Research & reports

Alisson Amorim da Silva Aguiar, Sammy Sidney Rocha Matías, Ribeiro Sousa, Rafaela, Roberto Lustosa Silva, Júlio César Azevedo Nóbrega · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Brazil (Corrente)

This study evaluated the development of pearl millet on soils with different levels of manure in Corrente, Piauí, Brazil. Conducted in a greenhouse, the experiment used a completely randomized design with four manure percentages (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%) and three replications. Cattle manure significantly affected the number of leaves, plant height, shoot dry mass, and main root length, with the 40% manure dose showing nutrient levels closest to ideal for maximum efficiency.

叶林, 魏皓严 · 规划师 · China (Meishan)

The design of the Meishan "China Pickled Vegetable City" urban agricultural base proposed a design concept from the composite perspectives of spatial, industrial, and landscape systems, aiming to maintain ecological patterns, promote industrial integration, and continue rural landscape characteristics. By strengthening the ecological, production, and living functions of the urban agricultural base, and constructing a rational spatial layout, complete industrial structure, and unique landscape system, this design provides insights for similar urban agricultural base designs.

Teddi Dineley Johnson · ˜The œNation's health · United States (Denver)

This abstract describes various projects aimed at creating healthier neighborhoods in the United States. Examples include liquor retailers in Louisville, Kentucky, removing alcohol ads, utility boxes in Chula Vista, California, being transformed into art, and youths at risk for gang violence in a Denver neighborhood participating in a community garden. These initiatives focus on violence prevention and health promotion.

Mirella Cultrera, Maria Christina de Mello Amorozo, Fábio Cop Ferreira · SITIENTIBUS série Ciências Biológicas · Brazil (Mato Grosso)

An ethnobotanical study in five peripheral neighborhoods of Santo Antônio do Leverger, Mato Grosso, Brazil, surveyed 135 households and detailed 30 to characterize food plant cultivation. Ninety-seven species from 38 families were identified across homegardens, fields, and empty lots. While some species were common, the similarity between species/varieties across households was generally below 50%, and many had low frequency, revealing a vulnerability to species loss despite social network circulation.

David M. Hunt, Stephanie Geiger‐Oneto, Philip E. Varca · Journal of Consumer Behaviour · Global

This exploratory field study, drawing on community theory, examined whether engagement in co-production activities in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) leads to greater product satisfaction for consumers. Results indicated that two types of value co-creation—commitment to co-production and behavioral involvement in product-related activities—were positively correlated with product satisfaction. These findings support the notion that value co-creation provides value for consumers.

Monica J Kelly · Scholarship@Western (Western University) · Canada (Toronto)

An ethnographic study conducted in summer 2010 at HOPE community garden in Parkdale, Toronto, explored how collective belonging is built. The research found that differences and interpersonal conflicts within the garden were embraced as opportunities to strengthen community cohesion. Contrary to romanticized views of harmonious community gardens, the study revealed that conflicts, negotiation of differences, and institutional practices of inclusion and anti-discrimination significantly contribute to a successful and inclusive community project.

Mahbubur Meenar, Brandon Hoover · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Philadelphia)

This paper examines urban agriculture (UA) projects' role in addressing food insecurity in lower-income neighborhoods of post-industrial U.S. cities, using Philadelphia as a case study. While UA projects are vital, findings indicate concerns regarding their geographic, economic, and informational accessibility, social exclusion, and spatial mismatch between participants and neighborhood demographics. Challenges also exist in distributing fresh produce to impoverished populations and UA's economic contributions in underprivileged areas.

Alberto Graglia, Giulia Mazzanti · TERRITORIO · Cuba

This paper reflects on the conditions that enabled the rapid and large-scale spread of urban agriculture practices in Cuba, making it an emblematic example of reducing economic dependency on oil. The success of urban agriculture in Cuba is attributed to the country's unique history and its economic and political circumstances.

Iwona Makuch · Soil Science Annual · Global

This study investigated the influence of intensive horticulture on lead content and its fractions in soil profiles from house gardens, allotment gardens, and arable fields. It was not determined that the manner of usage had any influence on total lead content or its distribution in soil profiles. However, the usage manner did influence the content and distribution of lead fraction III, which is connected with organic matter, with humus horizons of garden soils showing the highest content.

Nate Millington · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · United States

This article analyzes representations of urban nature in Detroit, Michigan, focusing on journalistic and photographic work over the past 5 years. These representations, part of a discourse on Detroit's decline, ultimately reflect dominant conceptual divisions between the city and nature. Journalists and commentators perceive nature in the city as a reflection of the city's absence rather than its materiality, suggesting an ambivalence about emergent urban ecologies.

Vide Adedayo · · Nigeria

A study of poultry waste management and utilization techniques in urban vegetable farms in metropolitan Lagos revealed that poultry waste is poorly collected, packaged, and transported. Proper knowledge on treatment is lacking due to insufficient skill, space, time, and capital. Furthermore, a significant difference was found between poultry waste utilization, crop yield, and revenue in the study area.

Marit Rosol, P. Schweizer · City · Switzerland (Zurich)

This paper investigated how urban agriculture projects based on Solidarity Economics principles can develop new economic forms as an alternative to neo-liberal capitalism, focusing on the Swiss gardening cooperative ortoloco. For two years, ortoloco, a peri-urban organic farm with explicit political aims beyond food supply, successfully applied and continuously developed these principles in its economic practice. The project demonstrates the potential for developing new economic forms based on solidarity.

T.M. Anholts · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · United States (New York City)

This paper, written for the TIDO-course AR0532 Smart & Bioclimatic Design Theory, proposes utilizing the urban environment for agricultural activities in New York. It states the importance of offering a place to experiment and showcase opportunities for the design of a new environmental council to be added to the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Zee Leung, Dean Middleton, Karen Morrison · BMC Public Health · Canada (Ontario)

This qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews with ten participants from the public health sphere in Ontario, explored how One Health and EcoHealth approaches are shaping public health practice. Four major themes emerged: the importance of connecting human health with the environment, the role of governance in promoting these ideas, the value of partnerships, and the challenge of operationalizing holistic approaches.

Douglas Chitepo · Agriprobe · South Africa

The Further Education and Training sub-programme in South Africa's Western Cape is mandated to deliver skills-based training programs and structured learnerships to a diverse target group. This group includes subsistence, smallholder, and commercial farmers, as well as rural and peri-urban agricultural communities and youth.

Javier Varona Espallargas · RECAM Metropolitan Knowledge Repository · Spain (Barcelona)

This study analyzes community self-composting at the L'Hortet del Forat urban community garden in Barcelona, Spain. It aims to assess the potential for waste prevention and management, and to identify the social characteristics of users engaging in this practice.

Richard Wiltshire, Louise Geoghegan · Research Portal (King's College London) · United Kingdom

This chapter explores the social organization of voluntary urban food production in Britain, identifying two dominant modes: collective activities and individual allotment gardens. It notes that the organization of unpaid labor is an under-researched aspect and a key restraint on urban agriculture's expansion. The study found that relations between these two modes can be antagonistic, particularly when land is scarce.

Antonius Nindito Jati Dennyarso · · Indonesia

This study descriptively analyzed the communication strategies employed by the Gerakan Indonesia Berkebun (Indonesia Gardening Movement) to disseminate urban farming through social media sites. Using a qualitative descriptive research method, it investigated the socialization process on Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Mailing List, and YouTube. The findings identified communication strategies including the roles of administrators and moderators, participatory message strategies, and media integration strategies. Facebook and Twitter served as forums for urban farming socialization to the general public, while the Yahoo Mailing List was crucial for activists' socialization and movement formation.

Mohamed Olaitan Lawal, Ibrahim Rotimi Aliu · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Nigeria (Lagos)

A study interviewed 202 urban vegetable farmers in four areas of Lagos, Nigeria, to understand urban farming operations and contributions. Farmers typically owned linear plots under 120m by 60m, primarily growing green vegetables (Celosia argientes) and using local tools, chemical fertilizers, and irrigation wells. They used produce for household consumption, sold to local marketers, and helped stabilize vegetable prices.

Abdullah Adam-Bradford, Duncan McGregor, Dávid Simon · · Ghana (Kumasi)

Rapid urbanization in Kumasi, Ghana, and its peri-urban areas leads to significant pollution and waste disposal problems, exacerbated by rapid growth, poverty, and weak local governance. Waste management services are rarely provided in these peri-urban areas despite increasing settlement densities. Community-based strategies promoting nutrient recycling, such as converting organic waste into compost for urban and peri-urban agriculture, offer opportunities to address these issues.

Shikha Srivastava, Scot Nelson · ScholarSpace (University of Hawaii at Manoa) · United States (Hawaii)

This article discusses Cercospora leaf spot, a common fungal disease affecting eggplant in home and community gardens in Hawaii. It describes the pathogen and disease symptoms, offering integrated practices to improve plant growth and yields for gardeners.

Fungai Hamilton Mudzengerere · · Zimbabwe (Bulawayo)

This research investigated the contribution of women to food security and family livelihoods through urban agriculture in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Primary data collected through observations and interviews showed that women practice urban agriculture more than men and play a crucial role in household food security. While women make decisions on crop types, harvest times, and markets, they face challenges with land ownership, financing, and market access, which negatively affect their agricultural activities.

Tian Zhi-an · Science Technology and Industry · China (Tongling)

A SWOT analysis of urban agriculture development in Tongling City, China, found that the city's urban agriculture conditions are mature. The study recommends leveraging policy support, planning guidance, and scientific and technological support to accelerate its development.

Karl Hampton · · Australia

The EnvironmeNT grants initiative has supported various areas, including Indigenous Ranger groups for weed management, wildlife rescue services, school recycling projects, and the establishment of community gardens. It also provided funds for threatened species protection and feral animal impact reduction.

Barbara Strauss · EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University (Cleveland State University) · United States

A presentation was given at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law symposium, "Urban Agriculture: It’s Not an Oxymoron. Policies for Cultivating City Land and Increasing Access to Local Food," which focused on policy, land-use, and other legal issues related to urban agriculture and the local food movement. The Sustainability Research Guide from the Michael Schwartz Library was also introduced during this presentation.