Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Smart Hidroponik Berbasis Energi Surya untuk Urban Farming di Kabupaten Gowa
2022Ilyas Renreng, Luther Sule ., Andi Mangkau ., Zuryati Djafar, Nasruddin Azis ., Muhammad Syahid, Fauzan Fauzan, Abir Sakka, Arfandy · JURNAL TEPAT Applied Technology Journal for Community Engagement and Services · Indonesia
This paper introduces Smart Hydroponics, an automatic solar-energy-based system, as a solution for urban farming in Bontomarannu, Gowa Regency, Indonesia. The local community faces limited knowledge of utilizing narrow land for hydroponics, and while Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) hydroponics is efficient, its high operational costs (e.g., pump electricity) and complex maintenance are barriers. The Smart Hydroponics technology aims to enable modern, small-scale home cultivation with automation and energy independence.
Digital agricultureClimate changeFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceHorta comunitária e Psicologia Social: um relato de experiência
2022Marília Alves dos Santos, W. D. B. S. Bonaci, L. S. FOGANHOLO · Fractal Revista de Psicologia · Brazil (São Paulo)
This report describes a supervised internship experience in Social and Community Psychology conducted in 2017 with an intergenerational community garden group at a social assistance institution in rural São Paulo state. Key observed results of this intervention among group members included the learning of various cultivation techniques, the strengthening of interpersonal relationships, the development of group autonomy and self-organization, and the group's formation as an important support network.
CommunityFood educationHealthUpaya Pemanfaatan Lahan Perkotaan dengan Pelatihan Hidroponik Sistem Wick Untuk Ketahanan Pangan Warga Purwantoro
2022Ulfi Andrian Sari, Hayyun Lathifaty Yasri, Azizatur Rahmah · AKSIOLOGIYA Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia (Purwantoro)
In Purwantoro RW 5, Indonesia, a wick system hydroponics training program was implemented using the ABCD (asset-based community development) method. The program focused on utilizing terrace land and targeted RW 5 administrators and PKK mothers. A survey found that 52% of participants understood the training as "good" and 48% as "very good"; 84% "strongly agreed" that hydroponics is an alternative for farming in narrow spaces, and 72% "strongly agreed" it can address food security.
Food educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceDIYFrom Weslandia to Urban Gardening
2022Aria Razfar, Beverly Troiano · · United States (New York City)
This chapter presents action research conducted by an elementary teacher in a second-grade classroom in New York City, United States, where a gardening unit was implemented. The gardening unit was part of a thematic unit on "community," a theme that emerged from surveys of student interests, experiences, and problems. The origins of critical urban gardening trace back to 1970s New York, when communities reappropriated green space.
Food educationCommunityPolicyCognitive Dimension of Learning Using Garden-Based Education towards Sustainability: A Meta-Synthesis
2022Jennifer D. Paño, Jeralden Jumao-as, Marchee T. Picardal · Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal · Global
This meta-synthesis of 22 published articles examined the impact of garden-based education (GBE) on the cognitive domain of learning. Five themes emerged: experiential learning, meaningful learning, explicit and implicit learning, discovery learning, and transmissible learning. GBE is a successful program contributing to the improvement of academic performance, although there is no standard template for its implementation.
Food educationCommunityHorta na escola: o ensino de química a partir da produção de adubo orgânico
2022Carine Borchert Rosa, Daniela Mueller de Lara, Erli Schneider Costa · Revista Eletrônica Científica da UERGS · Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul)
This study at Escola Estadual de Educação Básica Santa Rita in Nova Santa Rita, Brazil, applied a research-oriented teaching proposal to students, focusing on inorganic functions through organic fertilizer production using school waste. Students built a garden, collected waste, produced organic fertilizer, and validated results. The study observed mutual aid among students, developed their intervention capacity, and noted a positive change in their approach to discarded waste like potato peels, banana peels, eggshells, and mate.
Food educationCompostOrganic cyclePast, Present and Future of Urban Agriculture in Cameroon: Major Contemporary Challenges (1993-2017)
2022Theodore Ngoufo Sogang, Youssouf Monkouop · Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment · Cameroon
This article proposes a framework for understanding the past, present, and future of urban agriculture in Cameroon, focusing on the period from 1993 to 2017. It examines the subject through five fundamental notions: International Relations and Geopolitical Agriculture, Urban Economic Agriculture, Environmental and Food Climate Stakes, and Science and Culture adapted to agricultural and food mutations. The study aims to provide a comparative review of agriculture in transition by integrating historical, social, economic, and diplomatic perspectives.
Food educationFood sovereignty & justiceHealthEconomicsHortas comunitárias STEM
2022Ramon Majé Floriano · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Colombia
The STEM community gardens project aims to contribute to food security in the San Francisco, Santa Inés, and Holland villages of the Pitalito Huila municipality in Colombia. This report outlines the project's development through three phases: immersion, transfer, and communication.
CommunityFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceThe governance of a community garden with a food cycle in suburban Tokyo
2021Shimpo N. · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems (Wiley), 6:e20015 · Japan
A case study of a suburban-Tokyo community garden that collects neighborhood kitchen waste and returns it to the soil as compost, forming a local food cycle. It documents how the bottom-up founder sustained the garden, provided work opportunities for people with disabilities and food-education for children, and built links with welfare facilities, kindergartens, and schools.
CommunityCompostOrganic cycleWelfareFood educationImpact of a School-Based Gardening, Cooking, Nutrition Intervention on Diet Intake and Quality: The TX Sprouts Randomized Controlled Trial
2021Landry M., van den Berg A., Hoelscher D., Davis J. · Nutrients, 13(9):3081 (MDPI) · United States
A randomized controlled trial across 16 mostly Hispanic, low-income elementary schools in Texas evaluating the TX Sprouts intervention, which embedded gardening, cooking and nutrition lessons. Children in intervention schools significantly increased vegetable intake, showing that garden-centered food education can improve children's dietary quality.
Food educationHealthCommunity都市農業をめぐる情勢について
2021農林水産省 農村振興局農村計画課都市農業室 · 農林水産省（都市農地活用支援センター セミナー資料） · Japan
A Ministry of Agriculture briefing on the current state and policy trends of urban agriculture. It summarises trends in urban farmland area, productive/specified-productive green space, measures under the Urban Agriculture Promotion Act, and initiatives toward diverse functions such as citizen farms, experience farms and agriculture-welfare collaboration — a baseline reference for municipalities designing urban-agriculture policy.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityFood educationEdible City—A New Approach for Upscaling Local Food Supply? The Case of Andernach, Germany
2021Artmann M., Sartison K. · Making Green Cities: Concepts, Challenges and Practice (Springer, Cities and Nature series), 173-194 · Global
A case study analyzing the 'Edible City' of Andernach, Germany, as a multifunctional productive green space where citizens can harvest freely in public areas. Drawing on interviews with key initiators, it shows that the project generates multifunctional social, ecological and economic benefits addressing urban challenges such as food security, biodiversity and social cohesion, and examines its potential for upscaling local food supply.
CommunityFood educationWelfareEconomicsBiodiversityDevelopment of a Tribally-led Gardening Curriculum for Indigenous Preschool Children: The FRESH Study
2021Wetherill M.S., Bourque E.E., Taniguchi T., Love C.V., Sisk M., Jernigan V.B.B. · Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 53(11):991-995 · Global
Describes the development of a tribally-led garden curriculum for Indigenous preschoolers in the Osage Nation, integrating the traditional Three Sisters planting to teach Native foodways and improve children's vegetable intake and food security.
Heirloom & landraceFood educationCommunityHealthSchool-based gardening, cooking and nutrition intervention increased vegetable intake but did not reduce BMI: Texas sprouts - a cluster randomized controlled trial
2021Davis J. N., Pérez A., Asigbee F. M., Landry M. J., Vandyousefi S., Ghaddar R., Hoover A., Jeans M., Nikah K., Fischer B., Pont S. J., Richards D., Hoelscher D. M., Van Den Berg A. E. · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 18:18 · United States
Cluster RCT in 16 elementary schools. A one-year gardening, cooking and nutrition program significantly increased children's vegetable intake but did not reduce BMI or other obesity outcomes.
HealthFood education農地保全等にかかる検討報告書
2021世田谷区 · 世田谷区 検討報告書 · Japan
Setagaya's review report from its urban-agriculture and farmland-conservation PT after the 2022 productive-green-area issue, outlining the current state and future direction of publicly supported urban farmland use including buy-out conservation, agriculture-welfare collaboration, ward allotments and community farms such as Tamaribatake.
PolicyCommunityWelfareFood educationA systematic scoping review of the impacts of community food production initiatives in Kenya, Cameroon, and South Africa
2021Hutton G.B., Brugulat-Panés A., Bhagtani D., Maadjhou Mba C., Birch J.M., Shih H., Okop K., Muti M., Wadende P., Tatah L., Mogo E., Guariguata L., Unwin N. · Journal of Global Health Reports · Cameroon
This systematic scoping review synthesized 118 studies (from 4,828 screened) on community food production initiatives across Kenya, Cameroon, and South Africa, finding that economic and environmental impacts dominated the literature while health and social dimensions were understudied; Cameroon-specific studies (10 papers) primarily addressed economic impacts.
CommunityHealthEconomicsFood educationSmall-scale urban agriculture: Drivers of growing produce at home and in community gardens in Detroit
2021Carola Grebitus · PLOS ONE · United States (Detroit)
Using an online survey of 420 residents in Detroit, Michigan, this study analyzed behavioral and socio-demographic drivers of growing produce at home and in community gardens. It found that trust, attitude, and knowledge affect home growing, while involvement and personality drive community gardening; household size affects home growing, and gender, age, and income affect community gardening. The findings offer implications for fostering small-scale urban agriculture through city planning and nutrition education.
CommunityDIYFood educationUrban gardening as a means for fostering embodied urban human–food connection? A case study on urban vegetable gardens in Germany
2021· Sustainability Science · Germany (Munich)
A Munich case study exploring how urban vegetable gardening fosters an embodied human–food connection and pro-environmental behaviour.
HealthFood educationCommunityUrban Agriculture Education and Youth Civic Engagement in the U.S.: A Scoping Review
2021· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · USA
A scoping review of how urban agriculture education programs foster youth civic engagement, leadership, and understanding of social justice in the United States.
Food educationCommunityPolicyImpact of home garden interventions on household access to vegetables for nutrition security in Kavrepalanchok district of Nepal
2021· Horticulture International Journal · Nepal (Kavrepalanchok)
Evaluates how home garden interventions contributed to household access to vegetables and nutrition security in Nepal's Kavrepalanchok district during the COVID-19 period.
HealthWelfareFood educationIs School Gardening Combined with Physical Activity Intervention Effective for Improving Childhood Obesity? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
2021Yufei Qi, Sareena Hanim Hamzah, Erya Gu, Haonan Wang, Yue Xi, Minghui Sun, Siyu Rong, Qian Lin · Nutrients · Global
A meta-analysis pooling 14 randomised controlled trials covering 9,187 children aged 7–12 that tested school gardening combined with physical activity. Fruit and vegetable intake increased significantly, but the intervention showed no clear effect on BMI and related obesity measures, with only a modest positive direction for weight reduction. The result separates dietary behaviour change from anthropometric change and shows that whether school gardens are judged effective against obesity depends heavily on which outcome is measured.
Food educationHealthPeningkatan ketrampilan anak jalanan melalui hidroponik sederhana
2021Riris Lindiawati Puspitasari, Arief Pambudi, Yunus Effendi, Genta Hadela · · Indonesia (Depok)
This community service activity aimed to enhance the skills of street children attending Sekolah Masjid Terminal (Master) in Depok, Indonesia, through simple hydroponics training. The training, initially conducted online due to restrictions, introduced participants to hydroponic techniques using simple equipment. Initial results showed participants gained information on simple hydroponic techniques.
Food educationWelfareCommunityOrganization of a Community Garden Program through Utah State University Food $ense and Master Gardener Extension Programs for Low-Income Families in Logan, Utah
2021Jackie Hendrickson · Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · United States (Utah)
Utah State University's Food $ense and Master Gardener programs partnered to create the "Create Farm Fresh Gardens" community gardening program, targeting low-income families in Cache Valley, Utah. Piloted during the 2018 growing season, the program aimed to improve food security by increasing access to fresh vegetables and enhancing participants' self-efficacy in gardening and nutrition. Participants provided supportive feedback, and the program was slated for statewide implementation in Utah during the 2019 growing season.
CommunityFood educationWelfareHealthTeaching in the Garden: School Gardens as a Space for Environmental and English Learning
2021Baerbel Turner-Hill, Christian Ludwig, Lena Böttger · Ecozon European Journal of Literature Culture and Environment · Global
This paper examines school gardens as spaces for enhancing students' English language competencies and fostering critical environmental literacy. It discusses garden-based education as a form of outdoor learning and argues for its use in teaching English as a foreign language, drawing on Gardner's multiple intelligences model. The paper also reports on a school garden-based seminar for EFL teacher training at the University of Education Karlsruhe, Germany.
Food educationCommunityExperiencia educativa: Práctica de huertos familiares y escolares en la zona rural Capachalito, Municipio Tovar, Estado Aragua
2021María Moreno Jaimes · Revista EDUCARE - UPEL-IPB - Segunda Nueva Etapa 2 0 · Venezuela
This qualitative action research study in Capachalito, Tovar Municipality, Aragua State, Venezuela, developed an action plan to improve residents' quality of life by encouraging parents, students, and teachers to resume school garden practices within the School Feeding Program. The study, based on a Socio-Critical Paradigm and Participatory Action Research, aimed to support food sovereignty and security. It highlighted the importance of endogenous development and sustainable community agriculture for reviving traditional knowledge related to family and school gardens.
Food educationPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity