Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
9074 results(22 / 363)
Vertical gardening undergirds household food security: evidence from Nairobi's Kibera informal settlements
2025Otieno J.A., Omia D.O., Amwata D.A. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · East Africa (Kenya)
Evidence-based study demonstrating how vertical gardening (particularly sack farming) in Kibera's informal settlements underpins household food security. Shows how stacking soil-filled sacks vertically enables vegetable production in space-constrained environments, serving as a solution to chronic hunger.
CommunityFood educationFood lossOrganic cycleFrom cities to refuges for pollinators: Urban practices for enhancing pollinator habitats in changing landscapes
2025Ranalli et al. · Journal of Applied Ecology · Global (urban ecosystems)
2025 research on how urban agriculture and urban planning enhance pollinator habitats in changing landscapes. Urban environments offer benefits to pollinator communities: lower pesticide use, greater variety of floral resources, and increased landscape heterogeneity. Urban agriculture serves as a pollinator reservoir and source area for adjacent rural regions, contributing to food security, poverty alleviation, and pollinator conservation.
PollinatorsBiodiversityOrganic cycleCrop-specialized pollinator drives bee and floral community response to urbanization on small squash farms
2025Roedel J., Szendrei Z. · Urban Ecosystems · North America (urban-suburban gradient)
2025 research showing that squash bees are most abundant on suburban and urban farms compared to rural farms. Demonstrates that small-scale urban farms benefit from urban environment advantages (lower pesticide use, diverse floral resources, landscape heterogeneity), enabling bee and floral community responses to urbanization.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCommunityAgronomic Use of Urban Composts from Decentralized Composting Scenarios: Implications for a Horticultural Crop and Soil Properties
2025Irigoyen I., López M., Orden L., Moral R., Nogués I., Bustamante M.Á. · Agronomy · Europe (urban agriculture focus)
June 2025 study examining how decentralized and community composting are emerging as novel scenarios favoring localized management and valorization of organic waste streams. Supports organic waste reduction at community level and nutrient cycling for urban agriculture fertilization, offering alternatives to centralized composting.
CompostOrganic cycleFood educationExploring compost production potential and its economic benefits and greenhouse gas mitigation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2025Shimelis G., Kim D., Yimer F., Tadesse M. · Science of The Total Environment · Africa (Ethiopia)
2025 study estimating compost production potential from municipal organic waste and human excreta in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with projections through 2050. Quantifies economic benefits (compost sales, fertilizer cost reduction), soil carbon sequestration, and greenhouse gas mitigation. Demonstrates feasibility of organic waste-to-compost systems for urban agriculture in African cities.
CompostOrganic cycleFood educationPolicyUrban food resilience: a bibliometric and systematic literature review of evolution, dimensions, and planning integration
2025Global research network · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Australia, Canada, China
Bibliometric analysis of 710+ articles on urban food resilience, documenting evolution of connections between urban-planning-environment clusters and food-agriculture systems globally.
CommunityPolicySupply chain risks in agri-food systems: a comprehensive review of economic vulnerabilities and mitigation approaches
2025Xue Y., Yan J., Mohsin M., Mehak A. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global
Comprehensive analysis of economic vulnerabilities in agri-food supply chains and mitigation approaches through local food system strengthening, highlighting role of urban agriculture.
EconomicsMultifunctional Vertical Farming Systems as a Basis for Transforming Urban Food Systems Amid Climate Change
2025· Sustainability, Vol. 17, No. 19 · Global
Published September 26, 2025. Explores multifunctional role of vertical farming systems in climate adaptation and urban food system transformation. Examines coexistence with existing and planned blue-green urban infrastructure. Analyzes how vertical farming technologies contribute to urban resilience and sustainability.
Does urban agriculture contribute to food security, and how might this be achieved?
2025(Open Research Community) · ResearchGate, Discover Sustainability (Springer Nature) · Global
2025 review article examining urban agriculture's contribution to food security and mechanisms of achievement. Analyzes through empirical evidence the benefits and challenges, income generation effects, and improvements in fresh food access for low-income households.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyBoosting soil health and crop nutrients with locally sourced biochar and compost in Sacramento urban agriculture
2025· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · North America (Sacramento, California, USA)
Field research conducted at two urban farms in Sacramento, California, USA. Investigates effects of locally produced compost and biochar amendments on soil health and plant nutrient uptake. Demonstrates feasibility of combining sustainable resource cycling with crop productivity in community-based urban agriculture systems.
CompostOrganic cycleFood educationUnleashing the Potential of Urban Agroecology to Reach Biodiversity Conservation, Food Security and Climate Resilience
2025Thompson, R., Climate & Food Security Research Initiative · Agriculture · Global
Analyzes urban agroecology as a key strategy to build climate-resilient communities and strengthen urban food systems. Examines multifaceted impacts of community-based agricultural practices on biodiversity conservation, local food security, and climate adaptation. Includes comparative case studies from Global South and Global North perspectives.
BiodiversityOrganic cycleHousehold food waste behaviors of participants in a municipal community compost program
2025Campbell C., Gusto C., Kelsey K.D., Haase H., Cohen N., Robertson K., Kiker G., Boz Z. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 14(2):9-26 · United States
A study in which 107 participants in a municipal community compost program in Gainesville, Florida, used a citizen-science approach to measure and record their household food waste for two weeks. Participants generated more than double the EPA's estimate (about 14 lb/week), yet 85.8% reported increased food-waste awareness and 71.5% reported reducing their waste, showing that community composting can nudge household food-loss reduction.
Food lossCompostCommunityFood educationPositive Futures for Urban Agriculture in Asia? A Review
2025Lynch · Geography Compass · Asia
2025 review of urban agriculture in Asia, arguing that institutional development is more effective than technological innovation alone for removing barriers and achieving sustainability and equity.
Sustainable transitions in food systems: a case study of an urban agriculture farming training program in Washington, United States
2025Soumya Keefe, Jean Lee · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (Washington)
Using an urban agriculture farmer-training program in Washington, United States, this case study examines how such programs support sustainability transitions in the food system, applying the multi-level perspective and social practice theory. It finds the program creates a space for social learning and shifts graduates' collective practices and narratives, but their capacity to change the broader food regime is curtailed without intentional state and local policy support.
Food educationCommunityPolicyA drop in the bucket: examining practice and policy for water resilient urban agriculture and urban food system resilience
2025Kristida Chhour, Maya Carrasquillo · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States (San Francisco East Bay)
This mixed-methods case study of the water-scarce San Francisco East Bay maps 91 urban agriculture sites, interviews 34 stakeholders, and analyzes regional plans to examine water management and urban agriculture's resilience potential. It finds growers were the main water managers while municipalities and utilities were minimally involved, that land access shaped water access, and that institutional support to stabilize long-term land and water access is needed for greater water and food-system resilience.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsMeasuring community power: A scale to measure collective self-determination, Embodied Earth Care, and Ubuntu among urban farmers and gardeners
2025Ashley Gripper, Tori Cowger · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States
Using exploratory factor analysis on 363 respondents recruited from U.S.-based agricultural networks, this study developed a survey-based scale to capture what Black- and Brown-led food justice organizations value most about community farming and gardening. The analysis supported a five-factor structure—termed "Agricultural Community Power" (AgCPS), covering collective self-determination, community care, land-based spiritual wellbeing, embodied Earth care, and Ubuntu/interdependence—with adequate reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93).
CommunityHealthPolicyStraw cover increases garden soil microbial biodiversity
2025Emory Walker, Mara Welty, Emma Creviston, Jacob J. Adler · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Lafayette)
This project examined how straw cover affects the soil microbiome of a community garden, using EcoPlate carbon-source utilization analysis and 16S rRNA sequencing on samples from the Erie Street GrowLocal community garden in Lafayette, Indiana. Straw cover increased soil moisture content and significantly increased bacterial alpha diversity, with a shift toward carbohydrate preference, though beta diversity showed no difference between conditions. The authors conclude that straw coverage can improve soil microbial biodiversity and moisture, potentially benefiting yields and food quality for communities.
BiodiversityOrganic cycleCommunityMarket Yield of Relay Cropped Leafy Greens in Urban Agriculture Production Systems
2025Leigh Whittinghill, Megan Goins, Shawn Lucas · HortScience · United States
This study examined how two urban agriculture production systems (raised beds and container plots) and four nutrient-management treatments (conventional fertilizer, organic fertilizer, peat-and-compost plus organic fertilizer, and peat-and-compost only) affected yields of relay-cropped leafy greens across the 2018–2019 seasons. Significant differences between systems and treatments were few and inconsistent, but results suggest small plastic-pool containers are suitable for urban greens production and tentatively support organic fertilizers and compost as a nutrient source.
CompostEconomicsOrganic cycleGarden as society: exploring the values embedded in community garden aesthetics
2025Azucena Lucatero, Madeleine Fairbairn · Agriculture and Human Values · United States (California)
Using a photovoice project and semi-structured interviews with community gardeners on California's central coast, this study investigates the values that drive community garden aesthetics. It finds that "tidiness" remains the hegemonic aesthetic, upheld by formal and informal governance and personal taste, while an alternative aesthetic the authors term "wildness" offers an ecologically valuable counterpoint—though tidiness and a sustainability orientation are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
CommunityBiodiversityCan Reuse of Stormwater Detention Pond Water Meet Community Urban Agriculture Needs?
2025Estenia Ortiz, Adriana Mayr Mejia, Emma Borely, Liam Schauer, Lena Young Green, Maya Trotz · Sustainability · United States (Tampa)
Motivated by a community's desire to co-locate community gardens with stormwater pond spaces, this study monitored water quality of a 23.4-hectare stormwater detention pond in East Tampa, Florida over one year and compared it to US EPA reuse recommendations and water quality criteria. pH and conductivity were acceptable for irrigating crops and heavy metals were below maximum reuse levels, but E. coli concentrations exceeded irrigation requirements and synthetic organic compounds exceeded human health criteria.
CommunityOrganic cycleHealthA culturally tailored community gardening approach to improving physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and psychological health among African American women: A pre-post feasibility study
2025Imani Canton, Vanesu Jakachira, Dawn Blackman, Heather Rose, Susan Aguiñaga · Health Promotion Perspectives · United States (Champaign, Illinois)
This 8-week pre-post feasibility study tested a culturally tailored community gardening intervention—embedding Black History Knowledge—among 11 middle-aged African American women in Champaign, Illinois, in summer 2023. Participants significantly increased device-measured daily step count (median +880 steps/day) and fruit and vegetable consumption (median +82 units), with smaller effects on physical activity and perceived stress. The authors conclude the intervention may be a feasible way to improve physical activity, produce intake, and psychological health, though larger, adequately powered studies are needed.
CommunityHealthUnraveling the Interaction and Synergies between Urban Agriculture and Urban–Rural Integration in China: A Case Study of Xi'an
2025· Journal of Urban Planning and Development · China (Xi'an)
Analyzes the interactions and synergies between urban agriculture and urban–rural integration through a case study of Xi'an, China.
PolicyCommunityUrban expansion and the loss of potential crop yield in the North China Plain: implications for regional food security (1980–2020)
2025· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · China (North China Plain)
Analyzes urban expansion and loss of potential crop yield in the North China Plain (1980–2020) and its implications for regional food security, noting much new urban land came from converted farmland.
PolicyEconomicsCropland Loss Under Different Urban Expansion Patterns in China (1990–2020): Spatiotemporal Characteristics, Driving Factors, and Policy Implications
2025· Land · China
Analyzes cropland loss under leap-frogging, edge-spreading, and interior-filling urban expansion in China (1990–2020), finding a 6.3% cropland reduction with edge-spreading contributing most.
PolicyRenewable-fuelled plant factories ensure large-scale food supply but require low-carbon transition for environmental gains
2025· Nature Food · China
A geospatial analysis of renewable-fuelled plant factories across China's city-level regions. It finds they can secure large-scale vegetable supply but require a low-carbon energy transition to deliver environmental benefits.
PolicyEconomics