Research & reports

Harry Wiyanto · Labs Jurnal Bisnis dan Manajemen · Global

This conceptual review aims to explore the factors, specifically knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP), that influence the adoption of urban farming practices. Urban farming is presented as a means for food security with diverse goals and benefits, including improved access to fresh produce and reduced climate change impact. The study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the overall concept of the KAP model in relation to urban farming adoption.

Emmanuel Olatunbosun Benjamin, Abiola Adegoke, Gertrud Buchenrieder · Land · Nigeria (Lagos)

This exploratory qualitative research, conducted in Lagos, Nigeria, used focus group discussions to compare the perspectives of private urban farmers and public sector representatives on innovative urban farming. Urban farmers identified a lack of public sector support for circular agri-food technologies, while public sector representatives attributed issues to farmers' behavioral and educational shortcomings, including poor coordination. These differing views highlight complex dynamics and a need for structural changes and stakeholder dialogues to develop effective urban farming policies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Avi Friedman · · Global

This chapter explores the concept of urban agriculture as an approach to address challenges in the current food system, including food insecurity, environmental degradation, and unhealthy eating habits. It examines design principles for creating sustainable and productive edible landscapes and the benefits of farmers' markets, offering insights for urban planners, designers, and policymakers.

Cherry Love B. Montales · International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews · Global

This systematic review analyzed 25 peer-reviewed studies published between 2014 and 2020 to explore how agricultural programs are implemented in secondary schools. Using clear inclusion/exclusion criteria and thematic analysis, the review showed that school gardens, often combined with other activities, were the most common initiatives. These programs involved students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders, with key themes identified as health and nutrition, food security, teaching, environmental sustainability, learning, and the use of information and communication technology.

Catherine Oliver · Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers · United Kingdom (London)

This paper examines urban chicken-keeping in London, where urban spaces are transformed to accommodate chickens. It argues that the human-imposed design of urban barnyards is often impractical for chickens, leading to lawns being torn up, plants demolished, and vegetable patches consumed. Additionally, chickens are vulnerable to local foxes, highlighting that chickens' behaviors and territoriality often overflow their assigned space, challenging human design intentions.

Katharine Garrity, Kathleen Krzyzanowski Guerra, Hannah Hart, Khawlah Al-Muhanna, Emily C. Kunkler, Ashlea Braun, K. Poppe, Kara Johnson, Emma Lazor, Yang Liu, Jennifer Garner · Advances in Nutrition · United States

A systematic review of 34 studies (37 articles) from 2000-2020 evaluated the impact of local food system (SVC) models on food and nutrition security among low-income populations in the United States. Farmers market interventions were more extensively evaluated than other SVC models, with fruit and vegetable intake being the most measured outcome. Barriers to SVC use included lack of program awareness, limited accessibility, and cultural incongruence, while facilitators included health-promoting environments, community cohesion, financial incentives, and high-quality produce.

Efadul Huq · International Journal of Urban and Regional Research · Bangladesh (Dhaka)

This article argues that in the global South, ecological infrastructure often displaces marginalized urban dwellers by erasing existing informal agricultural practices, or "green informalities." Based on research with urban farmers facing eviction in Dhaka, Bangladesh, it highlights that these green informalities are crucial for understanding grassroots practices and collective power-building. The study advocates for recognizing the political and affective dimensions of informal urban agriculture as a socially just ecological infrastructure that prioritizes justice and dweller agency.

Sri Tuntung Pandangwati, Benjamin Cooke, Melissa Neave · Australian Geographer · Indonesia (Yogyakarta)

This paper examined the relevance of an Agroecological Transition for the Special Region of Yogyakarta (SRY), Indonesia, emphasizing farmers’ perspectives and experiences. Data were gathered from policy documents, field observations, and 34 semi-structured interviews with farmers. Findings indicated that although there is limited discourse about agroecology in current policies, some farmers and NGOs have developed agroecological niche innovations.

Brenda B. Lin, Peter Bichier, Heidi Liere, Monika Egerer, Stacy M. Philpott, Shalene Jha · Sustainability Science · United States (California)

A study of 18 urban community gardens in Central Coast, California, USA, used gardener surveys and field measurements to evaluate food production and its distribution. Gardeners produced an average of four pounds of food per week, saving an estimated $16 USD weekly. However, gardeners with greater food insecurity (larger families or lower incomes) were not the largest producers, indicating uneven benefit distribution despite high overall productivity.

Muhammad Waseem Khan, WU Qun, Siqi Yan, Komal Bilal, Muhammad Bilawal Junaid, Wesam Atef Hatamleh · Journal of Urban Planning and Development · Global

This global study investigated the multifunctional role of land-use planning in peri-urban and urban agricultural drylands, using a survey of 680 participants and a structural equation model. Findings indicated that amenity, landscape and recreational value, and proximity significantly affect these areas. Conversely, large rural lots in China's Tianjin region negatively affected both the level of urbanization and urban agricultural drylands.

Ive Mariana Guissoni Arantes, Cícero José Da Silva, Natália Gislene Silva Salvador, Anselmo Afonso Golynski, Ênio Eduardo Basílio, Danilo Silva de Oliveira, Valentine Virginia Matheus, Eduardo Cardoso da Silva Assunção · Caderno Pedagógico · Brazil (Morrinhos-Goiás)

The Horta Comunitária extension project in Morrinhos-Goiás, Brazil, produces vegetables to ensure food security for socially vulnerable families. Managed by teachers, staff, and students from Intituto Federal Goiano Campus – Morrinhos, the project has achieved significant results in training and providing healthy food.

Geger Nusantara Putera, Erlinda Yurisinthae, Maswadi Maswadi · MIMBAR AGRIBISNIS Jurnal Pemikiran Masyarakat Ilmiah Berwawasan Agribisnis · Indonesia (Pontianak)

This descriptive quantitative study, conducted in Sungai Jawi Dalam sub-district, Pontianak City, analyzed factors influencing urban farming interest using primary data from 32 purposively sampled individuals and Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis. The research found that the "Business Opportunity" variable had no effect on urban farming interest. However, the "Land Use" variable positively affected urban farming interest (p=0.008, original sample value 0.479), explaining 47.9% of the interest.

Faiza Darkhani · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Germany (Berlin)

A qualitative content analysis of interviews with active female respondents in community-supported agriculture, food cooperatives, and self-harvest gardens in Berlin Brandenburg revealed challenges faced by women in alternative food networks. Interviewees expressed optimism but emphasized the need for increased governmental support and community engagement, and the data highlighted demands for gender equality improvements and support mechanisms.

Mostafa Baniasadi, Mohammad Eydipour · Nature Conservation · Iran (Dezful)

This study analyzed citizen preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for community garden services in Dezful, Iran, using a choice experiment with 170 respondents in autumn 2022. Results showed citizens were willing to pay 4.57 USD per month, valuing cultural services most, followed by provisioning services. Age, being native, education, household expenditure, and awareness of ecosystem services significantly affected WTP.

Tiara Himma Fadhilah, Adilah Dwita Cahyana, Ferdiansyah Dwiky Nugraha, Gideon Setyo Budiwitjaksono · JURNAL PENGABDIAN MASYARAKAT AKADEMISI · Indonesia (Surabaya)

This community service program aimed to empower residents of Gebang Putih Subdistrict, Surabaya, through urban farming. Activities included outreach and training on hydroponics and growing plants in pots. Residents showed positive responses and high enthusiasm, indicating that urban farming can increase food security, family independence, environmental quality, and public health.

Paula Mota Santos · Social Inclusion · Portugal (Porto)

Grassroots urban horticultural plots (hortas) in the Porto Metropolitan Area, Northern Portugal, are informal communities that have existed for decades, often involving over 20-30 people. However, these low-income urbanite horticultural communities are not cherished by city governance, which does not prevent their destruction. This incompatibility between urban governance and grassroots communities hinders the right to the city for the low-income urbanites who created them.

John Wilkinson · Bristol University Press eBooks · Global

This book argues that the wave of agri-food innovations under review takes urban life, rather than rural production, as its point of departure, motivated by urban sensibilities like health, climate, and animal wellbeing, and existing urban food consumption practices. The two main innovations analyzed—climate-controlled agriculture and alternative proteins—can be integrated into the urban environment, radically reducing the agricultural footprint and environmental pressure. Combined with deindustrialization and energy transition, new food perspectives question the historical urbanization-agriculture relation, identifying varied food provision forms, often involving significant urban food production. A radical city-country separation occurred only in the early 20th century due to public hygiene, transport innovations, and the end of horse transport. Deindustrialization in the North and urban poverty in the South see urban agriculture reintroduced as a food security strategy. Urban designers envision food reintegration into the city, compatible with the innovations analyzed.

Belinda Li, Tammara Soma, Raghava Payment, Srishti Kumar, Nicole Anderson, Flora Xu, Phonpoom Piensatienkul · Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation · Canada

This study reviewed and categorized 73 food asset maps in Canada based on their included food assets and design characteristics. Most maps included built environment assets like grocery stores and food banks, as well as agriculture-based natural food assets such as farms, community gardens, and orchards. However, representations of Indigenous-focused food assets and non-agriculture-based natural food assets like forests, water bodies, and foraging areas were generally lacking. This lack of Indigenous perspectives reinforces the values of a settler-colonial food system within food asset maps.

Huq, Efadul · Smith ScholarWorks (Smith College) · Bangladesh (Dhaka)

Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh, indicates that ecological infrastructure often erases existing informal agricultural practices, leading to the displacement of marginalized urban dwellers. Based on engaged research with a collective of urban farmers facing eviction, this paper argues that green informalities are crucial for understanding grassroots practices and can be appreciated as socially just ecological infrastructure.

B.J.M. van Vliet, Kamonashish Haldar, Matthijs T. Wessels, Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, Gert Jan Veldwisch · Water International · Global

This study examined the governance of irrigated urban agriculture in Arusha, Tanzania, and Khulna, Bangladesh, from a service regime perspective. Findings showed how service regimes bridge the gap between formal governance institutions and practices around irrigated urban agriculture. It is concluded that acknowledging, facilitating, and aligning these regimes can strengthen governance arrangements.

Jean de Dieu Minengu, Aiko Ikonso Mwengi, Romain Kawanga, Simon Mwengi, Oscar Mangunda Yama · Revue Africaine d’Environnement et d’Agriculture · Africa

Market gardening in Kinshasa's urban and peri-urban areas faces multiple constraints, including land insecurity, low natural soil fertility, the incidence of diseases and pests, weak technical support, climate hazards, poor input supply, and problematic marketing systems. These constraints limit yields in production sites and hinder the development of market gardening activities.

Finn Bell · Critical and Radical Social Work · United States (Ypsilanti)

This qualitative study explored how marginalized agrarian traditions can aid communities in surviving climate change, conducting in-depth interviews with 23 marginalized food growers and community leaders in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The study found that while growing food builds resilience to food insecurity and climate change, it is difficult due to land injustice. Policy implications include the need for housing justice, proactive planning for climate refuges, and reparations for land rematriation.

Delf Rothe · Political Geography · United States (New York City)

This paper critically examines the concept of "green resilience" through a case study of various green resilience projects in New York City, including survivor trees, memorial groves, and community gardens. The study argues that these spaces function as key forms of state rule and biopolitical power, identifying three tensions or contradictions of green resilience as a form of biopolitical government: visibility and invisibility, knowledge and ignorance, and control and emergence.

Elin Montelius · Journal of Risk Research · Sweden

This paper analyzes the utopia of self-sufficiency as a response to risk and uncertainty, particularly focusing on the growing interest in gardening and cultivating vegetables in Sweden. Using intersectional risk theory, it examines how narratives of self-sufficiency function to address ecological risk and uncertainty, and how utopian narratives can contribute to undoing risk.

Godwin K. Naazie, Isaac Agyemang, Anthony Mwinilanaa Tampah-Naah · Discover Environment · Ghana

This study investigated climate change adaptation strategies among 191 urban crop and livestock farming households and 13 key informants in Ghana using mixed methods. Findings revealed a significant link between farmers' educational status, gender, and climate adaptation information sources. Strategies include cultivating improved crop varieties, rearing exotic animal breeds, and treating animals with vaccinations and chemicals, but access to agricultural extension services remains a primary challenge.