributions of urban agriculture to alleviating food insecurity among 100 randomly selected poor urban households. The study found that one in two sampled households engaged in farming, earning food and cash income, which improved household food security by enhancing food availability (50%) and nutrition (50%).

Adetola I. Adeoti, Olusola Anthony Ibitoye · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Nigeria

In Ibadan North-West Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria, stratified random sampling was used to survey 115 respondents (89 farmers and 29 non-farmers) in 2015, analyzed with descriptive statistics and a logit model. The mean age of respondents was 45.8, still economically active; farming was the primary occupation for 10.2% of respondents and a secondary occupation for 65.3%. Arable crop production was the most common practice, followed by horticulture, with a preference for arable farming driven by lack of land title. Factors affecting participation in urban agriculture included age, years of schooling, number of dependents, food expenditure and non-food expenditure. Lack of land title and theft were identified as the most pressing problems, and the study recommends that government establish farm settlements in peri-urban centers, leasing land to farmers, particularly young unemployed youths.

Baltazar M.L. Namwata, Idris S. Kikula, Peter A. Kopoka · Journal of African studies · Africa

A study examined urban farmers' access to land, water and inputs for urban agriculture toward household food security, employment creation and income generation in Dodoma municipality, Tanzania. A cross-sectional survey of 300 urban farmers from both squatter and non-squatter settlements used structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, observations and documentary review. The analysis found urban farmers constrained by land tenure insecurity, erratic water access, inadequate inputs for optimizing plot productivity, and ambivalent application of urban legislative frameworks, with no support given to enable urban farmers to access land, water and inputs. The apparent lack of political will necessary to promote such access is reflected in weak or absent policy frameworks, resulting in an enormous capacity deficit.

Georges Courade · Recherches Internationales · Africa

This essay examines the food challenge facing an increasingly populous and urbanized Africa, worsened by land grabs for biofuels and food production destined elsewhere, climate change and speculative management of food security; it states a quarter of Africans, and more than a third of young children, remain malnourished. It argues that responses from peasant agriculture untouched by the green revolution are insufficient, but points to paths toward food sovereignty: agricultural policy favoring family farms, urban agriculture, diversified agroecological models, stock-based food policy, and peasant organizations.

Imogen Bellwood‐Howard, Volker Häring, Hanna Karg, Regina Roessler, Johannes Schlesinger, Martina Shakya · · Africa

A working paper in the IWMI (International Water Management Institute) series reporting an exploratory survey of urban and peri-urban agriculture characteristics conducted in Tamale, Ghana, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The available abstract text describes only the series' purpose — recording IWMI researchers' work and findings, including project reports, case studies, conference proceedings and discussion papers — and does not state the survey's specific results.

Steven Masvaure · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · Africa

A mixed-methods study of 103 households in Glen Norah Township, Harare, Zimbabwe used semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observations to examine urban agriculture as a poverty coping mechanism. Poor households were found to spend more than 60% of their income on food alone. The research proposed an Urban Livelihoods Coping Model (ULCM), which attributes the emergence of urban agriculture to necessity, ability and opportunity shaped by the socio-historical context of Western-leaning development policies, modernization and Structural Adjustment Policies in Zimbabwe and other African countries, framing urban agriculture as a critical coping mechanism for the urban poor against food poverty.

Blessing Nyamasoka‐Magonziwa, P. Nyamugafata, Simon Madyiwa, J. Nyamangara · African Journal of Agricultural Research · South Africa

This study examined soil fertility and water management practices used by urban farmers in Harare and Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, and their effect on maize yields, along with the influence of gender on their use. Women dominated farming activities (62.4%) over men (37.6%); farmers combining poultry manure, sewage sludge, or cattle manure with mineral fertilizers achieved an average maize yield of 1.5 t/ha, with more women than men using organic fertilizers but at lower application rates, resulting in lower yields, and the quantity of mineral fertilizer and sewage sludge applied was significantly correlated with gender, as was the use of ridges and furrows, raised beds, and mulching for water management, which more women than men employed.

Frayne B., McCordic C., Shilomboleni H. · Urban Forum 25(2):177-189 · Southern Africa

Using data from 11 Southern African cities, this study questions whether urban agriculture meaningfully contributes to household food security, finding its impact limited and often a last resort rather than a choice for poor households.

O. A. Odusina, C. A. Afolami, S. Momoh · · Nigeria (Ibadan)

This study in Ibadan, Nigeria, assessed household food access and diversity across 180 households during harvest and hunger periods using structured questionnaires. Findings indicated significantly better food access during harvest (HFIAS 5.23-7.01) compared to hunger periods (HFIAS 9.75-11.77), though adequate access was maintained in both. Dietary diversity also decreased from an average of 3 food groups during harvest to 2.54 during hunger periods, a significant difference (p<0.01).