Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
11393 results(254 / 456)
PLANNING STUDY FOR THE REALITY OF SCHOOL GARDENS DESIGN IN DUHOK CITY (HIGH SCHOOLS AS A CASE STUDY)
2019YOUSIF ALI ABDULRAHMAN YOUSIF ALI ABDULRAHMAN · The Journal of The University of Duhok · Global
A study conducted in 2012 in Duhok city, the center of Duhok governorate, Iraq, analyzed the reality of gardens and open spaces at 10 selected high schools — the distribution of classroom, construction, concrete-square, path and allocated green space — comparing them against local and international standards through architectural plan analysis, observations and personal interviews. It found that the high schools in Duhok fail to achieve the fundamental objective of school gardens, and none had an ideal garden model. Gardens represented only 27.66% of the total site area across the ten selected schools, of which only about 52.88% was effectively utilized, leaving 47.12% unexploited without activity or vitality. Ninety percent of these schools' open spaces failed to meet international standards, and 60% remained subject only to local standards. The gardens also lacked gardening craft, with plant types, numbers and distribution left randomized.
Food educationUrban Agriculture: Where Urban Pressures Meet City Farmers
2019Claire Elizabeth Haselhorst, Grace Baldwin, Robert M. Stwalley · International Journal of Business and Economics Research ·
This piece argues that a lack of understanding between urban agriculture promoters and local city officials is stunting the development and economic sustainability of urban agriculture, since planning that fails to account for stakeholders can cause delays and economic setbacks. It states that urban farm installations require attention to neighborhood integration, city planning, adaptation to or upgrading of existing infrastructure, odor abatement and visual screening, but presents no original study data.
PolicyCommunityPeri-urban agricultureGender Mainstreaming for the Adaptation to Weather and Climate Extremes in African Cities
2019Alice A. Oluoko-Odingo · Journal of Climate Change and Sustainability · Sub-Saharan Africa
This paper examines gender mainstreaming in adaptation to weather and climate extremes, centered on peri-urban farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although women provide most agricultural labour, they remain poor and among the most vulnerable to weather and climate extremes because of inequalities in ownership of and decision-making over land, assets and cash; even in well-planned African cities, developmental and environmental challenges continue to perpetuate inequality, discrimination and underdevelopment, with low-income communities living in risky areas without access to key services and facing heightened vulnerability. Combining literature review with fieldwork in peri-urban Nairobi (Machakos and Kajiado Counties), Kenya, the paper discusses how gender mainstreaming in peri-urban farming could support Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 13, while noting the research gap on gender mainstreaming in peri-urban farming as itself a problem the field has yet to address.
Equity & displacementCommunityClimate changeWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceUrban agriculture’s bounty: contributions to Phoenix’s sustainability goals
2019Nazli Uludere Aragon, Michelle Stuhlmacher, Jordan P. Smith, Nicholas Clinton, Matei Georgescu · Environmental Research Letters · United States (Phoenix)
This city-scale study analyzed how urban agriculture (UA) could contribute to Phoenix's 2050 Sustainability Goals, eliminating food deserts, providing green open space, and reducing building energy use and CO2 emissions, for the fifth-largest US city by population. Examining three UA deployment surfaces (undeveloped vacant lots, flat rooftops, building facades), it found existing building stock provides 71% of available UA space in the study area; estimated total UA food supply is 183,000 tons per year, enough to provide local produce in all existing Phoenix food deserts and meet 90% of current annual fresh-produce consumption based on national per-capita patterns. UA would also add green open space, reducing by 60% the number of block groups underserved by public parks, and rooftop UA deployment could reduce building energy use and potentially displace more than 50,000 tons of CO2 per year.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changeGARDENING ACTIVITIES AT SCHOOL AND THEIR IMPACT ON CHILDREN’S KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES TO THE CONSUMPTION OF GARDEN VEGETABLES
2019Marjanca Kos, Janez Jerman · Problems of Education in the 21st Century · Global
A quasi-experiment with one control and one experimental group, each comprising 15 children aged 6-7, examined the effect of school gardening activities on children's knowledge of and attitude toward eating garden vegetables. Individual interviews established prior knowledge and attitudes; the experimental group then carried out activities in a school garden built in cooperation with a nearby organic farm, after which interviews were repeated in both groups. Results showed that both groups had poor general knowledge of garden vegetables at the outset, but after the garden activities the experimental group's knowledge improved to a statistically significant degree and their attitude toward eating vegetables became more positive.
Food educationHealthWelfarePlanning Proposal for Establishing a Local Food System in North Central North Carolina to Increase Food Self-Reliance
2019Jillian Mickens · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · United States
A planning proposal for building a local food system in North Central North Carolina, United States, to increase food self-reliance. It notes there is no single accepted definition of "local food": the 2008 US Food, Conservation, and Energy Act treats products transported less than 400 miles from origin as locally or regionally produced, the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle defines local as traveling less than 100 miles, Whole Foods defines it as within 7 hours' drive of a store, and Walmart defines it as grown and sold within the same state. It reports that US direct-to-consumer local food sales reached $1.2 billion in 2007, the number of farmers' markets grew from 1,755 in 1994 to 5,274 in 2009, community-supported agriculture (CSA) organizations grew from 2 in 1986 to 1,144 in 2005, and farm-to-school programs grew from 2 in 1996 to more than 2,095 in 2009.
PolicyFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsDiverting toilet systems - quality of collected urine mixture compared to other organic fertilizers
2019Arne Backlund, Annette Holtze · Linnaeus Eco-Tech · Europe
A report on one of several wastewater projects run since 1998 by Storstrøm County and A & B Backlund ApS in Denmark, examining source-separating (diverting) toilet technology and the composition of collected human urine mixture and composted faeces, carried out under an Action Plan administered by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. User experience in the Danish projects shows the diverting technology is accepted in housing areas, works well in public places, and is highly appreciated in allotment gardens, though further technical improvement is still needed. Comparing the collected urine mixture's nutrient, heavy-metal, organic-compound and microorganism content against organic fertilizers used in Danish agriculture, the analyzed urine mixture was found to be of high quality.
CompostOrganic cycleCommunityDecentralized Valorization of Residual Flows as an Alternative to the Traditional Urban Waste Management System: The Case of Peñalolén in Santiago de Chile
2019Jeltsje de Kraker, Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, Marcelo Villena, C.P. Pabon Pereira · Sustainability · Global
A case study of Peñalolén, Santiago, Chile, examining the potential for decentralized recovery of nutrient-rich residual urban waste flows — organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus — using technical and socio-economic criteria. Kitchen waste, garden residues and urine were treated as system inputs, with urban agriculture, municipal green space and peri-urban agriculture as destinations for recovered nutrients; the technologies studied were anaerobic digestion, vermicomposting, composting, and urine storage with struvite precipitation. Material flow analysis compared the inputs and outputs of the traditional centralized waste management system against household- and municipality-level decentralized valorization scenarios. The findings show that decentralized valorization of kitchen and garden waste reduces landfill fees and waste-transport costs compared with the current centralized system.
Organic cycleCompostFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityDiversifikasi Produk Olahan Pangan Hasil Aplikasi Vertikultur Tanaman Sayuran di Kelurahan Tengah, Kramat Jati, Jakarta Timur
2019Julfi Restu Amelia, Ira Mulyawati, Lisa Ratnasari · Agrokreatif Jurnal Ilmiah Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia
This community-outreach report describes an activity in Kelurahan Tengah, Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, Indonesia, combining training in verticulture (vertical cultivation suited to narrow land) with development of processed food products from the harvested vegetables — spinach/carrot/pineapple drink ("Batelnas"), okra/honey/ginger drink ("The Kraduu"), ginger/sesame dodol ("Dojawi"), and ginger/carrot dodol ("Dojawo") — plus training in online marketing. The technology transfer and mentoring increased participants' interest and participation in greening activities and produced new processed-food products with added economic value, which the report states could raise household income if continued.
CommunityFood educationEconomicsThe international practice and prospects for the implementation of community supported agriculture in Ukraine
2019V. Yarovyi, О. В. Фраєр · Ukrainian society · Europe
This paper examines how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has formed, and what models and forms it has taken, in various countries, synthesizing this foreign experience from the perspective of implementing CSA in Ukraine. It discusses the preconditions for CSA's development, the incentives that lead producers and consumers to join CSA, and the conditions needed for its social and economic efficiency.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsPolicyResidents’ Attention and Awareness of Urban Edible Landscapes: A Case Study of Wuhan, China
2019Qijiao Xie, Yang Yue, Daohua Hu · Forests · China
Questionnaire surveys in eight sample communities in Wuhan, China, examined residents' attention to and awareness of urban edible landscapes. Nearly one-third of respondents were unaware of edible landscapes before the interview; 57.26% thought they could promote efficient land use and 54.64% valued their ornamental effect, but 37.10% did not believe edible landscapes could increase food output and 40.12% did not believe they could improve food quality. Among growers, 45.65% cultivated in private space and 32.73% in semiprivate space, and lack of public areas for agriculture was cited as the main barrier by 55.86% of growers and 59.51% of non-growers, alongside concerns about property manager opposition and conflicts or complex relationships with neighbors.
CommunityPolicyUrban agriculture: the influence of customs and agricultural practices of migrants in urban areas of Montes Claros – MG.
2019Giliarde de Souza Brito, Hélder Dos Anjos Augusto, A Ribeiro · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil
This qualitative study focused on agricultural practices in the urban area of Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with the main objective of identifying the flow of agricultural products, agricultural biodiversity, and knowledge circulating through networks linking migrants' municipalities of origin to their destination. Results are presented through ongoing dialogue with local sources, connected to the practice of growing food within city spaces.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageA Comparative Analysis of High and Low Performing Schools in Agriculture in Eswatini
2019Alfred Tsikati, Sanele Motsa · Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education · Africa
Based on external agriculture examination results in Eswatini, this comparative study analyzed 27 schools — 15 high-performing and 12 low-performing (with 38 and 26 teachers participating, respectively) — using a questionnaire validated by three experts and two agriculture teachers and tested for reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of .82. High-performing schools were found to differ from low-performing ones in learner motivation to excel academically, practicing farming in the school garden, students consulting teachers, provision of extra lessons, monitoring of class attendance and absenteeism, and teachers attending classes regularly, with the Ministry of Education and Training, headteachers, agriculture teachers, and parents also more involved in high-performing schools.
Food educationCommunitySocio-Ecological Wellness Wheel: Applied to Community Gardens to Measure Green Gentrification
2019Micajah Daniels, Courtney Coughenour · Digital Scholarship - UNLV (University of Nevada Reno) · United States
This project uses Black Feminist Health Studies as an interdisciplinary approach to analyze the holistic impacts of community gardens on nutrition behaviors. It demonstrates, through a Socio-Ecological Wellness Wheel, that the implementation of green spaces such as community gardens correlates with both benefits and unintended negative consequences, including green gentrification, and proposes this audit tool as a way to empirically measure garden quality and the nutrition environment affecting fruit and vegetable consumption among food-insecure populations.
Equity & displacementCommunityHealthWelfareDESAIN TAMAN VERTIKAL DENGAN KONSEP URBAN FARMING UNTUK FASADE PADA CLUSTER PERUMAHAN DI LOWOKWARU
2019Masito Masito, Irawan Setyabudi, Rizki Alfian · Fakultas Pertanian · Indonesia
A qualitative study sampling 20 houses in the Lowokwaru sub-district of Malang, Indonesia, examining vertical-garden facade designs that apply verticulture and urban farming concepts to narrow housing plots. It produced design applications using wall-mounted, hanging, fence-mounted and shelf verticulture along with hydroponics and aquaponics for home front yards, intended to address the loss of garden space to other uses.
DIYCommunityDigital agricultureSustainable Cities through Alternative Urban Farming: The Case of Floriculture
2019Ioannis Manikas, George Malindretos, Konstadinos Abeliotis · Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing · Global
An essay that states urban food production is exposed to high levels of urban-generated contaminants, and argues that urban floriculture - an intensive form of agriculture with income per unit area far higher than other agricultural branches - can offer a more sustainable and socially acceptable alternative to urban food production. It states floriculture may also reduce the carbon footprint of cut-flower transport and provide higher-quality seasonal product, and examines urban floriculture as an approach for mitigating the negative impacts of global floriculture supply chains.
Environmental trade-offsCommunityClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceConflation in political gardening: concepts and practice
2019Lucy Rose Wright, Ross Fraser Young · Manchester University Press eBooks · Global
A chapter introducing the concept of political gardening. It begins by situating the re-evaluation of "everyday space" within neoliberal processes of privatization, devolution and entrepreneurialism, then connects the rise of academic interest in urban gardening with the movement's political dimension. Drawing on Rawls' theory of social justice, it conflates political gardening with injustice, uses case studies to unpack that process of addressing injustice across six iterative stages, and arrives at a definition of political gardening as both a term and a process through which participants become "democratized" citizens.
Equity & displacementCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceStudy Practices and the creation of a common world. Unearthing the educational dynamics of an urban farming initiative
2019Hans Schildermans, Joke Vandenabeele, Joris Vlieghe · Teoría de la Educación Revista Interuniversitaria · Global
This theoretical article proposes "study practices" as a response to Bruno Latour's question of "where to land" amid socio-ecological transformation. It analyzes the urban farming initiative Torekes as a study practice, identifying educational dynamics of composition, problematization, and attention, and contrasts this reading with sociological and political analyses that frame the initiative as aimed at social cohesion or political subjectification. The piece is a conceptual/theoretical discussion rather than an empirical study, arguing that study practices, by enabling the creation of a common world, may offer a way of living together on a damaged planet.
CommunityFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceClimate change: Its implications on urban and peri-urban agriculture in Dar es Salaam city, Tanzania
2019Asnath Alberto Malekela · · Tanzania
In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, a study of climate change impacts on urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) drew on secondary literature plus primary data from structured and in-depth interviews, observations, and focus group discussions with 201 UPA practitioners. 84% of respondents engaged in UPA for food and income, and UPA made a positive contribution to food security. However, UPA was found to be severely affected by climate change: effects included drying of crops (41%), crop pests and diseases (28%), decreased crop yields (13%), loss of soil fertility (8%), animal diseases (43%), drying of pasture lands (41%), and livestock deaths (16%). The study states plainly that urban and peri-urban agriculture in Dar es Salaam is severely affected by climate change, and recommends adopting farming systems such as vertical farming that use limited water resources.
Environmental trade-offsClimate changePolicyCommunityEnvironmental Assessment of an Urban Vertical Hydroponic Farming System in Sweden
2019Michael Martin, Elvira Molin · Sustainability · Sweden
This study assessed the environmental impacts of urban vertical hydroponic farming through a life-cycle perspective, applied to a case-study vertical hydroponic farm in Stockholm, Sweden, comparing current performance with potential improvement scenarios. Results showed that growing medium, pots, electricity demand, and transportation of raw materials and product deliveries were the important contributors to environmental impact in this system. Replacing plastic pots with paper pots was found capable of producing large reductions in GHG emissions, acidification impacts, and abiotic resource depletion, and replacing conventional gardening soil with coir as the growing medium also led to large impact reductions. However, the study states that further reducing the system's impacts will require more resource-efficient steps specifically to address impacts from electricity demand, an issue not resolved by the pot and growing-medium substitutions, and identifies potential for more symbiotic exchanges using urban wastes and by-products.
Environmental trade-offsClimate changeDigital agricultureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceThe Multifaceted Impact of Urban Gardening for Enhancing Environment, Health, And Community
2019Beatrice Atieno Otieno, Davis Bwire Namiripo · Australian Herbal Insight · Global
Urban gardening, an ancient practice, is described as having gained renewed significance amid rapid urbanization and associated challenges including environmental degradation and declining mental health. This study explored the multifaceted role of urban gardening in environmental, social, and health dimensions of sustainable urban development across five cities: New York, Berlin, Mumbai, São Paulo, and Nairobi. It combined structured surveys of 300 participants (covering air quality, access to fresh food, social interactions, and mental health), semi-structured interviews with 30 stakeholders including city planners and community garden managers, field observations of gardens' ecological and physical characteristics, and a review of secondary data. Results showed 67% of respondents reported improved mental health, with São Paulo and New York showing the most positive outcomes. Urban gardening contributed to reducing the urban heat island effect, with temperature reductions of up to 4°C, enhanced biodiversity by hosting various plant species that created habitats for pollinators, and served as social hubs fostering community engagement and inclusivity; 60% of respondents in São Paulo reported improved access to fresh food. The study concludes that urban gardening significantly enhances environmental sustainability, social cohesion, and mental health, particularly in marginalized communities, but states that challenges such as land access and insufficient policy support hinder its potential.
CommunityHealthClimate changeBiodiversityMANEJO DE IRRIGAÇÃO NA HORTA COMUNITÁRIA DA PASTORAL DA CRIANÇA DE URUÇUÍ – PI: ALTERNATIVA PARA PRODUÇÃO DE ALIMENTO E CONSCIENTIZAÇÃO AMBIENTAL
2019Francisco Magalhães Araújo dos Santos, Eduardo Borges Chaves, Geane Andrade Carreiro, Marília S. Lima, Ewerton Gasparetto Silva, Cristovam Alves de Lima · · Brazil
This report describes a university extension activity at the community garden run by the Pastoral da Crianca (Children's Pastoral) in Uruçuí, Piauí state, Brazil — an organization active in the municipality for over 20 years, assisting more than 200 vulnerable children, with its garden managed by 14 members. Lacking a rational irrigation system and relying only on manual watering cans, the garden required heavy labor and imprecise water application and had not reached its maximum productive potential. After community sensitization and a topographic survey to size the system, a localized microsprinkler irrigation system was installed, with the executing team maintaining the garden through bed cleaning, weeding and irrigation management. Following installation, evaluation by the members managing the garden found reduced physical labor, decreased production losses during dry periods, and higher product quality that translated into increased earnings channeled back to those assisted by the Pastoral da Crianca, along with greater environmental awareness through more efficient water use.
CommunityFood educationOrganic cycleEvaluation of Occurrence, Concentration, and Removal of Pathogenic Parasites and Fecal Coliforms in Three Waste Stabilization Pond Systems in Tanzania
2019Abdallah Zacharia, Wajihu Ahmada, Anne H. Outwater, Billy Ngasala, Rob Van Deun · The Scientific World JOURNAL · Tanzania
This cross-sectional study, conducted from February to August 2018, evaluated three waste stabilization ponds (WSPs) in the Morogoro, Mwanza and Iringa regions of Tanzania, where treated effluent is used for urban agricultural activities despite the disease-transmission risks posed by untreated or partially treated wastewater. Using APHA physicochemical methods, the modified Bailenger method and Ziehl-Neelsen staining for parasites, and membrane filtration for fecal coliforms (FC), analyzed with SPSS version 20, the study found helminth egg removal ranging from 80.8% to 100% and protozoan (oo)cyst removal from 98.8% to 99.9%, with the Mwanza WSP showing the highest FC reduction (3.8 log units per 100 mL). Both parasites and FCs in the effluents of the assessed WSPs were found at concentrations exceeding World Health Organization and Tanzania Bureau of Standards limits, except for helminths in the Morogoro WSP and FCs in the Mwanza WSP. FC counts correlated significantly with protozoa (p<0.01) and predicted protozoa occurrence well (p=0.011), with correlations also found among physicochemical parameters, parasites and FC bacteria. The study attributes the systems' inadequate performance to a lack of regular maintenance and/or operation beyond capacity, and concludes that FC indicators are a reasonable proxy for monitoring protozoa but not for helminths, which should be surveyed independently.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityChange the Game, Not the Rules: The Role of Community Gardens in Disaster Resilience
2019Heather McIlvaine-Newsad, Rob Porter · Journal of Park and Recreation Administration · United States
This study describes how the creation of community gardens in four distinct communities in Puerto Rico led to a wide variety of socially just benefits, including recreation and food production, for participants. Ethnographic research conducted in Puerto Rico from 2016 to 2019 examined the role of community gardens before and after Hurricane Maria. The authors conclude that while these gardens may have been established for one purpose, that purpose evolved over time to meet the multiple needs and desires of participants. The main reason for creating the gardens was a desire to grow vegetables in a manner emulating the practices of Taino and Jibaro ancestors, with replicating a sustainable, environmentally friendly way of farming serving both as a statement about wanting to live in harmony with the land and a political statement about Puerto Rico's status in relation to the United States. Participants learned agroecology practices while creating spaces for leisure and social activities, and over time other forms of environmental and cultural education were incorporated; gardening together, people engaged in causes such as building renewable energy, strengthening intergenerational social bonds, and environmental and social activism. The bonds formed in these spaces prior to the hurricane produced knowledge, labor and infrastructure that helped these communities navigate the effects of Hurricane Maria.
CommunityFood educationOrganic cyclePolicyGreening Canada’s Arctic food system: Local food procurement strategies for combating food insecurity
2019Angel Chen, David Natcher · Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation · Canada
An inventory and mapping exercise catalogued community gardens and greenhouses across northern Canada, covering Labrador, Nunavik, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The work forms part of a circumpolar research project supported by the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group and is described as an initial stage toward determining the extent to which these gardens and greenhouses, as local food procurement strategies, meet the food needs of northern residents.
CommunityPolicyWelfare