Research & reports

Illana C. Livstrom, Gillian Roehrig, Amy Rex Smith · International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement · Global

A single-case study examined Grounding Roots, an urban agricultural internship program that brings together youth interns, undergraduates and community elder mentors in intergenerational garden groups, asking how community-based education through internships can support youth marginalized in traditional educational settings. The program was found to support youth in multidimensional learning and identity development within community-based spaces that connect learning to their communities and lives, particularly for youth with marginalized identities, through elements including recognizing and leveraging youths' existing assets, building confidence, leadership identities and diverse relationships, and connecting participants with the broader community, underscoring the value of intergenerational mentoring, diverse learning communities and work-based learning.

이애란, 정나라 · · South Korea

A South Korean study presenting a practical planning approach for creating socially integrated community gardens. It sets out the definition and effects of community gardens, general planning content, and a basic preparation process with checklist, then uses a model garden to walk through the full process from resident participation through site selection, design and construction, with detailed data for each stage. The stated aim is to make existing gardening data usable as a basic reference for building socially integrated community gardens.

Mahteme Feleke Debela · Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development · Ethiopia

A descriptive survey with qualitative data examined the role of urban agriculture (bio-intensive gardening, backyard poultry keeping, and sheep rearing/fattening) in the livelihoods of the urban poor in Hawassa City, Ethiopia. 76% of respondents gained additional income, 51.4% used it as a food source, and 29% found employment through it. Reported challenges included lack of credit services, absence of supporting technology, shortages of feed/treatment/inputs, and poor market access and storage facilities.

Joanne Dolley · Geographical Research · Global

This study argues that community gardens can function as "third places" that facilitate informal interactions among neighborhood residents. When community gardens serve as third places alongside their placemaking features, they help connect new residents to a place, easing challenges associated with population mobility, such as social isolation.

Dorothée Boccanfuso, Marie-Ève Yergeau · Cahiers de recherche · Africa

This study presents a diagnostic assessment of the urban and peri-urban agriculture (AUP) sector in Mali, based on a literature review and individual interviews with stakeholders in Bamako, forming the first stage of a research project intended to measure AUP's impact on poverty and food security. The literature review found that few studies measure AUP's impact, that existing results are mixed and inconsistent, and that there is a lack of solid evidence on the topic. The Bamako interviews surfaced the sector's economic, social, and environmental issues in the Malian context and confirmed, from key stakeholders, the relevance and necessity of the planned research project.

Batara Surya, Syafri Syafri, Hadijah Hadijah, Baharuddin Baharuddin, Andi Tenri Fitriyah, Harry Hardian Sakti · Sustainability · Indonesia (Makassar)

A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study (observation, surveys, in-depth interviews, documentation) examined slum management through urban farming and community empowerment in the Metro Tanjung Bunga area of Makassar City, South Sulawesi, Indonesia (published 2020). Business motivation, human resource capacity, community participation, and economic business management were found to significantly affect economic empowerment. Urban farming directly increased community welfare by 27.66%, community capacity-building increased it by 55.95%, and business capital support increased it by 36.72%.

Lily Edelman-Gold, Meredith Melendy · · United States

A report on Lewiston and Auburn, Maine (2020) compared urban agriculture ordinances and performance standards from cities including Chicago, Illinois; Austin, Texas; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, and analyzed interviews with stakeholders in those cities, finding examples of standards that allow more freedom and equitable urban agriculture practice than currently exists in Lewiston and Auburn. The report's recommendations for Lewiston/Auburn include: combined restrictions for fowl, livestock, and composting (e.g., permitting a set number of chickens on smaller lots with conditional allowances on larger ones); reduced setback requirements for bees with flyway barriers where needed; increased maximum square footage for community gardens, introduction of a "market garden" designation into city code, and allowance of on-site or farm-stand sales; and explicit guidelines on what can and cannot be composted.

Kyle Richardville · Purdue e-Pubs (Purdue University System) · United States

With Purdue University's campus and much of its surrounding area classified by the USDA as a food desert, this study surveyed graduate students using a voluntary 33-question online Qualtrics survey distributed campus-wide, to identify barriers to purchasing and consuming fresh produce and to participating in local urban agriculture, and to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic affected food access and motivation for healthy eating and community garden engagement. Results show many Purdue graduate students face both individual and structural barriers to accessing fresh fruits and vegetables, with international students particularly vulnerable to structural barriers; lack of access to a personal vehicle was the primary predictor of vulnerability, especially during the pandemic. Students expressed interest in participating in local urban agriculture initiatives but most were unaware such initiatives existed. A second objective of the study tested whether leaf mold compost could improve degraded urban soils.

Presidencia de la Nación (Argentina) · Argentina.gob.ar (Presidencia de la Nación / INTA) · Argentina

An official Argentine government article on ProHuerta, a self-provisioning garden program. Launched on August 3, 1990 by resolution of INTA's governing board, it has since reached more than 4 million beneficiaries and supported 637,847 gardens (97% household gardens, 1,826 community gardens, and 13,000 school gardens). It reports 9,192 volunteer promoters (67% women), and cites a nutritional evaluation finding a typical household garden covers about 72% of recommended overall consumption.

World Future Council · World Future Council / futurepolicy.org · Brazil

A World Future Council policy profile explaining how the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte guaranteed the right to food through Municipal Law 6,352 of 1993, establishing a food and supply secretariat (now SUSAN) coordinating 20 interlinked programmes with a 20-member advisory council, funded by 2% of the city's annual budget. It reports that the infant mortality rate fell from 34.4 to 3 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1993 and 2006, that the 2019 Emergency Food and Nutrition Assistance Programme (PAAN, Law 11.193/2019) serves 1,000 families a month, and notes the (as-yet-unmet) national requirement that 30% of school-meal funding go to family-farm purchases.

Murray J., Wickramasekera N., Elings M., Bragg R., Brennan C., Elsey H. · Campbell Systematic Reviews, 15(4):e1061 · Global

A systematic review assessing how care farming (social farming) affects quality of life, depression and anxiety across different service-user groups. It finds that agriculture-based welfare support may improve mental health and social interaction, while highlighting the need for more robust evidence.

Machida D. · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(8):1389 · Japan

A web-based cross-sectional survey of community-dwelling older adults in Japan examined links between community or home gardening and health-related indicators. Gardening with others was significantly associated with exercise habits, physical activity, vegetable intake and neighborly connections, and with higher subjective happiness and sense of purpose, supporting gardens as a means to counter isolation among the elderly.

· 農林水産省 · Japan

Materials on the 2019 Noufuku JAS standard certifying foods and ornamental plants produced with the involvement of people with disabilities, raising trust and brand value for agriculture-welfare products via third-party certification; first certifications issued November 2019.

Ina Säumel, Suhana E. Reddy, Thomas Wachtel · Sustainability, 11(4), 972 · Global

A foundational paper of the EU EdiCitNet project that positions citizen-led food production (Edible City Solutions) as urban infrastructure generating socio-cultural ecosystem services—social cohesion, education, health—alongside regulating services such as stormwater management and biodiversity. It offers a framework in which participatory productive green space underpins social resilience and sustainable food-system transitions.

Christensen S., Dyg P. M., Allenberg K. · Local Environment 24(3):231-248 · Denmark

Mixed-method study of 'integration-gardening' in Copenhagen examining how urban community gardens build bridging social capital and contribute to social integration of immigrants, while also noting its limits.

Audate P. P., Fernandez M. A., Cloutier G., Lebel A. · BMC Public Health 19:672 · Global

Scoping review synthesizing 101 studies. Urban agriculture showed positive impacts on food security, fruit and vegetable consumption, dietary diversity and child nutrition, but methodological rigor of evidence was limited.

· Springer (book chapter) · Villapinzón, Colombia

Examines low-cost oyster mushroom cultivation as an income- and nutrition-generating alternative for rural low-income women in Villapinzon, Colombia. Highlights mushroom growing as an accessible, low-capital livelihood option.

Moruzzo R., Di Iacovo F., Funghi A., Scarpellini P., Espinosa Diaz S., Riccioli F. · Social Sciences · Italy

A study exploring how care and social farms provide inclusive environments supporting the personal growth of participants, by researchers affiliated with universities in Italy.

Marshman J., Scott S. · Canadian Food Studies · Ontario, Canada

A study of five Ontario gleaning groups showing that modern gleaning contributes to community food security by reducing food waste, improving access to fresh food, and fostering social connections.

Nolwazi Z. Khumalo, Melusi Sibanda · Sustainability · South Africa

This paper assessed the food security status of 208 households (109 urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) practicing, 99 non-UPA practicing) in Tongaat, eThekwini Municipality, South Africa. While a greater proportion (54%) of UPA practicing households consumed more than six food groups compared to non-UPA households (40%), a Mann-Whitney U test (U = 5292, p = 0.808) found no significant difference in dietary diversity between the two groups. Employment status, access to arable land, land tenure, and household monthly income were significantly associated with food security status.

Seth A. Berkowitz, Jessica O’Neill, Edward Sayer, Naysha N. Shahid, Maegan Petrie, Sophie Schouboe, Megan Saraceno, Rochelle Bellin · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · United States (Massachusetts)

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) tested whether a subsidized community-supported agriculture (CSA) intervention could improve diet quality for socioeconomically vulnerable individuals. Conducted from May 2017 to December 2018, 128 participants from a community health center in central Massachusetts were randomized to receive either subsidized CSA membership or healthy eating information (control group). The intervention group showed a clinically meaningful increase of 4.3 points in the Healthy Eating Index total score (p=0.03) and lower food insecurity (RR=0.68) compared to the control group.

Pernille Malberg Dyg, Søren Christensen, Corissa Jade Peterson · Health Promotion International · Global

A thematic review of 51 articles published between 1980 and 2017 examined the effects of community gardens on wellbeing among vulnerable populations. Findings suggested positive impacts on physical health and individual/social wellbeing, but food security enhancements were inconsistent. Two articles raised potential food safety concerns in urban community gardens, recommending attention to minimizing these risks.

Marilyn Sitaker, Jared T. McGuirt, Weiwei Wang, Jane Kolodinsky, Rebecca A. Seguin‐Fowler · Sustainability · United States

This study compared sociodemographic and geospatial contexts with farmers' experiences for two direct-to-consumer (DTC) models: a cost-offset CSA for low-income families and food boxes distributed via rural convenience stores, across two U.S. states (Vermont and Washington). Addresses of thirteen farms and DTC pickup sites were geocoded, and road network distances to supermarkets, farmers' markets, and farms were calculated. Most pickup areas were heavily car-dependent with limited public transportation. Despite modest profitability, both models were considered worth pursuing as they expanded farmers' customer base.

Emmanuel Patroba Mhache, Elna Lyamuya · Huria Journal of the Open University of Tanzania · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

This review paper examined the role of urban agriculture in alleviating poverty for women in the Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It found that women's participation in urban agriculture contributes to food security, increases household income (average net income Tshs 58,356.2 per month), offers employment, and reduces poverty. However, numerous bottlenecks hinder women's involvement in urban agriculture, including poor markets, water shortage, land shortage, seed unavailability, lack of capital, lack of government support, crude working tools, lack of water pumping machines for irrigation, poor storage facilities, and lack of agricultural extension services.

Claire Bustin · · United Kingdom (Sandwell)

A Sandwell church was awarded a £751 town grant by the council to provide equipment for young and elderly people to work in a community garden on their grounds.