Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Effect of the composting process on physicochemical properties and concentration of heavy metals in market waste with additive materials in the Ga West Municipality, Ghana
2019Tibu C., Annang T. Y., Solomon N., Yirenya-Tawiah D. · International Journal of Recycling of Organic Waste in Agriculture · Ga West, Ghana
In Ga West Municipality, Ghana, stack-pile composting of market waste with sawdust, rice straw and swine manure was monitored for temperature, pH, N, P, K and heavy metal concentrations through the composting process.
CompostOrganic cycleAGROECOLOGIA: DIFUSÃO DE SUAS PRÁTICAS DE PORTA EM PORTA
2019Talia Talita Sehn, Cassiano Peixoto Rosa, Andersson Daniel Steffler, Daiane Karina Grellmann, Divanilde Guerra · · Brazil (Tres Passos)
The objective was to identify cultivated species and their management, and to disseminate agroecological practices in domestic gardens and orchards in the urban perimeter of Tres Passos-RS, Brazil. Over two years, 177 residences were visited in the first year, with 165 (95%) having orchards and 147 (87%) having vegetable gardens. In the second year, 12 residences were visited, all (100%) cultivating vegetables and 10 (75%) having fruit trees.
DIYFood educationOrganic cycleBiosolids Improve Urban Soil Properties and Vegetable Production in Urban Agriculture
2019Odiney Alvarez‐Campos, Gregory K. Evanylo · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States
This field study in Blacksburg, VA, investigated the effects of exceptional quality (EQ) biosolids on urban soil properties and vegetable yield over two years (2016-2018). Biosolids increased soil carbon storage by 37-84% compared to controls, but soil nitrogen availability was lower than expected. Reclamation rates of biosolids resulted in higher yields for cabbage (∼3.1 kg m⁻²) and Siberian kale (∼1.1 kg m⁻²) than inorganic fertilizer (1.0 kg m⁻² and 0.4 kg m⁻² respectively) in fall 2017, indicating potential to increase vegetable yield despite limiting soil conditions.
Organic cycleDIYHealthMethodology to Identify and Assess Agroecological Practices in Metropolitan Areas. Case Study, Concepción, Chile
2019Montserrat Delpino-Chamy, María Arquero de Alarcón, Sandra Calduch Fernández, José R. Soto · International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics · Chile (Concepción)
This research focused on developing and applying a methodology to identify and assess agroecological practices in the metropolitan area of Concepción, Chile. A methodology based on production forms, sociopolitical organization, and metropolitan sustainability was proposed. Strengths identified include their location in rururban interstices and small scale, contributing to metropolitan sustainability. However, weaknesses include a lack of appropriate planning policies and regulations, threatening their existence under urban development pressures.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityOrganic cyclePolicyFarmers' Perception, Willingness and Capacity in Utilization of Household Sewage Sludge as Organic Resources for Peri-Urban Agriculture around Jos Nigeria
2019Cosmos C. Alamanjo, Abimbola O. Adepoju, H. Martin, R.N. Baines · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Nigeria (Jos)
This mixed-methods study investigated farmers' perceptions, willingness, and capacity to use household sewage sludge as organic resources for peri-urban agriculture around Jos, Nigeria. Farmers were found to use a complex mix of fertilizers and were keen to utilize household sewage sludge for soil fertility, though constrained by accessibility. A critical finding was that household sewage sludge observed in the field is heterogeneous due to its proximity to urban refuse disposal, raising concerns for possible cross-contamination of pollutants and indicating a lack of extension guidance.
Contamination & food safetyPeri-urban agricultureOrganic cycleCompostHealthImpacts of Urban waste use on Soil Microbial activities in Urban Agriculture
2019Rayim Wendé Alice Nare, Stephania Boua, Rockia Marie Nadege Zerbo, Richard Madege · Research Journal of Science and Technology · Burkina Faso
This study assessed the impact of urban waste application on soil microbial activities in Burkina Faso. Soil amended with urban waste showed significantly higher Soil Induced Respiration (SIR) (0.049 mg C g−1 soil h−1) compared to manure-amended (0.0212 mg C g−1 soil h−1) and control soils (0.0114 mg C g−1 soil h−1). Urban waste amendment also significantly decreased lag time by 50% and maximal response time (Tmax) by 53%, indicating increased microbial biomass and rapid growth of soil microorganisms. The results suggest that adding urban waste to soils is likely to result in carbon sequestration.
Organic cycleCompostBiodiversityDrought Mitigation Policies: Waste Water Use, Energy and Food Provision in Urban and Peri-Urban Africa
2019Hendrick J. Bruins · · Africa
This paper discusses drought mitigation in urban and peri-urban Africa, where severe droughts threaten food production under rainfed agriculture. It argues that while urban and peri-urban farming's informal private sector should not be government-controlled, the treatment and use of urban wastewater in agriculture requires government planning, investment, and extension services. Participatory development is suggested to integrate central wastewater planning with private farmer use.
PolicyPeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceOrganic cycleDirect and indirect effects of urban gardening on aboveground and belowground diversity influencing soil multifunctionality
2019Simon Tresch, David Frey, Renée‐Claire Le Bayon, Paul Mäder, Bernhard Stehle, Andreas Fließbach, Marco Moretti · Scientific Reports · Switzerland (Zurich)
A study in 85 urban gardens across Zurich, Switzerland, investigated the impact of gardening on five soil functions and the relationship between plant (600 spp.) and soil fauna (18 earthworm spp., 39 springtail spp.). High plant diversity positively affected soil fauna and multifunctionality, but intense garden management decreased plant diversity. This indicates a trade-off where intensive gardening, while potentially beneficial for some aspects, can negatively impact overall plant diversity.
Environmental trade-offsBiodiversityOrganic cycleCommunityNatural urban farming as a mean to connect community to sustainable food: the case of demonstration garden in Tor Mancina
2019Patrizia Papetti, Sara Spognardi, Enrica Iannucci, Ilenia Bravo, Claudio Beni · International Journal of Environmental Policy and Decision Making · Italy (Tor Mancina)
The demonstration garden of Tor Mancina, Italy, engages schools and local communities to test sustainable agricultural practices. It conducts experiments on the phytostimulant and pest repellent effects of plant extracts for crop protection. These activities aim to instill positive values regarding food, agriculture, and the environment in youth, while also seeking to improve crop performance and safeguard biodiversity.
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityOrganic cycleSubsistence Solidarity and the Extension of Trust: Moral Economies of Organic Farming in Northern China
2019Anders Sybrandt Hansen · Journal of Current Chinese Affairs · China
This article focuses on organic farming, which has grown in response to unsafe food on the Chinese market, based on ethnographic fieldwork at one such farm in northern China. While the farm's Community Supported Agriculture model relies on establishing personal trust with member households, the entire organic farming project is shown to be undergirded by strong expressions of solidarity with conventional farmers. The article proposes an extended concept of moral economies to capture the coexistence of differential care alongside horizontal solidarities within contemporary China's moral landscape.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceOrganic cycleAgricultura Urbana e Periurbana
2019Maira dos Santos, Mariana Campos Martins Machado · Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional · Brazil (Florianópolis)
A qualitative study was conducted with 11 participating families of a community garden in the Campeche neighborhood of Florianópolis, Brazil, to evaluate the impact of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (AUP) on Food and Nutritional Security (SAN) and eating behavior. Through interviews using semi-structured questionnaires, the community garden was understood as a space for health promotion, strengthening healthy eating practices, and preserving the municipality's food culture. The community garden proved effective in promoting and guaranteeing SAN principles, strengthening healthy eating practices, and fostering citizenship.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceHealthOrganic cycleMeasuring the Fate of Compost-Derived Phosphorus in Native Soil below Urban Gardens
2019Gaston E. Small, Sara Osborne, Paliza Shrestha, Adam D. Kay · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ·
This study measured phosphorus (P) concentrations in native soil below four- and six-year-old urban garden plots, collecting soil cores from five plots of each age. It found that inorganic weakly exchangeable P was significantly elevated in native soil below garden plots (>35 cm deep) compared to reference profiles, indicating accumulation of excess P from compost. This suggests that while urban agriculture can recycle P, over-application of compost may contribute to soil and water pollution.
Environmental trade-offsCompostOrganic cycleSustentabilidad y agricultura urbana practicada por mujeres en la Zona Metropolitana de Ciudad de México, Valle de Chalco Solidaridad
2019Silvia Iveth Moreno Gaytán, Mercedes A. Jiménez-Velázquez, Martín Hernández Juárez · Estudios Sociales Revista de Alimentación Contemporánea y Desarrollo Regional · Mexico (Ciudad de México)
The sustainability of urban agriculture practiced by women in the Valle de Chalco Solidaridad, Mexico City Metropolitan Area, was investigated. A qualitative follow-up on 45 production units and a quantitative questionnaire to 25 female producers from Xico Kaa’a Comunicaciones A. C. were conducted. Urban agriculture's sustainability was found to be strong, contributing to family food self-sufficiency, employing agroecological techniques for environmental improvement, and over 50% of MESMIS diagnostic criteria were evaluated as sustainable.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsOrganic cycleWelfareThe potential for heavy metal pollution in crops from urban and peri urban horticultural farms in the Gaborone environs: a review
2019L.C. Obuseng · Botswana Journal of Agriculture and Applied Sciences · Botswana (Gaborone)
This review highlights the potential for heavy metal accumulation in soil and crops from urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) around Gaborone, Botswana, due to the intensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, wastewater, sludges, and industrial effluents. A literature review showed that fertilizers contain heavy metals, and the use of treated or untreated sewage water by UPA farmers can lead to heavy metal accumulation in soil and crops, posing a danger to human health. Information on heavy metal accumulation in soils is limited in Botswana, despite high agrochemical use in UPA vegetable production.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPeri-urban agricultureOrganic cycleAsesoría para la conformación de una fundación de agricultura urbana
2019Wendy Johanna Murcia Gulumá, Óscar Andrés Pérez Soler, Sindy Rodríguez Rodríguez · · Colombia (Bogotá)
This study provided advisory support to an urban garden in Bogotá, Colombia, named "Guerreros y Guerreras Unidos en Accion," which had been operating empirically since 2005 without formal legal status or strategic planning. The garden, primarily involving individuals over 50 without formal employment, sought to formalize its activities by establishing a foundation. The intervention aimed to guide the garden's members through the legal and administrative steps for formalization.
Governance failureCommunityWelfareOrganic cyclePolicyUsing decomposition of household items as an indicator of soil health and educational tool in Kamuli District, Uganda
2019Theresa Brehm · Iowa State University Digital Repository (Iowa State University) · Uganda
This study, conducted at Naluwoli Primary School garden in Kamuli district, Uganda, tested the decomposition of household items as an inexpensive indicator of soil health. Cotton underwear, green and rooibos teas, and birch wood sticks were buried for 4, 7, 14, and 21 days in hand-tilled and untilled soils. Untilled soils decomposed cotton by 0.68% less and birch wood sticks by 0.86% more per day than hand-tilled soils, while tea data was inconclusive due to outside biological factors.
Food educationOrganic cycleCommunityInvestigating circular economy urban practices in centocelle, rome district
2019Francesca Cappellaro, Laura Cutaia, Carolina Innella, Claudia Meloni, R. Pentassuglia, Vincenzo Porretto · Environmental Engineering and Management Journal · Italy (Rome)
This paper presented several circular economy practices integrating circular strategies at an urban scale, focusing on the Centocelle district in Rome, Italy. Through the employment of smart solutions and a collaborative process involving citizens, circular economy urban practices such as community gardens, co-workings, local and km0 production systems, and recycling centers were identified. These practices achieved urban transformation in terms of regeneration, sharing economy experiences, resource optimization, and closed-loop systems, positively and actively influencing the urban community in supporting the transition towards circular economy models.
CommunityOrganic cycleFood miles & supply chainExcess phosphorus from compost applications in urban gardens creates potential pollution hotspots
2019Gaston E. Small, Paliza Shrestha, Geneviève S. Metson, Katherine Polsky, Ivan Jimenez, Adam D. Kay · Environmental Research Communications · United States
Survey data from 142 gardeners and urban farmers in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, USA, characterized phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) inputs and harvest, and measured soil P concentrations at a subset of sites. Median application rates were 300 kg P/ha and 1400 kg N/ha, with low nutrient use efficiencies (2.5% for P, 5.0% for N). Garden soils had a median Bray P value of 80 ppm, far exceeding recommended levels, indicating a buildup and potential loss of P and N. Urban gardens, though only 0.1% of land area, constitute one of the largest inputs of P to the watershed.
Environmental trade-offsCompostOrganic cycleClimate changeEl aporte de la permacultura en el desarrollo de la agricultura urbana
2019Rafael Bújanos Muñíz · · Global
This essay explores the intersection of permaculture principles and their potential application in urban agriculture. Permaculture, originating from the work of Bill Mollison, David Holmgren, and Masanobu Fukuoka in the 1970s, is a system for designing and implementing general principles for organic food production in urban settings. It is based on natural ecosystem patterns and ethical principles, including soil, forest, and water conservation, self-care, and equitable distribution of goods with reasonable consumption limits.
Organic cycleCommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCarbon Accounting for Compost Use in Urban Areas
2019Sally Brown, Ned Beecher · Compost Science & Utilization · United States
This study modeled the carbon benefits and costs of biosolids compost use in King County, Washington. Soil carbon sequestration was highest for use on disturbed soils, such as new housing developments, neglected urban soils, or highway right-of-ways (–1.1 Mg CO2eq per Mg compost), and lowest for use in well-tended yards or other highly maintained landscapes (–0.036 Mg CO2eq per Mg compost). Compost use for tree growth, calculated over a 30-year period, added above-ground sequestration benefits ranging from –1.53 Mg CO2eq per Mg compost for a mature tree grown on a healthy soil to –4.58 Mg CO2eq per Mg compost for a newly planted tree grown on a disturbed site. Assuming a 20 km haul distance, transport costs ranged from 0.005 Mg CO2eq per Mg compost for delivery in a 5 Mg truck to 0.09 Mg CO2eq per Mg compost for pick up in a personal vehicle.
CompostOrganic cycleClimate changeFecal Sludge Derived Products as Fertilizer for Lettuce Cultivation in Urban Agriculture
2019Surendra K. Pradhan, Olufunke Cofie, Josiane Nikiema, Helvi Heinonen‐Tanski · Sustainability · Global
This research determined the fertilizer value of sawdust and fecal sludge (SDFS) pellets and compared their effect on lettuce cultivation with other fertilizers in a greenhouse and open field. SDFS pellets, with or without enrichments, resulted in higher saleable fresh weight lettuce yields than commercial compost, poultry manure, mineral fertilizer, or no fertilizer. Open field cultivation yielded more than greenhouse cultivation. While no helminth eggs were detected, some fecal coliforms were found in lettuces fertilized with almost all tested fertilizers, including NPK and the non-fertilized control.
Contamination & food safetyOrganic cycleHealthCompostWomen's agricultural practices and their effects on soil nutrient content in the Nyalenda urban gardens of Kisumu, Kenya
2019Nicolette Tamara Jonkman, Esmee D. Kooijman, Karsten Kalbitz, Nicky Pouw, Boris Jansen · SOIL · Kenya (Kisumu)
This study in Nyalenda urban gardens, Kisumu, Kenya, investigated how female farmers' knowledge and practices influence soil nutrient status. Soil analysis revealed that intercropped fields had significantly lower total soil nutrients than fields with only manure, despite cowpeas theoretically increasing soil N. Female farmers' knowledge was limited to practical and sensory aspects, and intercropping did not increase soil nutrient content due to socioeconomic factors like poverty.
Equity & displacementCommunityHealthWelfareOrganic cycleAlternativas bioorgánicas de nutrición en el cultivo de la zanahoria (Daucus carota var. sativa) en un huerto intensivo
2019Pedro López Labarta, José Luis Montejo Viamontes, Yacelis Cárdenas García, Dimeri Piñeiro Esquivel, Diosmaris de la Caridad Vasallo Cristia, Amaury Rondón Aquilar · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba
This research, conducted in the Ernesto Che Guevara intensive orchard in Esmeralda municipality, Cuba, from December 2016 to March 2017, compared different bioorganic nutrition alternatives and their influence on growth and yield indicators in carrot cultivation. Using a completely randomized experimental design with five treatments and three repetitions, plant height, root length, and yield were evaluated. Fortified liquid humus and liquid humus enriched with boron, calcium, and zinc yielded the best agronomic indicators and the greatest economic benefits compared to natural liquid humus and the control.
Organic cycleDIYFood sovereignty & justiceSustainable agriculture in organic wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) growing in ARID region
2019N.S. Al-Ghumaiz · International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics · Saudi Arabia
This study assessed agronomic characteristics of eight bread wheat genotypes grown organically on low fertility soil in Saudi Arabia's arid Qassim region during the 2010 and 2011 growing seasons. Experiments compared conventional and organic farming systems at two locations, measuring chlorophyll content, flag leaf area, and harvest index. Findings showed differences between farming systems, with specific genotypes like YR and E-line identified as potentially suitable for sustainable organic wheat production in arid regions.
Organic cycleClimate changeEvaluación del uso de enmiendas orgánicas procedentes de residuos urbanos y agropecuarios como técnica de reducción del riesgo en emplazamientos contaminados
2019Ignacio Laorga Fernández · · Global
This study analyzed the "risk reduction" effect of organic amendments from urban and agricultural waste (coffee grounds, domestic compost, livestock manure) on metal-contaminated soils. The method aimed to reduce the bioavailability of metals by increasing soil organic matter, enabling remediation for potential reuse as urban gardens. It was shown that immediate dilution and immobilization of contaminants occur, significantly reducing their mobility and absorption by edible plants.
CompostOrganic cycleUrban–rural linkage