Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
9385 results(233 / 376)
Landscape and outdoor domestic space towards food sovereignty and environmental regeneration
2018Céline Veríssimo, Leo Name · · Africa
This essay by Veríssimo and Name examines community practices of edible landscaping in outdoor domestic spaces in the city of Dondo, Mozambique, framing them as a form of quiet resistance to marginalization and as a means of household-community empowerment; the authors argue these diversified spaces support food sovereignty and call on landscape architects to draw on this knowledge, which they say is typically disregarded by professional practice.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityBiodiversityTHE PRODUCTION OF TOMATO AND STRAWBERRY IN ECOLOGY URBAN AGRICULTURE
2018Kh. N. Shaaban, M. Abul-Soud, OSAMA A. EL-BEHAIRY · Journal of Environmental Science · Africa
On the rooftop of the Central Laboratory for Agriculture Climate, Agriculture Research Centre, Egypt, tomato was grown over two summer seasons and strawberry over two winter seasons during 2014-2015 to test vermicompost-perlite substrate mixes (10%, 20%, 30% vermicompost, and a perlite-only control) combined with chemical, vermi-liquid, or combined nutrient solutions. Vegetative growth, yield and leaf N/P/K content were highest with chemical or combined chemical/vermi-liquid solution paired with the 30% then 20% vermicompost mixes, and applying or increasing vermicompost reduced heavy metal content in the tomato and strawberry fruit.
Organic cycleBiodiversityThe relational emergence of community and technology through the politics of water use
2018Ellen van Holstein · Social & Cultural Geography · Australia
Drawing on participant observation and 25 walking interviews at three community gardens in Sydney, Australia, this study examined how water use is shaped through relationships between community members and water technologies such as tanks, taps and buckets. It found that water practices emerge in relation to shifting water availability, time, technology and gardeners' proximity to home, and that gardeners express community-mindedness by sharing water, guided by feelings of guilt over wastefulness and by their individual gardening goals.
CommunityMultifunctionality of Peri-Urban Agriculture: A Case Study in Trau Quy Commune, Hanoi City
2018Nguyen Phuong Le, Nguyen Mau Dung · International journal of Rural Development Environment and Health Research · Global
A 2018 case study on the multifunctionality of peri-urban agriculture in Trau Quy Commune, Hanoi City, Vietnam.
Peri-urban agricultureCommunityEconomicsInvestigating Migrants Adaptation Process through Gardening Practices in Community Gardens
2018Imas Agustina, Ruth Beilin · Asian Journal of Environment-Behaviour Studies · Australia
A 2018 study investigates how cultural practices in gardening affect migrants' ability to adapt to their host country, based on community gardens in Melbourne, Australia. Community gardens are described as places where immigrants begin interacting with others, potentially fostering social inclusion while also providing space to preserve cultural identity. The findings confirm a complex relationship between historical garden practices and culture on one hand and the actual practices carried out in the community gardens on the other.
CommunityWelfareBottom-up initiatives
2018Zhenzhong Si, Theresa Schumilas, Steffanie Scott · · China
This chapter proposes a typology of alternative food networks (AFNs) in China, including community-supported agriculture farms, ecological farmers' markets, buying clubs, and garden plot rentals, illustrating each with specific cases. It then examines the socio-economic and political conditions shaping China's AFNs, arguing that Chinese AFNs are consumer-driven and that there is a potential inconsistency in values between AFN organizers and their customers. This consumer-driven feature is argued to shape the AFNs' alternativeness by foregrounding food safety requirements as a core attribute while giving less prominence to ecological and social values.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyEngagement in Agriculture Protects Against Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in Peri-Urban Nepal
2018Corrina Moucheraud, Ram K. Chandyo, Sigrun Henjum, Tor A. Strand, Manjeswori Ulak, Wafaie Fawzi, Lindsey M. Locks, Patrick Webb, Andrew Thorne‐Lyman · Current Developments in Nutrition · Nepal
This cross-sectional study examined whether agricultural activity among a peri-urban population in Bhaktapur district, Nepal, was associated with household food security, household and maternal dietary diversity, and nutritional outcomes for children and women. A survey of 344 mother-child pairs collected data on household agricultural practices, livestock ownership, food security, dietary diversity and expenditures, anthropometric measurements of children aged 5-6, maternal BMI, and maternal anemia, with adjusted and unadjusted odds ratios (AOR) calculated via logistic regression. Cultivation of land was associated with lower odds of child stunting (AOR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.33-0.93) and household food insecurity (AOR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.18-0.63), but not with maternal BMI or anemia. Livestock ownership (mostly chickens) was associated with lower food insecurity (AOR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.16-0.73) but not with nutrition outcomes. Women in farming households ate green leafy vegetables significantly more often than women in nonfarming households, and children in households that grew vegetables had lower odds of stunting than children in households that cultivated land but did not grow vegetables (AOR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.25-0.98). Given Nepal's rapid urbanization, the study states more attention is needed on the potential role of peri-urban agriculture in shaping diets and nutrition.
HealthCommunityHealth Benefits of Urban Allotment Gardening: Improved Physical and Psychological Well-Being and Social Integration
2017Soga M., Cox D.T.C., Yamaura Y., Gaston K.J., Kurisu K., Hanaki K. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(1):71 · Japan
A questionnaire survey of 332 allotment gardeners and non-gardeners in Tokyo compared five self-reported outcomes: perceived general health, physical complaints, BMI, mental health and social cohesion. Allotment gardeners reported better general health, fewer complaints, better mental health and greater social cohesion, indicating that urban allotment gardening can improve residents' physical and mental health and community ties.
HealthCommunityWelfare食都神戸とは（Gastropolis Kobe コンセプト解説）
2017食都神戸推進チーム（神戸市） · 食都神戸・Gastropolis Kobe（公式サイト） · Japan
An official document explaining the basic concept of the Gastropolis Kobe 2020 vision that Kobe City announced in 2015. It frames how Kobe—a city of 1.5 million with farmland in its Kita and Nishi wards and fishing grounds along its coast—rebuilds its urban brand around food, advancing local consumption, urban agriculture and rural exchange.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsドイツにおける異文化庭園の運営とその社会的背景 (Managing intercultural gardens and its social background in Germany)
2017Watanabe Y., Amemiya M., Shimpo N. · 都市計画報告集 (Reports of the City Planning Institute of Japan), No.16 · Germany
Surveys the management and social background of Germany's 'intercultural gardens' (Interkulturelle Gärten), which aim to integrate immigrants and refugees into local society, and considers their applicability in Japan. Finds that the gardens originated as a grassroots activity by locals and spread across Germany through a supporting organisation.
CommunityPolicy生産緑地制度・特定生産緑地制度（2022年問題対応）
2017· 国土交通省都市局 · Japan
National materials on the Special Productive Greenland system created by the 2017 Productive Greenland Law amendment to address the '2022 problem,' extending buy-out timing and tax benefits by ten-year renewable periods; about 89% (8,282 ha) had been designated as of end-2022.
PolicyEconomicsBiodiversity都市農地の保全と有効利用―都市農地の貸借に関する制度と課題―
2017· 参議院常任委員会調査室『立法と調査』No.394 · Japan
Legislative analysis by the House of Councillors research office, organizing the regulatory framework for urban farmland (productive greenland, taxation, leasing) and examining the rationale and issues behind the 2018 lease law in light of the 2022 problem.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityBiodiversityEdible green infrastructure: An approach and review of provisioning ecosystem services and disservices in urban environments
2017Alessio Russo, Francisco J. Escobedo, Giuseppe T. Cirella, Stefan Zerbe · Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 242, 53-66 · Global
A foundational paper proposing and reviewing the concept of Edible Green Infrastructure (EGI), addressing the neglect of provisioning (food) ecosystem services in green infrastructure planning that has emphasized regulating and cultural services. It frames allotment gardens, rooftop gardens, edible landscapes and urban forests as a multifunctional green network that, with best management practices to minimize disservices, can enhance food security and urban resilience.
BiodiversityEconomicsCommunityOrganic cycleUrban Agriculture as a Productive Green Infrastructure for Environmental and Social Well-Being
2017Brenda B. Lin, Stacy M. Philpott, Shalene Jha, Heidi Liere · Greening Cities (Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements), Springer, 155-179 · Global
A book chapter framing urban agriculture—community farms, rooftop gardens, edible landscaping and urban orchards—as 'productive green infrastructure' supplying high biodiversity and diverse ecosystem services. It synthesizes both ecosystem services (pollination, biological pest control) and social benefits (food and nutrition, cultural and recreational value) that this green infrastructure delivers to cities.
BiodiversityCommunityHealthEconomicsTradition and Japanese vegetables: history, locality, geography, and discursive ambiguity
2017Uchiyama Y., Fujihira Y., Matsuoka H., Kohsaka R. · Journal of Ethnic Foods · Japan
Analyzes definitions, history, and regional ties of traditional Japanese vegetables (e.g., Kyo, Kaga), using Kaga and Noto cases to show how ambiguous quality standards shape branding and brand management.
Heirloom & landraceEconomicsFood educationPolicyPublic recognition of traditional vegetables at the municipal level: Implications for transgenerational knowledge transmission
2017Uchiyama Y., Matsuoka H., Kohsaka R. · Journal of Ethnic Foods · Japan
Questionnaire survey in Komatsu City, Ishikawa, on public recognition of Kaga and Noto traditional vegetables, showing gender/age differences in awareness and information sources, with implications for transgenerational transmission and branding.
Heirloom & landraceCommunityFood educationEconomicsDiversity, knowledge and use of leafy vegetables in northern Thailand: maintenance and transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge during urbanisation
2017Turreira-García N., Vilkamaa A. M., Byg A. · Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society · Thailand
Documents 55 leafy vegetable species (32 families) in Chiang Mai fresh markets and assesses, via interviews with sellers, residents, and traditional practitioners, how diversity, use, and knowledge persist amid urbanisation.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityCommunityFood educationA chemical genetic roadmap to improved tomato flavor
2017Tieman D., Zhu G., Resende M.F.R., Lin T., Nguyen C., Bies D., Rambla J.L., Beltran K.S.O., Taylor M., Zhang B., Ikeda H., Liu Z., Fisher J., Zemach I., Monforte A., Zamir D., Granell A., Kirst M., Huang S., Klee H. · Science 355(6323):391-394 · Global
Quantified flavor chemicals across 398 modern, heirloom, and wild tomato accessions and linked them to consumer liking. Shows modern cultivars lost allelic diversity governing sugars, acids, and volatiles, explaining reduced flavor versus heirlooms.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityHealthEverything but the Taste: Kyoto's Shishigatani Squash as Culinary Heritage
2017de St. Maurice G. · Food, Culture & Society 20(2) · Japan
Examines how Kyoto's Shishigatani heirloom squash, though considered not delicious, persists as culinary heritage through cultural embeddedness, temple rituals, and distinctive form, showing heritage value beyond flavor.
Heirloom & landraceCommunityFood educationBiodiversityWill Consumers Find Vertically Farmed Produce 'Out of Reach'?
2017Coyle B. D., Ellison B. · Choices 32(1):1-8 · United States
Analyzes US consumer demand and willingness to pay for vertically farmed produce, finding consumers are price-sensitive and largely unwilling to pay a premium simply for indoor-grown greens, posing a market challenge for scaling beyond niches.
EconomicsEconomic analysis of aquaponics and hydroponics production in the U.S. Midwest
2017Flores R. M. V., Quagrainie K. K., Kim H.-J., McClain V. · Journal of Applied Aquaculture 30(1):1-14 · United States
Conducts an economic analysis of aquaponic and hydroponic production in the US Midwest, comparing the cost structures and profitability of the two systems to assess the commercial feasibility of controlled-environment horticultural production.
EconomicsGardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis
2017Soga M., Gaston K. J., Yamaura Y. · Preventive Medicine Reports · Global
Meta-analysis demonstrating that gardening yields wide-ranging health benefits, reductions in depression and anxiety and gains in life satisfaction and physical activity, underpinning the health rationale for workplace and community garden programs.
HealthWelfareCommunityBusiness models in urban farming: A comparative analysis of case studies from Spain, Italy and Germany
2017Pölling B., Prados M.-J., Torquati B. M., Giacchè G., Recasens X., Paffarini C., Alfranca O., Lorleberg W. · Moravian Geographical Reports 25(3):166-180 · Europe
Comparative analysis of urban farming enterprises in Spain, Italy and Germany, concluding that differentiation, diversification, and low-cost specialization are essential business strategies for long-term profitability in cities.
EconomicsCommunityThe role of urban-based agriculture on food security: Kenyan case studies
2017Omondi S. O., Oluoch-Kosura W., Jirström M. · Geographical Research 55(2):231-241 · Kenya
Through Kenyan case studies, this paper examines how urban-based agriculture strengthens the livelihood strategies and food security of urban households, particularly the poor, highlighting its role within the urban food system.
WelfareEconomicsBeyond food security: women's experiences of urban agriculture in Cape Town
2017Olivier D. W., Heinecken L. · Agriculture and Human Values 34(3):743-755 · South Africa
Examining NGO-run urban agriculture in Cape Town, this study finds projects aid food security while helping low-income women build supportive networks that unlock personal, social, and economic benefits beyond food provision.
CommunityWelfareEconomics