Research & reports

Gail Langellotto, Abha Gupta · HortTechnology · United States

Using peer-reviewed studies of garden-based nutrition education programs delivered to children in the United States, a study applied meta-analytical techniques to examine effects on children's nutrition knowledge, preference for fruit and vegetables, and consumption. Compared with experimental controls (no nutrition education) and nutrition education programs without a gardening component, a vote-counting analysis found most outcomes nonsignificant in the control and nutrition-education-only groups, but positive and significant in the gardening group. The quantitative meta-analysis was limited by the small number of studies reporting full descriptive statistics, but one robust result stood out: gardening increased vegetable consumption in children, while the impact of nutrition education programs alone was marginal or nonsignificant.

Annelies De Nijs, Pei-Chun Wen, Di Wu · TERRITORIO · China

In contemporary China, where the evolution of productive land relates to specific government policies and the nation's changing spatial conditions, a paper describes urban agriculture — particularly developed in the friction zone between the ever-growing urban and threatened rural territories — through three cases in Beijing's peri-urban periphery: Liuminying, Xiedao, and Taihu. The first two, Liuminying and Xiedao, show a major concern for sustainable production and agro-tourism but a weaker embedding in their local contexts, while the Taihu project is more rooted in its locale and provides a stronger response to the site's ecological sensitivity. The paper argues the Taihu case exemplifies an alternative to China's ever-booming and seemingly randomly placed agro-tourism sites.

엄기철, 정필균, So Hyun Park, 유성녕, 김태완 · · South Korea

A study quantitatively evaluated the effect of vegetation on urban heat island mitigation across six cities in South Korea, analyzing climate change data over 30 years (1979-2008) and estimating evapotranspiration (ET), CO2 uptake, O2 emission and ozone concentration. The hottest period was late July to early August, and the highest 10-day average urban ambient air temperature (UAAT) over the 30 years was 35.03°C. The mean maximum ET of rice and soybean in urban areas was 6.86 and 6.00 mm/day, respectively. Rice and soybean cultivation lowered UAAT by 10.5°C and 3.0°C in Suwon, while the differences between UAAT and canopy temperature at urban paddy and upland fields in Ansung were 2.6°C and 2.2°C. Urban gardens in Suwon lowered UAAT and building surface temperature by 2.0°C and 14.5°C, respectively. CO2 uptake by rice and soybean was estimated at 20.27 and 15.54 kg CO2 per 10a per day, and O2 emission at 14.74 and 11.30 kg O2 per 10a per day. During the hottest summer period, ozone concentrations were estimated to be reduced by 21.0, 8.8, and 4.0 ppb through rice cultivation, soybean cultivation, and urban gardening, respectively.

임주호, 이경환, 윤인숙, 윤은주 · · South Korea

This study estimated new-town residents' willingness to pay for urban garden plots on public land, using a 1.5-bound dichotomous-choice contingent valuation method (CVM) survey of residents in Bundang and Dongtan, South Korea. 72.6% of respondents said they would use urban garden plots if part of a park or green space were developed and leased as an urban farm, indicating latent demand; willingness to pay was estimated at about 236,000 won per year for one plot (16.5 m2 basis), exceeding rental costs at existing weekend farms near the capital region. Gender, age and occupation significantly affected willingness to pay, while other socioeconomic characteristics, possible visit frequency and desired stay duration were not significant.

Ross Wilson · Journal of Urban History · United Kingdom

A historical study using archive material and newspaper reports examines the development of allotment gardens in the northern English city of York in the early twentieth century. Applying Giddens's structuration theory, it investigates how relationships between citizens and the York City Corporation developed, and reexamines allotment gardens as a lens for understanding wider urban life in Britain. It argues that although allotment gardens have featured only partially in studies of civic reform, identity and governmentality, their centrality to working-class life in Britain warrants greater scholarly attention.

Thomas D. Eatmon, Zachary Piso, Elyse Schmitt · IGI Global eBooks · United States

Against a backdrop of a growing number of organizations in the US Great Lakes region growing local food year-round despite cold-climate conditions, this chapter uses diffusion of innovation theory to explain the adoption of commercial aquaponics (combined indoor fish and produce production). It notes that research has shown significant challenges to maintaining profitable commercial aquaponics ventures in temperate climates, even as the technology's popularity in urban agriculture appears to be increasing, and argues that perceptions of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability may explain its adoption despite these financial challenges.

李焕荣, 孙英键 · 教育教学论坛 · China

A 2012 discussion paper in the journal Jiaoyu Jiaoxue Luntan examines how to train veterinary medicine professionals for an urban agriculture context, using Beijing as the example. It reviews the ecological function of urban agriculture and trends in industrial-structure optimization, characteristics of suburban agricultural areas, Beijing's five-year livestock development plan centered on shifting breeding structures to meet urbanization needs, the state and problems of Beijing's pet industry, requirements for veterinary professionals, and features of the 2011 "12th Five-Year Plan" training scheme, concluding with an outlook on future training for urban-oriented veterinary talent.

Ziying Zhang · Ningxia Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Science and Technology · Global

A brief review that starts from the definition of urban agriculture, outlines the main models of urban agriculture found abroad, and summarizes the experience and lessons of foreign urban agricultural development. No quantitative data are presented.

Anthonia N. Asadu, E. M. Igbokwe, Jane M. Chah, I A Enwelu · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Nigeria

A study of Enugu Urban, Nigeria, examining farmers' perceptions of the health and environmental hazards posed by keeping livestock in urban areas, and the implications for climate change mitigation. Seventy-five heads of household were freely sampled and interviewed, with data analyzed using percentages and means. Most farmers kept improved chicken breeds under an intensive system. All respondents were aware of health and environmental implications of urban livestock keeping, but only 4.0% were aware that livestock could contribute to climate change. Reported environmental issues included crop destruction (89.3%), filth in urban areas (89.3%) and noise (88.0%); health issues included disease spreading (50.7%), accidents (46.7%) and bad smell (86.7%). Perceived control measures included proper waste disposal (mean 1.79), seeking veterinary services (mean 1.85), regular shed cleaning (mean 1.80) and provision of extension services (mean 1.85). The study recommends integrating urban agriculture into urban health and environmental policy and having extension services raise awareness of livestock's climate impact among urban keepers.

José Luis Fernández de Casadevante, Nerea Morán Alonso · Hábitat y Sociedad · Spain

This article examines community allotment gardens as an emerging phenomenon in Spanish cities, focusing on Madrid. It describes how allotments have arisen through the efforts of neighbourhood associations, social groups, and ecologists, in a dynamic that has proliferated over the preceding six years, building a critical discourse around urban sustainability and forming coordinated structures able to introduce the topic into the public sphere and the political agenda. These allotments are spaces articulating experiences of reflection and participative intervention around the city, public space, group identities, and procedures of spatial appropriation. The initiatives are also described as approaching the notion of food sovereignty as a strategic issue for the future of cities.

Donovon Ceaser · The Journal of Environmental Education · United States (New York City)

Noting broad agreement on the goals of environmental education (EE) but continued debate over promoting student action, this case study examines how a critical urban farming school — Our School at Blair Grocery in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward — addresses student action through critical environmental education (critical EE), which combines critical reflection with local action on social and environmental problems. The results found that critical learning within an egalitarian, youth-centered community in a disadvantaged area produces students who are more enlightened and empowered to create change. However, concerns about funding and safety led staff to depart from maintaining an egalitarian ethic, undermining the individualism and unpredictability that critical EE depends on and producing "disconnects" in students' education.

Marco Antonio Toral Juárez, A. Montes Pérez, Catalino Jorge Lopez Collado, Felipe Gallardo-López · Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems · Mexico

A study of peri-urban families in Ciudad Cardel, Veracruz, Mexico, measured dietary diversity using a staple-foods scoring method and assessed eating habits and willingness to practice home horticulture using a Likert-scale survey. Thirty-five percent of households showed good eating habits, 19% regular, and 46% poor eating habits. Dietary diversity scored 29.4 ± 8.7 for staple foods. The general Likert index for willingness to practice horticulture was 2.9, indicating average availability. Dietary diversity varied with household economic capacity, while eating habits and socioeconomic status showed no association, and multiple factors were found to positively influence mothers' willingness to practice peri-urban horticulture.

Ellen William-Olsson Heed, Pernilla Knutsson · · India

Through a case study in Mumbai, this work explores how urban agriculture can be integrated into slum upgrading schemes in a developing country such as India.

David Pearson, Chris Firth · Biological Agriculture & Horticulture · United Kingdom

A profiling study of community gardens in one region of the United Kingdom, which found that gardens differ in how and when they were established, how they are managed and funded, their size, and who uses them and for what purposes. The two most common objectives cited by organizers were community development through food-related activities and contributing to environmental sustainability. On longevity, one third of the community gardens in the study region were found to be no longer active, indicating that survival is not assured. To improve durability, the study suggests gardens need to build a sense of ownership within the local community and be managed in ways consistent with their funding source's conditions and volunteers' expectations.

Tesfamichael Fessahaie · · Africa (Ethiopia)

A thesis examining peri-urban agriculture in Asmara, Eritrea, within an analytical framework of urban population growth encompassing natural population increase, rural-urban migration, and outward movement linked to urban expansion. It draws on primary field data collected with research assistants, secondary data from Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Public Works reports, and focus group discussions. Respondents in the context of natural population growth were found to make a viable living from peri-urban agriculture, but also to face considerable challenges. Three sub-groups of farmers were identified; poultry farmers were the most vulnerable, owing to high input costs, uncertainty from avian flu, and an undeveloped distribution network. Vegetable producers had a sophisticated marketing network but low levels of education, large households, and an impending shortage of land and water. The abstract's description of agriculturalists who migrated to Asmara is cut off before stating a conclusion.

Enow Ajebe, Anna Granberg · · Sub-Saharan Africa

A study using qualitative data from 24 urban farming households in Kumba municipality, Cameroon, drawing on key informant interviews with the government agriculture delegate and questionnaires administered to farmers. Urban agriculture was found to have become an important source of fresh produce, employment, and income for those practicing it, but this activity and the livelihoods depending on it were found to be threatened by a number of problems. The study also finds that while urban agriculture contributes to household food supply, its magnitude in terms of utilization, availability, dietary diversity, and financial contribution should not be overemphasized. Suggestions are offered for improving the sector.

Diane Rodet · Revue Française de Socio-Économie · Europe

This piece frames fair trade products, organic agriculture, and community-supported agriculture as singular goods that open a new field for studying consumers, exhibiting evaluation devices used for and by customers. The available abstract contains no further detail on methods or findings.

Robert Connolly, Samantha E. J. Gibbs, Mallory L. Bader · Museums & Social Issues · United States

This paper examines the outreach program that the C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa, located on the grounds of a prehistoric earthwork complex in Memphis, Tennessee, has run toward the surrounding African-American community over the past decade. The archaeological site was first investigated, and the museum was founded, as a byproduct of 1930s Jim Crow-era segregation policies; since its founding, the site and museum have functioned as a place of academic privilege that ignored the surrounding community. Transparency and a commitment to community engagement are described as central to the outreach program, whose highlights include installing an African-American Cultural Heritage exhibit, hosting community events, establishing a community garden, and collaborating with community partners on service projects. Based on a participatory model, the museum has moved to position itself as a social asset and stakeholder in the Southwest Memphis community.

Margaret C. Kirnbauer · Journal of Environmental Informatics · United States

Amid growing interest among community groups in using vacant and underutilized land for urban food production, but with few community-based tools available to assess site suitability or location-allocation decisions, this U.S. study describes a scientific software tool, built in Microsoft Excel, to help community groups identify and inventory the location and condition of vacant and underutilized land, determine relative site suitability, and allocate urban agricultural reuse strategies across the urban landscape. The tool augments the prototype community-based decision support tool (C-SAP) developed by Kirnbauer and Baetz (2011), which already includes a binary scoring methodology for the vacant and underutilized land inventory (VULI) process and an analytic hierarchy process for calculating site suitability indices (SSI). The added capacity, called LOCAL, formulates a multi-objective binary integer program for location-allocation of reuse strategies at the neighborhood, community, or city-wide planning level. The paper summarizes and discusses applying the prototype tool to 21 sites identified as potential future urban agriculture sites.

Ileana Cerón Palma · TDX (Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa) · Europe

This doctoral dissertation proposes urban-system strategies for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by introducing eco-innovation into buildings across two economically, socially, and climatically different contexts: Mexico and Spain. For Mexican social housing, it examines an eco-retrofit strategy combining efficient eco-technologies, shading and insulation (roof shading, wall overhangs, window and roof louvers, green roofs), and food production (tomatoes), calculating cooling energy demand and the cumulative energy and CO2 emissions associated with shading materials. For Spain, it examines barriers and opportunities for installing intensive food-producing greenhouses on rooftops of buildings in Mediterranean European cities through multidisciplinary expert seminars, and analyzes potential heat-flow synergy between a building and a rooftop greenhouse focused on winter heating energy demand for a service building in Barcelona. Results indicate that eco-technologies can reduce annual energy consumption in social housing by 31% (35.7 kWh/m2/year), roof-shading strategies save 126 kWh/m2/year, and tomato production in social housing in Mérida, Mexico could contribute a reduction of 662 gCO2eq per kg of tomatoes produced.

吕艳 · 农业工程技术：温室园艺 · China (Beijing)

This article reports the closing, on October 21, 2012, of the second International Urban Agriculture Science and Technology Festival, held for one month at the Beijing International Urban Agriculture Science and Technology Park in Tongzhou District, Beijing, China. The festival was co-organized by the Tongzhou District People's Government and China Agricultural University, with cooperation from several government bodies and institutions including the Ministry of Agriculture's Foreign Economic Cooperation Center and the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, and public-interest support from the China Guanghua Science and Technology Foundation. The item covers only the event's organizers and timeline; it gives no attendance figures or specific outcomes.

Brittany Minnick Hanson · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research · United States

This study of several community gardens in Orange County, Central Florida, conducted structured interviews with gardeners and semi-structured interviews with garden leaders to examine effects on food insecurity, health, and community cohesion, as well as the challenges gardens face. Results showed benefits including increased fresh produce consumption, improved physical activity, better mental health, and stronger community cohesion, but about a third of the gardeners and a majority of the leaders identified lack of participation as a challenge.

Bo-Gyung Jang, Yoon-Ji Choi, Cheng-Chu Cho · 농촌지도와 개발 · South Korea

This study surveyed 40 trainees of the urban agriculture instructor course at the Gyeonggi Provincial Agricultural Research & Extension Services, South Korea, on October 7, 2011, analyzing the importance and performance of the urban agriculture education program using an IPA (importance-performance analysis) model. Based on the findings, it proposes reforms to the instructor course: teaching should be practice-oriented rather than theoretical so trainees can apply learning in actual urban agriculture, teaching materials should be practical rather than purely theoretical, and since theoretical content is already covered in materials, instruction should emphasize hands-on practice.

Muhammad Ali Memon · Apple Academic Press eBooks · Global

A book chapter (2012, no specific region) on Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) based on the 3R approach (reduce, reuse, recycle) discusses optimizing waste management across all waste-generating sectors — municipal, construction and demolition, industrial, urban agriculture, and healthcare facilities — and all stakeholders, including generators, service providers, regulators, government, and communities. It traces solid waste management (SWM) from an original focus on reducing public health risk, to a later environmental focus, to a more recent emphasis on resource conservation and recovery under the 3R approach, and describes the ISWM concept — streamlining source separation, collection and transport, transfer/material recovery, treatment/resource recovery, and final disposal — as expanding under UN Environment Programme promotion from its original municipal solid waste management (MSWM) scope to cover all waste-generating sectors.

Adedayo Adebisi, Tunde Afolabi Monisola, Adebisi, Adedayo, Monisola, Tunde Afolabi · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Nigeria

This study examines the motivations behind women's involvement in urban agriculture in small agro-towns of Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 1,801 women farmers were selected from 13 settlements across 8 local government areas, and data were analyzed using simple percentages, graphic illustrations, charts, cross-tabulation, and stepwise multiple regression. The study identifies three factors — food security, income supplement, and accessibility to land — as the best predictors of women's involvement, together accounting for 98.6% of the explained variation. It recommends official recognition of urban agriculture and provision of financial resources to help women expand their farm plots.