Research & reports

Susan Anne Mansel Fitzgerald · · Cuba (Havana)

In Havana, Cuba, at Plaza de la Revolución, La Sazón, an urban farming and market, utilizes interstitial spaces to provide fresh produce and meat to the local community. This garden contributes to Cuba's emerging entrepreneurial and sustainable economy by connecting cultivation to consumption and fostering close relationships with other businesses and community groups.

Megan Marshall · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global

"A Recipe for Gentrification" is an edited volume exploring the complex relationship between intent and impact at the intersection of alternative food systems and urban development. The book aims to unpack how food systems can both drive and resist gentrification. It shows that well-intentioned efforts to increase food access in a neighborhood can be an early initiator of gentrification, and urban agriculture and public green spaces are frequently co-opted for development efforts.

Angie Sassano, Christopher Mayes, Yin Paradies · Urban Policy and Research · Australia

In Australia, COVID-19 accelerated reliance on resiliency for post-pandemic urban recovery. This study examined the use of resilience in urban agriculture proposals for cities after COVID-19, drawing on critical literature. It argues that the current pandemic conditions for urban agriculture risk perpetuating urban colonial governmentality. The paper calls for a rethinking of urban agriculture for future cities by radically disrupting the foundational colonial logics of urban spatiality.

Amy Trauger · · Global

The contemporary industrial food system is problematic, producing diverse foods for a small elite and replicating past labor injustices rooted in colonialism. Urban agriculture is a growing global trend and is expected to be the future of food production. The future of food will also diversify what we eat, including aquaponic tilapia, sprouts, algae, fungus and yeast-derived foods, and imitation meats.

Tong Zou, Ali Cheshmehzangi, Ayotunde Dawodu, Eugenio Mangi · Journal of Resilient Economies (ISSN 2653-1917) · Global

This study investigated how urban agriculture can improve the sustainability and resilience of the urban food system through the analysis of existing literature. The literature review, conducted on April 11, 2022, on the Web of Science database, included bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis, and co-occurrence analysis. Findings highlighted that urban agriculture alone cannot substitute large-scale food systems in the short term, but it could be a promising approach in the future.

Francesco Orsini, Michele D’Ostuni · Frontiers for Young Minds · Global

Urban agriculture, which involves growing food in cities, promotes local and sustainable food systems to address global challenges such as growing urban populations, climate change, and natural resource scarcity. Farming in cities positively impacts the environment, ecosystem, and climate, while also bringing communities together and improving citizens' health.

Md. Abdul Quddus · Horticulture International Journal · Global

This review study investigated the scenario, advantages, and challenges of rooftop farming in urban communities. Rooftop gardening provides fresh, nutrition-rich food for urban dwellers, serves as an alternative land use, improves the urban atmosphere, and offers household recreation. Previous research indicates that insight and consciousness of roof gardening enrich wellbeing, social value, and enjoyable farming for building residents.

Rachel Laws, Megan Adam, Emma Esdaile, Penelope Love, Karen Campbell · Nutrients · Global

This rapid review synthesized evidence on what works to improve nutrition and food sustainability across the first 2000 days of life. Most systematic reviews (n=60) and grey literature (n=27) focused on interventions targeting the behavior of parents and caregivers, with no reviews focusing on food supply-chain activities. Most reviews were rated as critically low (n=28, 47%) or low (n=21, 35%) quality using AMSTAR 2.

Birgit Hoinle · Revista Iberoamericana de Economía Solidaria e Innovación Socioecológica · Colombia (Bogotá)

This chapter explores the emancipatory potential of urban agroecology in Bogotá, Colombia, and its surrounding Sabana region. Based on participatory action-research conducted between 2014 and 2017 with agroecological groups, it develops a theory of spatial empowerment. The study highlights the potential of solidarity economy within the urban agroecology movement to foster spatial empowerment, discussing both contributing and hindering factors.

Jiefu Wang, Yuepeng Sun, Kang Xia, Allison Deines, Ross Cooper, Karen Pallansch, Zhi‐Wu Wang · Water Environment Research · Global

This review examines the potential pivotal role of Urban Water Resource Reclamation Facilities (WRRFs) in sustainable urban agriculture. It highlights that reclaimed water can offer higher quality and less variable supply than other sources, while biosolids from wastewater treatment can be used as fertilizers or soil amendments. Additionally, WRRFs can produce renewable electricity, heat, CO2, and bioplastics, serving as essential resources for urban agriculture operations.

Ramon Majé Floriano · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Colombia (Pitalito Huila)

The STEM community gardens project aims to contribute to food security in the San Francisco, Santa Inés, and Holland villages of the Pitalito Huila municipality in Colombia. This report describes the project's development through three phases: immersion, transfer, and communication.

Caroline Petit, Barbara Redlingshöfer · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · Global

This paper discusses food basin analysis, focusing on evaluating the food dependency and self-sufficiency capacity of territories. This boxed text is presented as part of Chapter 6, "Territorialized Food Systems: New Frameworks for Integrating Urban Agriculture."

April M. Roggio, Jason Evans · Sustainability · Global

Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) are locally-rooted agroecological governance mechanisms that have garnered interest globally. However, there is little evidence of their development in the United States, where community supported agriculture (CSA) and farmer's markets grew instead, though many of these mechanisms failed to sustain interest and support. This study explores factors driving PGS creation in other global regions and identifies factors shaping a different trajectory for local agriculture in the United States.

Noor Atiqah Sanudin, Mohd Yazid Mohd Yunos, Emran Zahrin Mohamad Taram · INTI JOURNAL. · Malaysia

This case study in Port Dickson, Malaysia, aimed to identify potential urban farming locations and suitable approaches, utilizing mapping analysis of green spaces and interviews with experts. The findings recognized multiple urban farming approaches tailored to different site characteristics and contextual forms. The study offers recommendations for a resilient food system, efficient land management, and empowering urban farming knowledge and entrepreneurship.

Luíza Costa Caldas, Tania Pereira Christopoulos · Revista Gestão & Sustentabilidade Ambiental · Global

This systematic literature review investigated how social network perspectives apply to urban agriculture, analyzing 65 articles. The study found that social networks are important for individual survival and empowerment, access to resources, social change, environmental change, and the development of urban agriculture projects. It also noted that relationship characteristics, such as tie strength, generate different types of social capital, including bridging and bonding.

Amit Kumar, Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Suresh Chandra Babu, Carlos Andrea Bollino, Siti Mustaqimatud Diyanah, Vyta W. Hanifah, Syarif Hidayat, Masanori Kozono, Agus Eko Nugroho, Risti Permani, Sahara Sahara, Mat Syukur, Irwanda W. Wardhana · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

This brief investigates policy pathways for accelerating inclusive digital transformation in agri-food systems. Digital transformation offers opportunities to manage resources and address information asymmetries, fostering efficient, equitable, and sustainable economic development, including urban and peri-urban agriculture. However, challenges remain in maximizing benefits and ensuring equitable access, necessitating innovative policy and strategic approaches, as well as improved coordination and global governance.

Bassey Ebenso, Akaninyene Otu, Alessandro Giusti, Philipe Cousin, Victor O. Adetimirin, Hary Razafindralambo, Emmanuel Effa, Vasileios Gkisakis, Ousmane Thiaré, Vincent Levavasseur, Sonagnon Kouhoundé, Kifouli Adéoti, Abdur Rahim, Majid Mounir · Frontiers in Nutrition · Global

This paper argues that adopting a One Health approach to urban agriculture is crucial for significantly increasing food yields and improving quality of life in cities, given global population growth and urbanization trends. It proposes six nature-based and climate-smart approaches, including reducing synthetic inputs and increasing biodiversity, to accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems. These approaches require cross-sectoral stakeholder engagement to ensure sustainable, nutritious, and accessible diets.

Gordon Prain, Dávid Simon, Jess Halliday, Pay Drechsel · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global South

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in the Global South faces challenges such as limited recognition, land conversion, and water pollution, which threaten its potential for urban resilience. Innovations in urban governance are required to integrate food systems into urban planning through food mapping and multisectoral platforms.

Denise Misleh · The AAG Review of Books · Global

Organic stores, trendy coffee shops, and food initiatives generally associated with the alternative food movement, such as farmer's markets and community gardens, have become a clear symbol.

Alexandra Rodríguez, David Jácome-Polit, Alain Santandreu, Denisse Paredes, Nataly Pinto Álvaro · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Ecuador

This article reviews the history and achievements of the Participatory Urban Agriculture Project (AGRUPAR) in Quito, Ecuador, which has promoted urban agriculture for nearly 20 years. The Municipality of Quito is now implementing public food policies to strengthen the city's food security and resilience, moving beyond just urban agricultural production. The authors hypothesize that cities establishing urban agricultural programs are better positioned to implement food policies for resilience and sustainable urban development, though additional progress is needed to fully integrate urban agriculture into city-scale policy.

Julieth Milena Jurado Chana, Irma Soto-Vallejo · Luna Azul · Colombia (Manizales)

A mixed-method approach was used to identify and understand the characteristics of urban agriculture practices in the San José commune, Manizales, Colombia, and their impact on sustainable urban development and territorial defense. Information collected through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and field observations was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively with ATLAS.ti software. Findings indicated that urban agriculture is recognized in the commune as a strategy for territorial appropriation and defense, and community actions have led to more sustainable urban development.

Ibrahima Thiaw, Cheikh Faye, Honoré Dacosta, Diène Dione · International Journal of Environment Agriculture and Biotechnology · Senegal (Dakar)

A study involving 120 market gardening actors in four market gardening production areas of the Dakar region (Ouakam, Parcelles Assainies, Grand-Yoff, and Hann-Bel-Air) revealed that market gardening, mainly carried out by women, is a commercial activity whose monetary income significantly exceeds the minimum wage in Senegal. While this activity helps women cover urban living expenses, market gardeners face problems such as COVID-19, lack of water, land pressure, pest proliferation, and lack of training on cultivation techniques.

Brandon Edwards-Schuth, Marco Cerqueira · Northwest Journal of Teacher Education · Global

This paper suggests that an anti-fascist guerrilla gardening (Plantifa) curriculum provides educational opportunities for community activism. It utilizes anti-fascist, decolonizing, and eco-justice frameworks to connect learners with their communities, local ecosystems, history, and permaculture. The curriculum involves mapping local terrain, identifying plants, and considering food-bearing plants for community needs.

Zeba F. Alam, Karen Avena, Lorenzo Sales, Denise Suemith, Riane UY · Indian Journal of Fisheries · Global

This study attempted to optimize aquaponics culture conditions for water spinach and freshwater prawns, comparing their growth performance in soil, aquaponics, aquarium, and hydroponics units. Water spinach showed significant growth in the aquaponics setup compared to hydroponics, but less than in soil units. Freshwater prawns also recorded significantly higher growth in the aquaponics unit compared to the aquarium unit.

Ee-Wei Then, Meenchee Hong · Journal of Regional and City Planning · Malaysia (Penang Island)

This study investigated the likelihood of rooftop farming and its determinants among residents on Penang Island, Malaysia. Data collected from 323 Penangites living in high-rise residential buildings revealed that 65% of respondents were likely to participate in rooftop farming. The ordered Probit model estimated that awareness of rooftop farming's potential benefits, environmental knowledge and awareness, and environmental consciousness and perception are important factors determining participation likelihood.