Research & reports

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) · U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) · Global

This is the Phosphate Rock entry of USGS's annual Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025. U.S. 2024 marketable production was 20,000 thousand metric tons (about 20 million tons, valued at $2 billion), with net import reliance at 13% of apparent consumption and import sources (2020-23) at Peru 98%, Morocco 2%. World mine production was estimated at 240,000 thousand metric tons in 2024 (China, Morocco, the U.S., and Russia leading), world reserves at 74,000,000 thousand metric tons, with Morocco alone holding 50,000,000 thousand metric tons. World P2O5 consumption in fertilizers was 47.5 million tons in 2024, projected to rise to 51.8 million tons by 2028.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · United States

This EPA page (last updated December 22, 2025) explains chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a wood preservative used since the 1940s for utility poles, posts, and other structural lumber. Manufacturers voluntarily ended CCA use for residential wood products in December 2003. EPA notes cancer and non-cancer health risks for workers and environmental risks to aquatic invertebrates and plants, while stating there is no health risk to the general public; removal of existing CCA structures is not mandated, though periodic sealant coating is recommended to reduce leaching.

Ville de Paris · Ville de Paris · France

Official Ville de Paris page defining shared gardens as green spaces cultivated and run by residents, intended as places of intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. About 15 educational gardens host children from 28 Paris educational facilities (nurseries, primary schools, after-school centers). Residents wishing to open a new garden must form an association and contact the city's 'Main Verte' team.

European Commission · European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment · Europe

The European Commission's official page on the EU Pollinators Initiative (adopted 2018, revised 2023). It reports that 1 in 3 European bee, butterfly and hoverfly species is in decline and 1 in 10 bee and butterfly species is threatened with extinction, while around 4 out of 5 crop and wild flowering plant species depend on animal pollination. Under Article 10 of the Nature Restoration Regulation (in force since 19 August 2024), Member States face a legally binding target to reverse pollinator decline by 2030. A delegated regulation establishing the EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EU-PoMS) was adopted on 19 September 2025, to be implemented by Member States by 16 December 2026 at the latest.

Bauer W., Titz A. · Nature-Based Solutions · Malawi (Lilongwe)

Urban Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are promoted globally as multifunctional and cost-effective, and municipal interest is growing in cities of the so-called Global South. Yet research remains clearly biased toward the Global North, with particularly few studies on cities in Sub-Saharan Africa — leaving a high risk that maladapted NbS, modelled on examples from elsewhere that do not meet local requirements, get adopted. This article examines the barriers to adopting urban NbS in Malawi's cities and the opportunities for successful implementation, drawing on qualitative data (workshops, narrative expert interviews, group discussions) gathered over five research stays in Lilongwe between 2022 and 2024, and analysing in detail the strategies used by those implementing the Lilongwe Ecological Corridor Initiative (LECI), a large-scale NbS in the capital.

NCVO · National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) · United Kingdom

Recommendations published on 30 April 2025 by NCVO as part of its Power of Small project on small charities. It asks funders to increase multi-year core funding, simplify application processes in line with IVAR's principles, support capacity-building, ensure equitable distribution of funding, and foster sector-wide collaboration, with transparency through published data. On grant length, it proposes moving from twelve-month terms to at least twenty-four or thirty-six months, and ideally five years or more.

Luis Andrade · Quito Informa (Municipio del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito) · Ecuador

On 29 April 2025, Quito's Metropolitan Council approved the 'Healthy Food Neighborhoods' ordinance, allowing community gardens on idle municipal land and requiring new housing developments to include garden space. The city currently has about 2,000 urban gardens and aims to double that number by 2030. ConQuito, the municipal economic development agency, will provide seeds and training, and produce will be sold through organized bioferias to avoid affecting existing markets.

Equipo Actualidad Jurídica · Actualidad Jurídica (DOE) · Chile

A bill reported in Chile would have the state promote, foster, and oversee public policy on food security, environmental education, and urban agriculture. It defines urban gardens as cultivation plots of up to 500 square meters within urban territory, intended for growing vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers for self-consumption. Garden operators would be required to ensure safety and social integration, are allowed to hire workers with priority given to vulnerable groups and older adults, and may temporarily use abandoned lots that pose public-safety risks, though overnight stays or residing on the sites would be prohibited.

Hacemos Memoria · Hacemos Memoria (Universidad de Antioquia) · Colombia

A timeline from Hacemos Memoria tracing the search for people disappeared after military operations (including Operación Orión, 2002) in Medellín's Comuna 13, centered on the site known as La Escombrera. Comuna 13 as a whole records 5,912 disappeared people, with 502 expected around La Escombrera specifically; forensic excavations from December 2024 through 2025 recovered a total of seven sets of remains. The search is led by the national search unit for the disappeared (UBPD) and the transitional justice tribunal (JEP), which ordered precautionary protective measures in 2020.

Agência Senado · Agência Senado (Senado Federal) · Brazil

An Agência Senado article reporting that Law 15,226/2025, sanctioned September 30, 2025 and published October 1, 2025, raised the minimum share of school-meal food purchases that must come directly from family farming from 30% to at least 45%. Priority buyers include agrarian-reform settlements, Indigenous and quilombola communities, and formal/informal women's groups; the law also requires purchased food (except family-farming products) to have at least half its shelf life remaining. It originated from PL 2.205/2022 by deputy Luizianne Lins (PT-CE) and was reported in the Senate by Daniella Ribeiro (PP-PB).

Jaime Mulet Martínez, Daniel Melo Contreras, Félix González Gatica, Consuelo Veloso Ávila, Rubén Darío Oyarzo Figueroa, Jorge Saffirio Espinoza · Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados de Chile — Datos Abiertos (WSLegislativo) · Chile

A private member's bill (moción) admitted to Chile's Chamber of Deputies on March 24, 2025, establishing norms for the promotion, development, and registration of urban gardens (huertos urbanos). It was introduced by six deputies led by Jaime Mulet Martínez. The open-data record shows it as admissible, with no voting record yet.

Chmielewski J., Wszelaczyńska E., Pobereżny J., Florek-Łuszczki M., Gworek B. · Sustainability · Poland

The study sampled 112 items — 72 vegetable and 40 fruit — from 16 allotment gardens in Warsaw and measured Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd. Vegetables accumulated markedly more heavy metals than fruits, and leafy vegetables grown near high-traffic roads carried the highest Pb, Cd and Zn. Lead exceeded permissible limits by six to twelve times and cadmium by one to thirteen, leading the authors to advise against growing tomatoes in urban settings. Only trace amounts appeared in fruits, and the Hazard Index rated the fruits alone as safe. The paper calls for continuous monitoring of urban garden soils, remediation of contaminated ground and safer growing practices.

Amato-Lourenço L.F., Franca G.C., Seckler M.M., Mauad T. · Environmental Challenges, 14:100864 · Brazil

An analysis of a resident-led, decentralized community composting initiative begun in 2018 in São Paulo, using thermophilic decomposition (the UFSC method) in public squares. It presents a civil-society-driven waste-management model with positive environmental and social outcomes.

Shigetomi Y., Ishigami A., Long Y., Chapman A. · Nature Communications, 15:8987 · Japan

Demonstrates that per-capita household food waste in Japan rises with the age of the household head, reaching roughly three times higher for those 70+ than for those under 30, with correspondingly large differences in food-waste-related greenhouse gas emissions. It highlights the need for age-targeted food-loss reduction strategies in an ageing society.

Shimpo N. · Landscape and Urban Planning, 251:105148 · Japan

Analyses how a suburban-Tokyo community garden (Seseragi Garden, Hino City) was managed for resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gardeners proactively set rules through discussion and sustained activity, helping maintain food security, physical and mental health, ikigai and social networks, thereby contributing to community resilience.

· 農福連携等推進会議（内閣官房） · Japan

Government vision (2019, revised 2024) promoting noufuku—agriculture-welfare collaboration enabling people with disabilities to participate in society through farming—as national policy, covering awareness, training, facility support, and market expansion via certification.

· 都市計画報告集 23巻3号 pp.429- · Japan

A report analyzing the potential and operational challenges of community gardens run or entered by private companies, discussing sustainable management models for company-partnered citizen gardens in housing complexes and neighborhoods and their contribution to community formation.

柏の葉スマートシティコンソーシアム, 国土交通省 都市局 · 国土交通省 都市局（スマートシティ実装化支援事業 報告書） · Japan

An MLIT support-program report documenting the implementation of Kashiwanoha Smart City, advanced by Mitsui Fudosan as co-developer through public-private-academia collaboration (UDCK). It covers the implementation and evaluation of resident-participatory initiatives across health, community and data use.

Jansma · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Europe

Proposes a new typology of the diverse forms of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Europe, moving beyond the conventional 'urban farm vs community garden' divide and offering a framework for situating citizen-driven initiatives.

Nath T.K., Inoue M., Yim E.W., Takahashi S. · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Japan

Using empirical data from two Japanese GIAHS sites, documents features of traditional agricultural practices and their values, including conservation of local crop varieties and revitalization of discontinued farming for rural livelihoods.

Mimura Y. · Journal of Ethnic Foods 11: Article 26 · Japan

Reviews the history, preservation, branding, and scientific research on Kyoto's heirloom vegetables (Kyo-yasai), highlighting how farmers, researchers, and municipalities sustain traditional landrace cultivation amid urbanization pressures.

Raggi L., Spataro G., Tiranti D., Negri V. · Biodiversity and Conservation 33:2709-2738 · Europe

Reviews the status of on-farm landrace conservation in the EU, including the materials conserved, who maintains them and why, and EU policies governing the commercialization of landrace seeds.

Bartezzaghi G., Garrone P., Rizzuni A., Melacini M., Perego A. · Business & Society · Italy

A longitudinal action-research study of a cross-sector partnership delivering urban food assistance, showing how resource orchestration by public, corporate, and nonprofit actors spurs phases of systemic change in the urban food system.

新田 直人, 谷口 守 · 土木学会論文集 80巻11号 論文ID:23-00303 · Japan

Through multiple regression on fees at growing corporate-run kitchen gardens in metropolitan areas, this paper shows pricing reflects urban land-use factors such as rail access, distance from city center, and surrounding population, discussing expansion potential for private rooftop and non-farmland farms.

一般社団法人まちにわ ひばりが丘 · まちにわ ひばりが丘 公式活動報告書 · Japan

Annual report of the area-management organization after UR Hibarigaoka Danchi regeneration, documenting resident-led activities such as the shared garden and Niwa Marche at Hibari Terrace 118 and strengthened collaboration with developer subdivisions including Nomura, Daiwa, and Sumitomo.