Research & reports

Pay Drechsel, Keraita, Bernard N. · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Global

A CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) perspective piece on food and water challenges at the urban-rural interface amid global urbanization. It states that in low-income countries, investments in waste management and sanitation are not keeping pace with population growth, so the urban "return flow" of waste is not adequately managed. Where polluted water is used for irrigation to feed cities, food safety becomes a crucial component of food security. The piece explicitly states that urban and peri-urban farming systems — often run by the informal sector — are the systems most affected by this resource competition and pollution. It describes CGIAR's Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) research program as working at the interface of agriculture and sanitation to address these urbanization-related challenges and opportunities.

Michelle L. Kaiser, Michele L. Williams, Nicholas T. Basta, Michelle D. Hand, Sarah Huber · Journal of Food Protection · 米国・オハイオ

Focus groups (n=67) in four low-income Ohio neighbourhoods plus soil tests at six sites. Residents wanted gardens for fresh produce but worried about soil. Lead, zinc, cadmium and copper were present (paint likely main source); arsenic/chromium and PAHs were low. Further management to cut Pb/Cd bioavailability is needed before food crops; longer-established gardens showed lower contaminant signals. Critical evidence that vacant-lot gardening requires soil risk assessment.

Emmanuel Okello, Emmanuel Emmanuel, Amonya, Collins, Okwee Acai, James, Erume, K.S. Joseph, Gejihu De, Henri · International Journal of Livestock Production · Uganda

This study assessed the performance, factors affecting productivity, and challenges of intensive pig farming in peri-urban Kampala, Uganda, using data from 332 purposively selected sows and 521 grower pigs. Information on management practices, challenges, and prospects was gathered through farmer questionnaires, key informant interviews, and stakeholder focus group discussions. Most farms showed a good overall level of management, but breeding practices were uniformly erratic across all farms, with different breeds crossed indiscriminately, and both reproduction and performance parameters were suboptimal. Breed had a significant effect on growth performance (p < 0.001) and litter size (p < 0.005), while feeding had significant effects on litter size (p < 0.001), number weaned (p < 0.01), weight-to-age ratio (p < 0.05), and weaning-to-service interval (p < 0.05). The major constraints identified were high feed costs, disease, and competition for land with expanding residential estates, and performance indices varied greatly between farms, indicating substantial room for improvement; the study recommends improved housing, breeding practices, feeding, and biosecurity measures.

Julie A. Jacob · JAMA · Global

A JAMA Medical News and Perspectives piece introducing public health initiatives that aim to mitigate community violence by creating safe shared spaces where residents can take part in physical fitness activities and urban gardening.

Daniel Andrés Vega Castro, Ángela Patricia Salamanca Rivera · Luna Azul · Colombia (Bogotá)

A study measured lead content in common chard (Beta vulgaris L., acelga) grown in an urban garden within 500 meters of two major roads in Bogotá, Colombia (at coordinates 4°42'39.6"N, 74°5'46.6"W). Before planting, lead content in the cultivated soil and irrigation water was analyzed as a preliminary diagnosis of possible contamination sources. Cultivation was done by hand, with no fertilizer or pest-control products applied to avoid bias. At harvest, 10% of the total planted population was randomly sampled and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry following AOAC official method 968.08, yielding 0 ppm lead. Based on this result, the authors conclude that urban agricultural production can be an option that supports food security, not only through macro- and micronutrient intake but also through food quality and safety, since no lead was detected in the plant tissue.

Khoury C.K., Bjorkman A.D., Dempewolf H., Ramirez-Villegas J., Guarino L., Struik P.C. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) · Global

Shows national diets grew about 36% more similar over five decades, increasingly reliant on a few major crops, with implications for food security, nutrition, and the value of conserving crop diversity.

Kettle P. · Irish Journal of Sociology · Ireland (Dublin)

This sociological study examines why Dublin residents invest in allotment gardening, finding a significant demographic shift away from traditional older male participants toward younger, middle-class, and female growers. It contextualises Dublin's growing allotment movement within broader urban agriculture trends.

Padgham J., Jabbour J. · United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) · Senegal (Dakar)

This UNEP report presents findings from a 2012 knowledge assessment of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Dakar, identifying key sustainability threats including urban encroachment, degraded water and soil quality, fragmented policy, and farmers' limited credit access.

Chloe Puett, Cécile Salpéteur, Elisabeth Lacroix, Simbarashe Dennis Zimunya, Anne-Dominique Israël, Myriam Aït-Aïssa · Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation · Zimbabwe (Chipinge)

A 2014 societal-perspective cost-effectiveness analysis of a low-input community vegetable garden (LIG) programme for households affected by HIV in five wards of Chipinge District, eastern Zimbabwe. Activity-based costing drew on accounting data, 15 focus groups with participants and 5 with comparators, and 33 key-informant interviews; effects were measured with the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Food Consumption Score (FCS) for 1,330 participant and 1,330 comparator households. Total societal cost was €1,525 per beneficiary household (€1,415 incremental), giving €12,456 per household reaching the top HDDS tertile and €8,299 per household reaching an acceptable FCS (>35) — 20–30 times Zimbabwe's GDP per capita. The authors conclude the gardens are neither cost-effective nor affordable relative to other interventions. Stated limitations include no baseline data, self-selection among participants, recall bias (data collected more than a year after the programme) and an inability to measure full garden yields. Note that the setting is a rural district, not a city, so the figures cannot be transferred directly to urban gardens.

Art McCabe · International journal of child health and human development · Global

This paper discusses how reclaiming abandoned properties and vacant lots in inner-city areas and converting them into community gardens or pocket parks can address urban health challenges and youth crime. It suggests that these conversions can reduce health disparities, eliminate blight, stabilize neighborhoods, and foster community engagement. The paper highlights that community gardens can serve as a cost-effective, multi-purpose urban asset, meeting the demand for such spaces, especially among immigrant populations.

Nimoh Fred, Ohene-Yankyera Kwasi, Poku Kofi, Konradsen Flemming, Claude-François Robert · Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics · Ghana

A study in Ghana's Shai-Osudoku district investigated farmers' attitudes toward excreta reuse for peri-urban agriculture, surveying 400 randomly selected respondents. A majority of respondents disagreed that excreta are waste and were willing to use them as fertilizer. However, a majority also agreed that excreta can pose health risks, and perceptions on reuse differed among households.

Aminata Koné, Kouamé M. Adou · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Congo (Kinshasa)

This article details a methodology developed in 2014 to assess the association between heavy metal contamination in market-sold vegetables and consumer biomarker exposure in Kinshasa, Congo. The cross-sectional design includes stratified random sampling of vendors, laboratory analysis of leafy vegetables for lead, cadmium, and mercury, recruitment of regular consumers for interviews and blood/urine sample collection, and statistical analysis using multiple regression. The described protocol was successfully piloted, demonstrating feasibility with a high participant recruitment rate.

Long Cheng-zh · Guangdong nongye kexue · Global

This article, based on comprehensive literature research, proposes a framework for an urban agriculture strategic development plan. The framework is rooted in customer value theory, focusing on modern industry competition and strategic theory. It suggests that the strategic approach for urban agriculture should fully activate the entrepreneurial spirit of market participants while maintaining its quasi-public product attributes.

Muhammad Zaman, Faqir Muhammad Anjum, Ali Asghar, Muhammad Sajid · · Pakistan

This study estimated organophosphate pesticide exposure from okra and brinjal consumption in urban populations of Punjab, Pakistan. 90 samples each of okra and brinjal were collected from peri-urban areas of Faisalabad, Multan, and Gujranwala and analyzed for chlorpyrifos, profenophos, and triazophos residues. Findings showed that 85 (47.22%) of the 180 samples were contaminated, and 15 (8.33%) samples had residue values higher than Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs).

Bethaney Turner · M/C Journal · Global

This paper examines the role of taste in relation to food produced in backyard or community gardens. As outlined by Bourdieu, taste is constructed by factors primarily driven by economic position and cultural influences, with the rise of international agribusiness significantly impacting the social shaping of tastes. Food is primarily conceptualized as an economic and symbolic good controlled by humans, and literature on food provisioning choices in food sociology and human geography tends to focus on understanding food purchasing decisions and eating habits.

Aoife McCormack · eSource (Dublin Business School) · Ireland (Dublin)

This qualitative study used in-depth interviews with professionals to identify key success factors and potential obstacles for organic gardening projects in primary schools. Findings highlighted the benefits of school gardens, including their observable impact on children's social, food, and environmental development, and their integration with the curriculum. The study also indicated that funding and resource limitations are areas requiring further research to improve the efficacy of such initiatives.

Jenny Lee · · Global

This paper traces the history of kitchen gardens and their relationship to urban food provisioning, examining how domestic fruit and vegetable production was influenced by commercial production, new distribution methods, and kitchen technology. It discusses how, around 1900, kitchen gardens were viewed as solutions for food scarcity and urban moral hazards, and how gardening evolved from a necessity to a pastime. The paper also notes a recent revival of interest in home food production, highlighting its renewed moral significance in response to the modern food system.

Pay Drechsel, Andrew Adam‐Bradford, Liqa Raschid-Sally, Drechsel, Pay, Adam-Bradford, A., Raschid-Sally, Liqa · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Ghana

This chapter introduces urbanization in West Africa, particularly Ghana, the general role of urban agriculture, and the common use of polluted irrigation water. It focuses on irrigated smallholder vegetable production, reflecting on the key challenges, dynamics, and resilience of this farming system.

Gideon Aghaindum Ajeagah, Yaka Diane Armelle Moussima · Journal of Ecology and the Natural Environment · Cameroon

A study in an urban stream in Yaoundé, Cameroon, characterized Balantidium coli cysts and evaluated environmental factors influencing their dispersal. Round (825 ± 610 cysts/L) and oval (246 ± 300 cysts/L) cysts were found. High abundances of cysts were observed in stations along a piggery effluent near a major market, with higher densities recorded during the short rainy season. The lowest cyst densities were found upstream and downstream.

Dilip Ghosh, Debasis Bagchi, Tetsuya Konishi · · Global

This study highlights the importance of local food movements and urban agriculture, citing Havana, Cuba, as an example of self-reliance achieved through food growing in urban spaces. In 1999, allotment gardens in London produced 232,000 tons of fruits and vegetables, supplying 18% of the population's daily intake. Urban food growing spaces encompass diverse typologies, varying in their production potential and health contributions.

Maurizio Bergamaschi, Marco Castrignanò, Alessandra Landi · Journal of Nutritional Ecology and Food Research · Global

This paper examines community vegetable gardens and Transition Towns initiatives. It finds that these experiences contribute to sustainable urban development, improve environmental health and quality of life, reshape urban image and morphology, and enhance cities as forms of social cohesion.

Leia Minaker, Kim D. Raine, Pat Fisher, Mary E. Thompson, Josh van Loon, Lawrence D. Frank · Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · Global

This study examined associations between local food purchasing and diet-related outcomes using surveys from a population-based sample of 2228 households (4902 individuals). Multilevel linear regressions showed that higher frequency of shopping at farmers’ markets and CSAs predicted lower body mass index and waist circumference. Additionally, CSA use predicted better diet quality, after controlling for demographic factors.

Thomas DeVere Wolsey, Diane Lapp · Journal of Education · Global

This article proposes a pedagogical framework for school gardens, highlighting their role in promoting healthier eating habits, sustainable local practices, and community service. It suggests that school gardens can integrate knowledge of cultures, resources, and sustainable food sources, potentially leading to increased care for the community and the planet. The article also notes that school gardens can provide opportunities for students to contribute to the availability of fresh, healthy foods in socioeconomically challenged areas.

Isabelle Anguelovski · The MIT Press eBooks · Global

In Dudley, Casc Antic, and CayoHueso, residents feel strongly attached to their places of living and working, and to the relationships they have built. This attachment has motivated engagement in environmental revitalization initiatives, where activists repair community spaces, build parks, and develop urban farms to address trauma and fear of erasure. These environmental projects contribute to healing the community, achieving environmental recovery, and creating a sense of rootedness and home.

Michael Christie · · Australia

This study describes a government consultancy into the feasibility of a remote Aboriginal community garden in Galiwin'ku, Arnhem Land, Australia. Researchers collaborated with Yolgu knowledge-authorities to develop a "transdisciplinary research methodology" that integrates academic and Aboriginal knowledge practices. The project aimed to establish a garden with a non-Indigenous gardener to address high unemployment and food prices, but faced challenges in communicating with the government without compromising Yolgu methodologies.