Research & reports

Mohamed Beidari, Inoussa Tougri, Bernard Lamien · Journal of Environmental Protection · Africa

For Burkina Faso, a circular Water, Energy, and Food (WEF) nexus framework was developed that couples wastewater reuse in peri-urban agriculture with biomass energy recovery from crop residues, using Material Flow Analysis, a screening-level Life Cycle Assessment, four-scenario simulation (baseline, water reuse only, biomass only, full circular integration) calibrated for 2005-2024, an exploratory STIRPAT elasticity analysis, and Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation around a composite Nexus Efficiency Index. Every quantitative result is a simulated output from a literature-constrained synthetic dataset rather than an empirical measurement for Burkina Faso; under the central assumptions, the fully integrated circular scenario was modelled to reduce freshwater abstraction by about 25-40%, increase yields by 20-40%, and cut farm-gate CO2-equivalent emissions by 30-45% relative to the linear baseline. The mobilizable biomass potential of cotton stalks and rice husks was estimated at around 44,891 tonnes of oil equivalent per year, with indicative payback periods of 5-10 years for small biogas digesters and gasifiers in representative peri-urban configurations.

Fitri Mahyudi, Husinsyah, Yarna Hasiani · INSPIRASI JURNAL PENGABDIAN KEPADA MASYARAKAT · Indonesia

A community activity in Desa Sungai Batang, Martapura sub-district, Banjar regency, South Kalimantan, aimed at building a self-sufficient food village by integrating urban farming with budikdamber (catfish farming in buckets). The method used fieldwork, direct observation, and interviews. The resulting budikdamber setup could supply local residents with animal protein from self-managed cultivation, while a simultaneously applied aquaponic technique for growing water spinach (kangkung) produced a vegetable supply that could become a long-term source for residents.

Tomoki Fujii, Christoph Waibel, Xinyi Du, Zhongming Shi · CABI climate change series. · Global

A book chapter reviewing Singapore's changing urban agriculture landscape and recent progress toward its "30-by-30" goal of 30% food self-sufficiency by 2030, discussing land constraints, high production costs, and resource limitations. It examines building-integrated agriculture (BIA)—using rooftops, façades and balconies for food production—as a potential way to raise self-sufficiency through simulation, but concludes that practical issues including regulatory concerns and infrastructure limitations must be addressed before BIA can be implemented at scale.

Ivonne M. Leiwakabessy, Novalien Syauta, Lili Sarce Joi Sapari, Joni Penda, Denny Petta, Dormauli Br Gultom, Dwi Indah Widya Yanti, Melisa Masengi · Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat dan Riset Pendidikan · Indonesia

A community-service report from Pulau Soop, a small island in Indonesia, aimed at strengthening household food security by using home yards and plastic bottles as planting media in response to limited land and increasing plastic waste. Students at SMP Negeri 9 Pulau Soop were trained to convert plastic bottles into planting containers and to cultivate vegetables, gaining knowledge and practical skills in recycling, appropriate technology and simple cultivation methods. The program resulted in improved student understanding and active participation, and led to the establishment of a school mini garden as an urban farming model, supporting environmental education, reduced plastic waste, and yard-based food security in the small island community.

Karina Corada, Caroline Nash, Prashant Kumar, Stuart Connop, Laura Wendling · Nature-Based Solutions · Global

A synthesis paper on the largely unexplored role of domestic gardens in influencing local air quality. While gardens are widely recognized for cultural and health benefits, particularly mental well-being and everyday contact with nature, the paper states few studies have examined air quality dynamics within residential garden settings. It notes that general urban green infrastructure research suggests vegetation structure, plant traits, and spatial configuration shape pollutant capture, but these findings have not been tested in domestic gardens, where microclimates and spatial constraints differ markedly. Evidence from food-growing gardens and allotments further suggests edible crops cultivated near roads may accumulate airborne pollutants, particularly metals, underscoring the need for research on exposure pathways and allotment locations. The paper identifies a significant gap in current green infrastructure and air-pollution research: the lack of empirical evidence on how domestic gardens function as socio-ecological systems with implications for air-quality regulation.

Ayhan Horuz, Güney Akınoğlu · · Turkey

A Turkish book chapter arguing that agriculture-derived air pollution, compounded by growing industrial and urban pollutant loads, is threatening food production, product quality, and food security by directly and indirectly impairing plant growth and development. It notes that population growth, energy production, transportation, waste management, and biomass burning have substantially increased atmospheric organic and inorganic pollutants, pushing air quality beyond acceptable limits in many regions. The first part evaluates the effects on agroecosystems of tropospheric (ground-level) ozone, PM2.5 and PM10, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), agricultural ammonia (NH3), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), detailing how tropospheric ozone suppresses photosynthesis causing yield losses in staple crops such as wheat and soybean, and how particulate matter directly and indirectly affects soil and plant health, alongside the effects of acid rain and nitrogen deposition on soil fertility, water quality, and ecosystem balance, assessed against the four pillars of food security—availability, access, utilization, and stability. The second part discusses integrated policy approaches, industrial emission control technologies, and low-emission transport systems at the macro level, alongside agricultural strategies such as precision farming, improved fertilizer management, and innovative production techniques, and the role of green infrastructure in urban planning.

Justina Walker-Mohamed, Stephanie Johnston, Silvia Sarapura, Charlotte Potter, Tristan Cook, Paul Benalcazer, Red Rock Indian Band, Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg, Biinjitiwaabik Zaagging Anishinaabek, Niigaaniin (Mamaweswen) · Rural Review Ontario Rural Planning Development and Policy · Canada

This poster presentation describes knowledge translation and transfer (KTT) practices in the Braiding Food Systems (BFS) project, a community-based agri-food research initiative with First Nations in Canada spanning community gardens, seed lodges and youth engagement. The approach centers relationships, mutual and reciprocal learning and sharing, and equal value for diverse forms of knowledge, co-developing place-based KTT strategies and materials, and is intended to open a conversation on community engagement and participation in KTT for Indigenous agri-food and rural research. No specific outcomes or measured results are reported.

Elaheh Jalilzadehazhari · Sustainable Development · Global

This study analyses research trends at the intersection of nature-based solutions (NbS), food systems and the SDGs using a multi-method approach combining a systematic literature review, betweenness centrality analysis and fuzzy logic. It identifies growing interest in climate change and urban agriculture and expanding European-led international collaboration, and names five major trends -- land-water-food nexus, urban farming and green infrastructure, governance and policy, community readiness and indigenous knowledge, and soil health and regenerative techniques -- finding the governance/policy trend has the highest betweenness centrality for bridging SDGs and the community-readiness trend shows the strongest convergence of social, urban and ecological goals.

Subin Babu Neupane, Pedro F S Toledo, Katerina Velasco-Graham, Felipe N. Soto‐Adames, Arash Kheirodin · Journal of Integrated Pest Management · United States

This is the first report documenting the invasive thrips species Thrips parvispinus, native to Southeast Asia, in Texas, USA. Samples collected from 12 locations across Texas -- including greenhouse facilities, large retail outlets and community gardens -- from plants showing foliage injury confirmed the species' presence in November 2025, and detections across multiple counties suggest it has been introduced to multiple locations and may be widely distributed in the state.

Wei-Chun Chuang, Ching‐Pin Tung, Wan-Yu Shih, Wen-Ray Su · 網際網路技術學刊 · China

This study examines the spatial equity and socio-spatial implications of urban agriculture by analysing the distribution of community gardens under Taipei's Garden City Program (TGCP) in relation to neighborhood-level income growth, using unsupervised machine learning (DBSCAN) combined with spatial statistics (Moran's I and LISA). It finds that garden service density is highly concentrated in central districts with significant service gaps in peripheral areas, while at the citywide scale no significant correlation is found between garden density and income growth -- consistent with the "just green enough" view that low-cost, small-scale, decentralized community gardens are less likely to trigger conventional green gentrification -- though several local areas do show potential spatial coupling between garden presence and income change, pointing to a need for policy attention to distributional equity.

Yus Alvar Saabighoot, Yusrafidin Yusrafidin, Rakhmini Juwita, Rizka Nurhalija, Rory Fitriani Larasati, Annisa Raudhatul Jannah, Lulu Ilma'nunah · Jurnal SOLMA · Indonesia

This case study examines a community-based program, "Waringin Sehat," delivered through an early childhood education center (PAUD Ibnu Umbara) in Waringin village, Indonesia, to address stunting and malnutrition in young children through a five-stage intervention combining education, participatory training and active mentoring. The program improved parents' and PAUD educators' understanding of balanced nutrition, equipped educators to integrate nutrition material into their curriculum, and formed active community learning groups that promoted use of local food through simple urban farming initiatives.

Yuvaraja Boovanahalli Kariyappagowda, Khateeja Ambareen, S P Vijaya Vardan Reddy, Chethan Bommalingaiahanapalya Krishnamurthy, Madhu Puttegowda · Journal of Asian Scientific Research · Global

This study developed a machine learning-based leaf-disease detection system to help rooftop gardeners and small-scale growers, aiming to address plant-disease spread and delayed diagnosis that leads many gardeners to abandon increasingly popular rooftop gardening in space-limited urban areas. Using image segmentation as a preprocessing step followed by a classification model, and trained and tested on leaf images from five commonly cultivated species -- guava, jamun, lemon, mango and pomegranate -- the system achieved an overall accuracy of 1.00, with lemon and mango disease classification reaching accuracies of 0.995 and 0.991 respectively and F1-scores exceeding 0.88.

Paul Miner · Journal of urban regeneration and renewal · United Kingdom

This paper evaluates the evolving role of Green Belt policy in England, arguing that both the designation and the land it protects are increasingly critical to addressing environmental, climate and public health challenges. It defines the extent and characteristics of Green Belt and other "countryside around towns" land, showing that these areas prevent urban sprawl, support nature recovery, provide public access to green space and sustain cultural landscapes, while highlighting mounting pressures including housing demand, weakened planning controls, losses in farming capacity and newly introduced "grey belt" policy reforms, and recommending measures such as reinstating strategic planning through Spatial Development Strategies, adopting a brownfield-first approach, prioritising environmental land management, and considering new Green Belt designations or expanded National Landscape protections.

Javier Cañarejo-Antamba, Mónica Delgado Yánez, Nieves Anderson, Pamela Quinatoa León, Tatiana Elizabeth Freire Rosero · Eídos · Colombia

A comparative hydrological study, based on extreme-value statistics, of the Caupicho ravine south of Quito, an urban-agricultural transition zone. The most significant flood events correspond to 50-100 year return periods, but historical records show that the Lucha de los Pobres Baja neighborhood experiences flooding roughly every five years, causing economic losses and undermining social resilience. Based on vulnerability mapping and scenario modeling, the study identifies earthen ponds reinforced with totora (Schoenoplectus californicus) as biomaterial as a key input for flood-risk management and territorial planning, proposing the delimitation of evacuation and rescue areas.

Jackson Borges de Carvalho, Murilo Couto Lacerda, Linia Dayana Lopes Machado, Rejaine Silva Guimarães · Contribuciones a las Ciencias Sociales · Brazil

A documentary literature study examined urban agriculture in Gurupi, Tocantins, Brazil, where 288 productive units exist despite the municipal master plan and local legislation not explicitly addressing the practice, focusing on the need for municipal regulation. Drawing on federal, state, and municipal legislation, academic studies, territorial diagnostics, and empirical survey data from Primo et al. (2014), the study found that urban agriculture holds socio-environmental, food, and community relevance but faces a lack of technical assistance, legal insecurity, and scarce institutional support.

Ane Novianty, Agus Fernando · MAHATANI Jurnal Agribisnis (Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics Journal) · Indonesia

A qualitative literature study examined forms of environmental damage caused by industrial activity in Cikarang, Indonesia—where industrial sector growth has contributed significantly to the economy while also bringing serious environmental degradation—and assessed the role sustainable agriculture can play in environmental recovery. Analysis of national and international scientific literature found that sustainable agriculture, particularly urban agriculture and environmentally friendly farming around industrial areas, has strategic potential as part of green infrastructure, functioning not only as a food source but also contributing to pollutant absorption, rainwater management, temperature control in the area, and improved soil quality and biodiversity.

E. Christian Wells, Sarah Combs · Practicing Anthropology · United States

A paper examines 'healthfields'—former brownfields, land whose contamination history impedes redevelopment and which in the US are disproportionately concentrated in underserved communities of color linked to poor health outcomes—redeveloped through participatory approaches to provide health benefits such as recreational parks, community gardens, and health care centers. Noting that healthfields are difficult to realize because local governments often see them as low-return investments offering little tax-base benefit relative to operation and maintenance costs, the paper describes the history and outcomes of a university-community partnership redevelopment project that catalyzed additional development including attainable housing, evaluating its public health contribution using an established land-reuse model for safely cleaning up and reusing contaminated brownfields.

Azzahra Imairel Putri Diyati Mulyono, Herlina Fitrihidajati, Adi Candra, Nurcholis Nurcholis, Aseyan Aseyan · Journal of Community Service and Empowerment · Indonesia

A study examined adding Eco Enzyme to liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) made from garlic and onion skin waste as a potential replacement for chemical AB Mix fertilizer in growing curly lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in a vertical garden system. Conducted from September to November 2025 at the Oase Tembok Gede Smart Village in Surabaya, Indonesia, nutrient testing per Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture Decree No. 261/KPTS/SR.310/M/4/2019 found the LOF's K2O content at 2.03%, meeting the minimum standard. In a Completely Randomized Design with four treatments and three replications, ANOVA showed no significant difference between treatments (p > 0.05), though the 60 mL treatment (P3) produced the best growth—11 cm height, 7 leaves, and 11 g fresh weight—with the study noting that growth remained good despite suboptimal fertilizer nutrient quality, supported by favorable environmental conditions.

V. Costanzo, M. Detommaso, G. Evola, F. Nocera, M. Mistretta, S. Longo · Energy and Buildings · Italy

A study introduces and validates a novel Deep Water Culture hydroponic roof system as a building-integrated solution for enhancing indoor thermal conditions and energy efficiency in Mediterranean climates. Unlike conventional green roofs, the system removes the soil layer and uses a water-based nutrient solution that simultaneously supports plant growth and acts as a thermal energy buffer; a full-scale prototype was experimentally tested on an existing office building in Catania, Italy, and transient thermal modelling with TRNSYS then simulated different roof configurations using the experimental data. Results show the hydroponic roof reduces indoor peak temperatures by up to 2.8°C in summer, increases them by 2.4°C in winter, and shifts heat flux peaks by up to 16 hours, with annual simulations indicating energy savings of 47% for space cooling and 51% for space heating.

Dewi Ratna Nurhayati, Efi Nikmatu Sholihah, Andini Desi Sawitri · Jurnal Masyarakat Madani Indonesia · Indonesia

A community service (PkM) program in Gulon, RT 01/RW 19, Jebres sub-district, Surakarta, Indonesia, worked with residents facing limited yard space and low use of household space for food self-sufficiency, aiming to raise knowledge, attitudes and skills in fruit and ornamental plant urban farming. Methods comprised outreach sessions, hands-on planting training and participatory community mentoring. As a result, resident participation in yard use increased, with 17 participating households beginning to independently grow fruit and ornamental plants, and new planting habits formed that support household food resilience and environmental quality.

Pesi Suryani, Ratna Marta Dhewi, Vivi Oktari, Demi Primavera · Mejuajua Jurnal Pengabdian pada Masyarakat · Indonesia (Jakarta)

A 2026 community service program based at RPTRA Payung Tunas Teratai in Cipayung sub-district, Indonesia, sought to build resident capacity through technology-based urban farming. Key problems addressed were limited knowledge of modern agricultural technology, low urban farming literacy, and underuse of the RPTRA's function as an education center. Participatory training — including material delivery, hands-on hydroponic and aeroponic practice, group discussion and ongoing mentoring — improved participants' understanding and skills in urban farming techniques, with a harvest success rate exceeding 80% in the first cycle. The Edufarm area was put to use as a community learning center, and a small farmer group was formed to support the program's continuation.

Mya O. Price · · United States (Appalachia)

This chapter examines how community-supported agriculture (CSA) empowers Black farmers through innovations and community partnerships in Appalachia and nearby regions of the United States (2026). It traces CSA's roots to Booker T. Whatley's 1960s clientele membership clubs, explaining how shares, upfront payments and risk-sharing stabilize farm income while improving local access to fresh food. Case studies include Swanson Family Farm's buyer's club near Atlanta, Southside Community Farm's BIPOC-centered urban model in Asheville, and Cleav's Family Market's traditional Kentucky CSA. The chapter also addresses persistent barriers — limited resources, systemic discrimination and land access — and highlights the support networks and policy impacts shaping CSA success for Black-led food equity efforts.

Kadek Ayu Natalia, Kadek Wulandari Laksmi P · KAIBON ABHINAYA JURNAL PENGABDIAN MASYARAKAT · Indonesia (Bali)

A community-service report on a university KKN (Kuliah Kerja Nyata) program that taught urban farming at SD Negeri 04 Sesetan, an elementary school in Bali, Indonesia. Students used experiential learning, combining lessons on urban farming basics with hands-on planting practice using pots and polybags, and involved teachers to sustain the activity as an extracurricular or subject component in science and environmental education. Reported effects included increased environmental awareness, school food security, and economic potential from using the harvest.

Santanu Maiti, 2S. Aanand, 3Rajalakshmi Kalaivanan, 4V. Mahendra Varman, · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

A technical guide describing wicking bed aquaponics, a resource-efficient, home-scale food production system that combines aquaculture with soilless plant cultivation. Fish waste is biologically converted into nutrients for plants, while the wicking bed functions as a sub-irrigation unit that uses capillary action to move water from a reservoir to the plant root zone, providing consistent moisture while minimizing evaporation loss.

Brenda B. Lin, Shalene Jha, Heidi Liere, Stacy M. Philpott · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Global

Drawing on a long-term, multidisciplinary research program conducted since 2013 on urban community gardens in the California Central Coast, this paper uses that program as a lens to explore how community gardens may function as a form of green infrastructure within increasingly compact urban development, while grounded in a specific regional context.