Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
7626 results(271 / 306)
Sinan Koont · University Press of Florida eBooks · Cuba
An assessment of Cuban urban agriculture's production and distribution outcomes finds that the most successful subprogram is fresh vegetable production, which has grown rapidly island-wide, while other subprograms remain active but less developed. Distribution occurs through thousands of points-of-sale, MALs, self-provisioning, and MAEs, with social consumption at workplaces, hospitals, and schools. Urban agriculture plays a significant role in improving Cuban diets but has not led to food sovereignty; other outcomes cited include employment generation, environmental benefits, and community building.
Limited or null effectCommunityEconomicsHealthBiodiversityRuth Beilin, Ashlea Hunter · Local Environment · Australia
In Australia, a 2011 study developed a set of social and ecological indicators aligned with local government policy areas and accountability frameworks through a participatory process involving local government officers, community garden (CG) members and industry experts. Since Agenda 21, local governments have sought ways to engage urban citizens in building more sustainable cities, and community garden activities are frequently described as contributing to socially and environmentally sustainable local communities, yet a suitable set of indicators for valuing these benefits had not previously been established. The indicators were designed so individuals could use and learn from them, contributing to policy decisions and being meaningful to urban planners and local gardeners. The study demonstrates the practical necessity of devising indicators that CG participants can realistically monitor and that hold political and ideological value for local governments and wider community stakeholders.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceArdjouma Dembélé, Oumarou Badini, Alessandro Abbà · InTech eBooks · Africa
A book chapter surveying the state of urban agriculture in African cities. As rural-to-urban migration increases demand for food quantity and quality, urban agriculture is described as able to contribute to livelihoods and economic growth; horticulture is called a vital economic sector, citing figures such as Côte d'Ivoire's fruit and vegetable exports to the EU exceeding 360,000 tons, Burkina Faso's 2007 green bean exports of over 925,000 tons, and Mali's tomato and okra production reaching over 17,000 tons and 8,600 tons respectively. The chapter also notes that the horticultural sector, including urban agriculture, faces pest attacks and phytosanitary problems and must comply with pesticide regulations and quality-control (traceability) standards required by export markets.
CommunityOrganic cycleHealthPeri-urban agricultureBruna Lara Alvarenga Barros, Jackeline Canuto Mendes, Vinicius Moreno Nolasco, Marivaldo Aparecido de Carvalho, Rosana Passos Cambraia · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil
A project in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil paired students from the Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri with youth and educators at AJIR, a philanthropic institution housing ten at-risk young men. Activities centered on cultivating vegetables, fruit trees and medicinal plants and raising small animals as part of residents' diet, guided by an ecological diagnostic of the local environment-agriculture relationship. The work aimed to valorize popular and endogenous knowledge alongside scientific knowledge and to build agroecological learning practices.
Food educationCommunityOrganic cycleGerald Forkuor, Pay Drechsel, Olufunke Cofie · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Ghana
With land zoning for urban farming remaining a major obstacle to urban and peri-urban agriculture in most developing countries, a study used Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and multi-criteria analysis to demonstrate how city authorities can integrate farming into their planning. The study was conducted in five districts in and around Ghana's capital city, creating spatial layers representing six influencing factors. Results show that, of the five districts, Tema municipality has the highest percentage of land suitable for agriculture, while Akuapim South has the lowest.
PolicyCommunityPeri-urban agricultureAndrew Kimbrell · Tikkun · United States
This essay criticizes the dominant industrial food model, corporations turning agriculture into agribusiness through heavy chemical, mechanical and genetically altered inputs, as producing profound alienation between the public and food production; it argues that increasing urbanization widens this physical and psychological distance, obscuring the industrial food model's consequences, including forest destruction, animal cruelty, pesticide harm to farmworkers and wildlife, and devastation of farm communities, which together constitute a moral crisis as well as an environmental and health crisis. It also describes a growing organic-and-beyond movement over the past two generations, with millions of Americans joining community supported agriculture (CSA) and opposing pesticide misuse, factory farming and genetic engineering of crops.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityEconomicsJoshua M. Davis · School for International Training Digital Collections (School for International Training) · United States
This paper evaluates the sustainability of the Market Basket (MB), a modified Community Supported Agriculture program run by Post Oil Solutions in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA, that provided local, fresh vegetables to low-income consumers at wholesale prices across two locations over two years, drawing on the author's experience as market coordinator, focus groups, interviews, and secondary data. Over 60 people participated in the MB during that period, and the paper argues the MB was an effective approach for increasing produce consumption, but issues affecting its sustainability remained unresolved — most notably funding to support a coordinator and increasing participation among generationally low-income consumers — with steps to address both currently underway.
Limited or null effectCSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareMarianne Sarkis, Amelia Angevine, Samuel Morrison, Caitlin Raph, Andrea Siemaszko · Clark Digital Commons (Clark University) · United States
A student research project in the United States investigating what factors influence refugees' participation in community gardens. Students conducted observations, informal interviews and focus groups with local refugees, examining location, education, community, economics and access to supplies as candidate factors. The project concluded that a lack of economic and structural flexibility is a significant reason for the low participation observed.
CommunityFood educationSinan Koont · University Press of Florida eBooks · Cuba
This book chapter opens with a review of various perspectives on urban agriculture in Cuba, gathered by the author through many interviews. It then reports on the author's own urban-agriculture site visits: the Municipality of San Cristóbal (including the IPA Batalla de Rubi hydroponic unit and UBPC El Mango); the Municipality of Matanzas (including Organopónico Triangulo and an Organipónico at the Empresa Forestal); Santiago de Cuba (Organopónicos Luis M. Poz and Roberto Alegre Capriles); and the City of Havana (UBPC Organopónico Vivero Alamar, CCS Antero Regalades Falcón, CCSF Arides Estevez Sánchez, parcela de Falcón, and the patio La Hierba Buena, which holds national-reference status). The chapter is descriptive, presenting site accounts rather than quantitative findings.
CommunityEconomicsPolicy길승호, 송병화, 양병이 · · South Korea
Based on a survey of 30 green roofs created between 2002 and 2004 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, this study analyzed the properties needed to reclassify green roofs into three types via cluster analysis. The previous classification, based on structural safety diagnosis type and visual expert judgment on site, was found to require correction. Results showed that the concepts of "rooftop garden" and "green roof" differ from those in previous studies: intensive green roofs referred to as rooftop gardens were closer to integrated management, while green roofs were closer to low management. Reclassification of greening types was also carried out using categorical regression analysis, which extracted factors influencing greening type; the analysis's R-squared value was 95.2%. This result indicated that rooftop gardens are places demanded for high levels of human activity.
PolicyCommunity陈百如 · 上海蔬菜 · China
The project's implementing entity is Hangzhou Dingyi Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., recognized as a leading agricultural enterprise of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, a Zhejiang provincial pollution-free production base, a Hangzhou urban agriculture demonstration park, and one of the district's "top-100 urban demonstration" agriculture parks. The company operates 92 hectares, of which 77.2 hectares are under cultivation and 14.8 hectares are usable water surface for aquaculture. Its Dingyi-brand watermelon, fresh soybean, and cabbage hold national A-grade green food certification, and its Dingyi-brand fresh corn, scallion, and cauliflower hold national pollution-free product certification.
CommunityDIYEconomicsKristin Reynolds · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
In Alameda County, California, the University of California Small Farm Program collected data from 2006 to 2009 through on-site interviews with 52 urban farmers and gardeners, surveys of Extension staff, and participant observation. The study examined characteristics of urban agriculture in the county, operators' challenges and assistance needs, and Extension staff members' interest in expanding programming for urban agriculture.
PolicyFood educationCommunityJames Krohe · Planning · Global
This planning article argues that cities facing steady population decline, which often leads to blight, can treat the situation as an opportunity to create more desirable urban spaces through deliberate planning. It describes comprehensive land recategorization based on ecological criteria, land banks that buy up vacant or abandoned properties for later redevelopment, urban agriculture and green space, and improvements to walkability and transportation infrastructure as elements of strategic planning for shrinking cities.
PolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageÖzge Volkan Aksu, Öner Demirel · DergiPark (Istanbul University) · Europe (Turkey)
A study of 35 primary school yards in the city center of Trabzon, Turkey, conducted to determine their existing physical condition. It examined outdoor space qualities including use of the surrounding school area, adequacy of open and green space, appropriateness of land use for functional and aesthetic purposes, and outdoor furnishing elements, through observation. The study is framed against a broader pattern in Turkey of school outdoor spaces planned with inadequate green area and hard concrete surfaces that fall short of children's developmental needs, but the abstract does not report specific numeric findings from the 35-school survey itself.
Food educationCommunitySung-Ho Gil, Byeong-Hwa Song, Byoung-E Yang · KIEAE Journal · South Korea (Seoul)
A study of 30 green roofs created by the Seoul Metropolitan Government between 2002 and 2004, using cluster analysis to reclassify them into three types. The prior classification, based on structural safety diagnosis and on-site visual judgment by experts, was found to need correction. The study redefines the concepts of rooftop garden (intensive green roof) and green roof differently from earlier studies, positioning rooftop gardens as closer to integrated management and green roofs as closer to low management. Categorical regression analysis was also used to extract the factors influencing greening type, with an R-squared of 95.2% for the regression's explanatory power. The results indicate that rooftop gardens are spaces expected to support high levels of human activity.
CommunityPolicyON Nwaogwugwu, JU Ulebor, AC Agumagu, CL Aboh · Journal of Agriculture and Social Research (JASR) · Nigeria
This paper examines rural-urban migration's impact on agricultural and national development in Nigeria and argues that extension policy has focused primarily on rural agriculture, neglecting urban agriculture's role in poverty alleviation. It recommends that extension agencies organize urban-specific extension services to inform smallholder urban farmers about which food products are in demand in urban areas, without presenting original survey or experimental data.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsTommy Bleasdale, Carolyn J. Crouch, Sharon L. Harlan · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
Researchers studied a struggling community gardening program in a low-income minority neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona, operated within a larger local food initiative led by a nonprofit community development organization. Based on interviews and participant observation used to build an exploratory survey, the study found that while residents had gardening interest and experience, awareness of the program itself was low, perceptions of gardening's benefits and burdens varied among current gardeners, ex-gardeners, and those who had never gardened, and the benefits residents cited often differed from the goals stated by the local food initiative.
Governance failureCommunityWelfare이응직, 이형숙, 윤은주, 칼루 엑페게어, 고성철 · · South Korea
A South Korean study examined the functions and roles of a Green Community Rediscovery Center (GCRC) in terms of community integration, designed a GCRC incorporating various green roof types, and investigated applying a renewable energy system (e.g., PV) to building greenery. Four functional modules were proposed: an ecopark and community gardens with environmental education programs, a green housing model with education programs, a Discover Science Center, and a green business model with education programs. In design terms, three main functions were presented: community garden functions; establishment of a green business model, community composting system, and urban farming system; and the role of community gardens in social interaction within the GCRC. Air temperature on the green roof (using Sedum sarmentosum as cover) was about 3°C lower than on a non-green roof, indicating potential efficiency gains for PV systems. The study concludes that the proposed GCRC would raise neighborhood satisfaction and quality of life and contribute to social integration and community regeneration.
CommunityFood educationCompostPolicyMorongoa Rosina Pako · · South Africa
This qualitative study assesses the Mogabane Community Garden Project in South Africa to determine why it did not reach its objective of poverty reduction in the community. It situates the project against South Africa's poverty lines — roughly 33% of the population living on less than R271/month, 50% on less than R422/month, and 79.1% on less than R1,230/month, with the highest poverty rates in the Eastern Cape (68.3%) and Limpopo (60.7%) provinces and the lowest in the Western Cape (20%) and Gauteng (28.8%) — and the government's post-1994 anti-poverty programs spanning social assistance, employment generation, enterprise development, basic household security, social services, disaster relief, and employment-related social insurance. Against this backdrop, the study assessed the Mogabane project and confirmed that it failed to achieve its poverty-reduction objective.
Limited or null effectCommunityEconomicsWelfare陈波, 杨卫丽, 苏原 · 华中建筑 · China
A design essay (Huazhong Architecture, 2011) presents the "3G-Box" composite eco-architecture concept, using the design of a university architecture-department complex building that incorporates urban agriculture elements as its case example. The paper frames the design around low-carbon, energy-saving, ecological sustainability principles, aiming to create an inclusive, open, interactive, energy-efficient, green building that blends traditional and modern architectural imagery; it is a design proposal rather than a study reporting measured outcomes.
PolicyCommunityChristina Purcell · Arrow - TU Dublin (Technological University Dublin) · United Kingdom
Background material from a paper on urban community gardens in Dublin, Ireland (2011, UK-based repository) describes Dublin's community gardens as ranging in scale from small disused residential plots (Cabra Park) to a four-acre site in Santry, taking forms from individually worked plots to communal gardens, with some space allocated to charities such as soup kitchens or to college plots. Citing prior literature, it notes an estimated 18,000 community gardens in the United States and Canada and reports that such gardens have been associated with improved nutrition, increased physical activity, greater social engagement, and better mental health, but this excerpt itself presents no original data or results measuring fruit and vegetable intake in Dublin.
CommunityHealthFood educationChabalani Ndlovu, Shethile Simelane, Kgosiwele Mngeni · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · South Africa
In Cape Town's high-rise neighborhoods, South Africa, where geographic constraints and socio-economic disparities limit access to fresh produce, a mixed-methods study using surveys, interviews and observation compared participants who regularly used community garden spaces with a control group who did not. Community gardens yielded an average of 50% more fresh produce per square meter than traditional urban plots, contributing to local food security, and garden users showed health changes including better nutrition and lower obesity rates.
Food sovereignty & justiceHealthCommunityZhu Ke-xian · Shanxi Architecture · China
This paper analyzes the functions and development status of urban garden greening/reforestation in Taiyuan, China, sets out principles and allocation methods for urban afforestation parks, and discusses considerations and design directions for future greening in Taiyuan in terms of lawn planning, forest ecological reforestation, and legal-system development for greening.
CommunityPolicyشعبانعلی فمی شعبانعلی فمی, قاسمی قاسمی, سرور امینی سرور امینی, سعادتزاده سعادتزاده · پژوهش های اقتصاد و توسعه کشاورزی · Asia
A correlational survey of farmers' attitudes toward participating in community-supported agriculture (CSA) in the Markazi district of Karaj, Iran. Out of a population of 1,598 farmers, a sample of 130 was drawn by simple random sampling (initially 117 via Cochran's formula, later expanded), using a questionnaire validated by expert judgment and showing Cronbach's alpha reliability of 0.7–0.9. Farmers' main motivation for CSA participation was securing financial resources and marketing their produce. Interest in receiving citizens' financial support correlated significantly and positively with annual income, family labor use, and number of citizen visits to farms (p<0.01), and with dependency on the residential area and education level (p<0.05). A Kruskal-Wallis test found significant differences among farmers from different residential areas in interest in citizen financial support, willingness to cooperate with citizens across income levels, satisfaction with farming income, and length of cultivation (p<0.05).
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityBen Amsden, Jesse McEntee · Leisure/Loisir · Global
This paper introduces "Agrileisure," a conceptual framework addressing both supply and demand sides of agriculture engaged for leisure and recreation purposes — such as farm-based agritourism, hobby farming, farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture — arguing that existing leisure-studies scholarship on agriculture has largely stopped at farm tourism. The framework draws on theoretical roots in leisure studies, ecology, sociology, psychology, social justice and geography.
CommunityCSA & Teikei