Research & reports

Lucy C. Michaels, María Puig de la Bellacasa · Environmental Humanities · United Kingdom

This article explores how soil care practices in urban gardening contribute to a sense of ecological belonging, focusing on diverse communities of urban growers from uprooted and migrant backgrounds in a city of the British East Midlands. Based on interviews and fieldwork, it shows how material, affective, and ethical relations in soil care may offer a distinct opening to more-than-human relations of belonging to/with land. Growers repair and nourish soil, connect to pasts and futures of urban land, and navigate affective and ethical ambivalences, reconfiguring place, identity, and more-than-human community.

Niloofar Shoja Razavi, Kefeng Zhang, Veljko Prodanović · Agricultural Systems · Global

This review assessed the agronomic suitability and contaminant profiles of five alternative water sources (greywater, blackwater, groundwater, rainwater, and stormwater) for urban crop irrigation. Four nature-based solution (NBS) technologies (constructed wetlands, biofilters, green roofs, and green walls) were evaluated as pre-treatment systems, with hybrid systems demonstrating over 97% removal efficiency for contaminants. Economic viability was highly dependent on crop selection; high-value crops like tomatoes and sweet peppers irrigated with treated groundwater showed the greatest profitability, while faba beans remained unviable regardless of treatment. Policy analysis identified substantial governance gaps, including inconsistent enforcement, limited public acceptance, and minimal regulatory guidance specific to urban agricultural water reuse.

Zoltán Dezsény · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Hungary

This is a presentation about Magosvölgy (Seeds' Valley) Ecological Farm in Hungary, a real-world example of a short food supply chain. The family-run farm operates on 0.5 hectares, growing over 40 species and 100 varieties of mixed organic vegetables using low-tech, regenerative methods without chemicals or heavy machinery. It functions as a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, with 160 members paying a yearly fee for weekly vegetable shares, reaching around 800 consumers and distributing approximately 32,000 kg of vegetables annually.

Jennifer Newell, Rory Doherty, Gary Lyons, Siobhan F. Cox · Environmental Geochemistry and Health · Global

A controlled experiment investigated the effects of 5%w/w digestate biochar on lead (Pb) ingestion risks in urban vegetable agrisystems with varying soil Pb concentrations, high pH, and organic matter. Biochar significantly reduced soil-derived Pb ingestion risks in some systems but had no effect on vegetable-derived Pb ingestion risks for any agrisystem. Overall, biochar showed limited and variable effects on reducing Pb ingestion risks, suggesting its remediation potential is context-dependent and may offer limited protection in soils with elevated pH and organic matter.

Marcos Antonio Vieira Batista, Anne Stefany da Silva Vieira, Josefa Aparecida Araujo Lima, Jaziel Batista Gomes, Luiz Henrique Aguiar, Helena Higino Bezerra Fernandes, Antonia Luana da Silva, Marcos Antônio Dantas · Revista Contemporânea · Brazil

An experiment conducted at IFCE - Campus – Iguatu - CE, Brazil, from April to May 2019, investigated the decomposition rate of mata-pasto (Senna uniflora) as green manure for chives (Allium fistulosum L.). Five treatments with different incorporation periods were tested. The results showed that incorporating mata-pasto 21 days before planting yielded the greatest plant height (33.7 cm), number of leaves (22.2), and aerial dry mass (1.54 g plant⁻¹), not statistically differing from 28 days before planting.

Edmond P. Freo · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Philippines (Quezon City)

This study in Batasan Hills, Quezon City, Philippines, assessed the feasibility of an integrated Food-to-Soil-to-Food innovation model using a quantitative approach with 85 household residents. Respondents showed very high awareness of food waste segregation, composting, and urban gardening, and a general willingness to participate, though with some hesitation regarding consistent daily segregation. While a significant positive relationship between awareness and innovation acceptability was found, critical structural barriers included lack of tools, limited community support, and urban space constraints. The study concludes that transforming urban food waste into a circular production system is highly feasible with institutional and logistical support.

Sri Khaerani Rahman, Restu Januarty Hamid, Idris Syahril, Marini Ambo Wellang · Abdimas Langkanae · Indonesia

This article discusses the TEBA (Organic Waste Bin) development program in Untia Village, Indonesia, aimed at reducing household organic waste. The program involved building 6 TEBA units, training residents in organic waste management, and assisting them in composting for productive activities like urban farming. Results showed increased community awareness in sorting organic waste, reduced waste volume sent to landfills, and the formation of a sustainable community-based waste management system.

Isabela Thomas Mkude · TANZANIA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY · Tanzania (Dar es Salaam)

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the utilization of faecal sludge derived compost (FSDC) by urban farmers remains limited due to farmers' prejudice and hesitance. This study investigated factors influencing FSDC acceptance through a cross-sectional survey of 76 urban farmers. Results indicated that garden location in communal areas, income generation as the primary farming purpose, and accessibility of soil inputs were significantly associated with FSDC acceptance. Farmers' awareness and experience also played important roles.

Larisa Alonso Moreno, Cristian Lizarazo-Ortega, Guadalupe Rodríguez Castillejos · Bioagro · Mexico

This study aimed to characterize the bacteriome of four different substrates used in urban gardens: peat, black soil (nursery), agricultural soil (northern Tamaulipas, Mexico), and a mix of agricultural soil with vermicompost and mycorrhizae. Genomic DNA was extracted and the 16S region amplified for analysis. The most prevalent phyla were actinobacteria, proteobacteria, and firmicutes, with dominant genera including Bacillus, Solirubrobacter, Rubrobacter, and Streptomyces, all linked to crop benefits.

Piedley Macêdo Saraiva, Aline Maia de Macedo, Cicera Giovanna Michelly Ferreira de Oliveira, Enzo Fernandes Sá, Laysa Yanne Silva Moreira, Thayla Sousa de Oliveira, Rayna Petrola Rocha Dias Milfont · Revista Ibero-Americana de Humanidades, Ciências e Educação · Brazil

This study analyzed the implementation of a vertical garden in a nursing home in Juazeiro do Norte-CE, Brazil. The intervention contributed to the reuse of construction waste, the production of toxic-free food, and increased opportunities for interaction among residents and caregivers. However, it also revealed limitations related to the vulnerability of the target audience, scheduling incompatibilities with the academic team, and the institution's dependence on continuous garden maintenance.

Nicolás Carrasco-Astudillo, Juan José Medina-Musellas, Kàtia Gaspar, Marta Gangolells, Miquel Casals · Building and Environment · Spain (Catalonia)

This paper evaluates rooftop agrivoltaic systems integrating urban agriculture, photovoltaic generation, and rainwater collection for building resilience and water-energy-food synergies. Tested via EnergyPlus simulations in a reference residential building across nine climate zones in Catalonia, Spain, the strategy showed climate-dependent benefits. The most consistent performance was in the Csa climate (Barcelona), demonstrating robust reductions in energy demand, emissions, and discomfort hours under current and future climate scenarios.

Gök A., Arıkan M. · Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B · Türkiye (Istanbul)

Tracks how DDT, a legacy contaminant, restructures the soil microbiome of an urban garden in Istanbul across a 15-day microcosm experiment. Rather than broad diversity loss, Shannon diversity rose steadily as sensitive taxa were suppressed; Rhodococcus, Kribbella and Nitrospira increased while Pedomicrobium and Lysobacter declined. Inferred functions shifted away from aromatic amino-acid and fatty-acid metabolism and towards degradation of chlorinated aromatics, redox homeostasis and stress response — a successional move to a stress-resilient, potentially degradative community.

Joshua Garcia, Mariel Mondragon-Becerra, Ivan Moya martinez, Connie Tsz Fai Wong, Zoe Caron, Katherine Kravitz, Elaine Owyang, Olukayode Jegede, Rebecca Ryals, Cristina Lazcano · Discover Sustainability · United States

A 2026 study conducted with Local Ecology and Agriculture Fremont (LEAF), a small urban farm in the San Francisco Bay Area, US, tests whether regenerative agriculture can support soil health and biodiversity in an urban landscape, comparing uncultivated soils, soils managed regeneratively for four years (Regen.4), and soils managed regeneratively for 10 years (Regen.10). Soil chemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, and lead concentration differed significantly between plots, likely reflecting each plot's management and land-use history. While total soil carbon did not differ between plots, Regen.4 had a higher proportion of labile carbon than the uncultivated plot along with a greater abundance of soil microorganisms and nematodes, and Regen.4 soils also showed improved physical properties — higher aggregate stability and lower compaction — compared with both the uncultivated plot and the Regen.10 plot.

Mohamed Beidari, Inoussa Tougri, Bernard Lamien · Journal of Environmental Protection · Africa

For Burkina Faso, a circular Water, Energy, and Food (WEF) nexus framework was developed that couples wastewater reuse in peri-urban agriculture with biomass energy recovery from crop residues, using Material Flow Analysis, a screening-level Life Cycle Assessment, four-scenario simulation (baseline, water reuse only, biomass only, full circular integration) calibrated for 2005-2024, an exploratory STIRPAT elasticity analysis, and Monte Carlo uncertainty propagation around a composite Nexus Efficiency Index. Every quantitative result is a simulated output from a literature-constrained synthetic dataset rather than an empirical measurement for Burkina Faso; under the central assumptions, the fully integrated circular scenario was modelled to reduce freshwater abstraction by about 25-40%, increase yields by 20-40%, and cut farm-gate CO2-equivalent emissions by 30-45% relative to the linear baseline. The mobilizable biomass potential of cotton stalks and rice husks was estimated at around 44,891 tonnes of oil equivalent per year, with indicative payback periods of 5-10 years for small biogas digesters and gasifiers in representative peri-urban configurations.

Ane Novianty, Agus Fernando · MAHATANI Jurnal Agribisnis (Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics Journal) · Indonesia

A qualitative literature study examined forms of environmental damage caused by industrial activity in Cikarang, Indonesia—where industrial sector growth has contributed significantly to the economy while also bringing serious environmental degradation—and assessed the role sustainable agriculture can play in environmental recovery. Analysis of national and international scientific literature found that sustainable agriculture, particularly urban agriculture and environmentally friendly farming around industrial areas, has strategic potential as part of green infrastructure, functioning not only as a food source but also contributing to pollutant absorption, rainwater management, temperature control in the area, and improved soil quality and biodiversity.

Azzahra Imairel Putri Diyati Mulyono, Herlina Fitrihidajati, Adi Candra, Nurcholis Nurcholis, Aseyan Aseyan · Journal of Community Service and Empowerment · Indonesia

A study examined adding Eco Enzyme to liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) made from garlic and onion skin waste as a potential replacement for chemical AB Mix fertilizer in growing curly lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in a vertical garden system. Conducted from September to November 2025 at the Oase Tembok Gede Smart Village in Surabaya, Indonesia, nutrient testing per Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture Decree No. 261/KPTS/SR.310/M/4/2019 found the LOF's K2O content at 2.03%, meeting the minimum standard. In a Completely Randomized Design with four treatments and three replications, ANOVA showed no significant difference between treatments (p > 0.05), though the 60 mL treatment (P3) produced the best growth—11 cm height, 7 leaves, and 11 g fresh weight—with the study noting that growth remained good despite suboptimal fertilizer nutrient quality, supported by favorable environmental conditions.

Santanu Maiti, 2S. Aanand, 3Rajalakshmi Kalaivanan, 4V. Mahendra Varman, · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

A technical guide describing wicking bed aquaponics, a resource-efficient, home-scale food production system that combines aquaculture with soilless plant cultivation. Fish waste is biologically converted into nutrients for plants, while the wicking bed functions as a sub-irrigation unit that uses capillary action to move water from a reservoir to the plant root zone, providing consistent moisture while minimizing evaporation loss.

Phạm Trung Kiên, Liliane Jean-Soro, Huong Le Thi Thu, Bernard De-Gouvello, Béatrice Bechet · Earth Environmental Sustainability · Global

Arguing that existing "Water-Energy-Food" nexus thinking fails to capture the complexity of urban nature-based solutions such as urban gardens, this perspective paper proposes a "Food-Water-Soil (FWS) nexus" framework analyzed through the dual lens of ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem disservices (EDS), which arise together with ES rather than as mere byproducts. It positions ES and EDS as the core mediating functions that define a system's potential and limits, and conceptualizes soil as a "living infrastructure" whose management-driven dynamic properties govern the trade-offs and synergies between food production and water dynamics.

Wiwin Yuliani, Novia Indah Lestari, Bayu Mahendra, Putri Wening Ratrinia, Lisa Astria Milasari · Abdibaraya Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community service program in a residential area of Tasikmalaya, Indonesia, addressed accumulating household organic waste by training residents to convert kitchen waste into liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) at home. Thirty participants, housewives and environmental cadres, took part in situation analysis, socialization on the economic value of waste, technical training in LOF production, and assisted fermentation using an EM4 bioactivator, with knowledge and skills measured before and after. Participants' knowledge rose from 35% to 95%, technical skill from 10% to 85%, and awareness of waste's economic value from 20% to 90%, and participants reported being able to produce LOF independently to support small-scale urban farming on limited land.

Candice M. Duncan, Fatemeh Ghezelsofla, Hlengilizwe Nyoni, Jazmin Escobar, Odette Mina · Toxics · United States

A study measuring per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in irrigation water at two organic farms in Maryland, USA, with no known direct PFAS input, and assessing health risk via a Hazard Index (HI). At agricultural site 1 (AG1), the most abundant compounds were PFBS (37 ng/L), PFBA (24 ng/L) and PFHxA (22 ng/L); the HI showed compliance for branched PFHxS (0.39) but non-compliance for linear PFHxS (1.51). At agricultural site 2 (AG2), despite no known industrial or PFAS-related facilities nearby, HFPO-DA (GenX) was detected at 28 ng/L, and the HI exceeded the compliance threshold (HI = 2.83), with GenX accounting for most of the calculated risk. The findings show HI exceedances occurring at small farm sites with no identifiable contamination source.

Eduardo Antonio CastroNemocon · Institutional Repository of the National University Open and Distance UNAD (Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia) · Colombia (Bogotá)

Focused on the UPZ 96 Lourdes area of the Santa Fe Tercera locality in Bogota, Colombia, this paper reports on an initiative that treats urban agriculture as a tool for building sustainable food systems. From an environmental standpoint, it advances a process of training and knowledge exchange using an agroecological approach in private spaces, generating self-supply and self-consumption of agricultural products and using household spaces to plant and harvest organic food free of fungicides that compromise food safety, aiming to prevent declines in quality of life and health problems for consumers. Drawing on a political ecology perspective, the initiative seeks policy directions and direct social action to improve the quality of food consumed in daily diets, prioritizing responsible environmental management and the practice and production of organic agricultural food in urban spaces — promoting healthy eating habits while culturally preserving knowledge exchange and ancestral planting, harvesting and consumption practices in a country whose historical character has been agricultural, and aiming to guarantee food sovereignty.

Xiaoya Lin, Jiajun Xu, Ting Wang, Randy A. Dahlgren, Lanyue Feng, Wenli Qin, Qinglong Liang, Zhixia Qin, Zengling Ma, Liyin Qu · Environmental Technology & Innovation · Global

A two-year monthly investigation of water quality and dissolved organic matter (DOM) optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence) in a eutrophic, urban-agricultural wetland. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) increased from spring to summer in both years and correlated significantly with trophic level index (TLI), total nitrogen, COD, and chlorophyll a, indicating that eutrophication added to the organic carbon pool through both sewage inputs and algal production. Loss of protein-like component C3, together with a significant negative correlation between microbial humic-like component C2 and dissolved oxygen, suggested that microbial deoxygenation converted bio-labile DOM into recalcitrant DOM (RDOM) during summer. In winter, lower temperatures limited microbial transformation, and continuous sewage inputs increased protein-like C3, while RDOM removal via particle adsorption-sedimentation and photodegradation exceeded its accumulation. Machine learning analysis found microbial transformation explained 39.1-41.2% of variation in humic-like components, more than terrestrial inputs, sewage sources, and algal production combined (2.1-31.6%), identifying microbial transformation as the dominant driver of wetland RDOM formation. Eutrophication is stated to have negative effects on wetland ecosystems, though the study also notes that, if sewage and algae are effectively managed, the same process could enhance carbon sequestration.

Neha Toppo, Shashi Kumar Sah, Vipin Chandra Mishra · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Global

This chapter introduces the concept of urban soils, describing how urbanization disturbs, compacts, contaminates, and mixes natural soil horizons with construction debris, bricks, asphalt, metals, and plastics, altering their structure, fertility, and contamination levels compared with agricultural or natural soils. The excerpted text is introductory background on urban soil formation and ecosystem functions rather than a report of original site data, measurements, or findings.

Kelly Johanna Molano Betin, Leo Danny Valencia Pinto · Ibero Ciencias - Revista Científica y Académica - ISSN 3072-7197 · Colombia

A mixed-methods, non-experimental descriptive study tested a school-based agroecology pedagogical strategy to strengthen food security at Institución Educativa Técnico General José Joaquín García, Sede 10 Peñolcitos, in Casabianca, Tolima, Colombia. Following a quantitative diagnostic questionnaire, a teaching sequence combining conceptual training, an agroecological school garden, and a healthy cooking workshop was implemented; students showed favorable preconceptions about agroecology, food security, and the garden but specific gaps in understanding its full scope beyond production, and the training activities narrowed those gaps.

Budi Hartono, Axel Giovanni, Muchammad Khusni Wafa, Mu'alfad Zulfikar Purwanto, Mirna Harsono · COMMUNITY Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia

This is a community engagement program, not an outcomes study, aimed at micro-enterprises in food security and urban farming in Indonesia that face limited business management capacity, scarce resources, and insufficient technical knowledge. Partnering with Fita Farm for its expertise in integrated agriculture, the program delivers training, hands-on mentoring, and continuous evaluation toward goals of improved business management, increased income, and greater resilience, but the abstract does not report achieved results.