Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
8656 results(337 / 347)
The Basic Trend and Regional Effect of Agricultural Structure Adjustment in China
2003Yansui Liu · · China
China's agricultural structure adjustment from 1997 to 2000 focused on comprehensive adjustments of quality, varieties, industrial, and regional structures. While distinctive agriculture increased by 3.1% during this period, the effects of the adjustment varied significantly due to regional comparative advantages. Notably, foodstuff crop seeding areas dropped by 3.97% and foodstuff yield by 6.47% nationally, with visible drops in 22 provinces, leading to a warning that loosening vigilance on food security necessarily leads to a significant drop in China's food security.
Limited or null effectPolicyUrban–rural linkageEconomicsGrowing Food in Cities: the Implications for Land-Use Policy
2003Joe Howe · Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning · United Kingdom
This article explores the neglect of research concerning food grown within urban areas and its land-use policy implications. It details findings from a UK study on land-use policy and urban agriculture, investigating land-use officials' attitudes and knowledge of urban food production and the regulatory framework used. The article concludes that despite extensive urban agriculture practice, its urban land-use policy implications require more attention from both land-use officials and researchers than previously given.
Governance failurePolicyUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Agriculture Is the Inevitable Choice of Building an All-round
2003Yong Zhao · · China
This paper discusses the characteristics and significance of urban agriculture development in China. It analyzes urban agriculture as an effective way to increase the per-capita income of peasants, which is central to building an all-round well-off society in the countryside. The paper also explores countermeasures for developing urban agriculture.
EconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageBuilding Houses, Building Lives
2003Lorie Hammond · Mind Culture and Activity · United States (California)
This article uses a narrative format to describe situations in which Mienh immigrant families from a Southeast Asian hill tribe adapt to technological and cultural change within a California elementary school sponsoring a family literacy, school-community garden, and house building project. It argues that adjustments can be creative and empowering if schools incorporate community "funds of knowledge" into their instructional plan. Projects such as gardening and house building provide rich contexts for intercultural dialogues.
CommunityFood educationWelfareThe National Socialist Garden and Landscape Ideal: Bodenständigkeit (Rootedness in the Soil)
2002Wolschke-Bulmahn J., Gröning G. · In R. A. Etlin (ed.), Art, Culture, and Media under the Third Reich, University of Chicago Press, pp. 73–97 · Germany
Book chapter interpreting the Nazi garden and landscape ideal through the concept of 'Bodenständigkeit' (rootedness in the soil), showing how small-scale, landscape-adapted gardens using native plants and materials embodied Blood and Soil ideology.
PolicyCommunityConflicting Rights to the City in New York's Community Gardens
2002Lynn A. Staeheli, Don Mitchell, Kristina Gibson · GeoJournal · USA (New York City)
Analyzes the Giuliani administration's 1998–1999 policy of transferring community gardens to housing development and auctioning 100+ gardens, exposing how a city 'greening then privatizing' policy reversed itself and treated public gardens as disposable exchange-value assets.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsUse of untreated wastewater in peri-urban agriculture in Pakistan: risks and opportunities
2002Jeroen H. J. Ensink, Wim van der Hoek, Yutaka Matsuno, Sarfraz Munir, Muhammad Rizwan Aslam · CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) · Pakistan
The use of untreated wastewater for irrigation is widespread in Pakistan's peri-urban agriculture, driven by water scarcity and lack of treatment funds. This practice has led to an uncontrolled expansion of wastewater use. The paper emphasizes the need to document this practice to find improvement methods within the financial constraints of low-income countries.
Contamination & food safetyPeri-urban agricultureHealthEconomicsIncommensurability, Land Use, and the Right to Space: Community Gardens in New York City1
2002Karen Schmelzkopf · Urban Geography · United States (New York City)
This study examined the conflict over community gardens in New York City, arguing that it was a struggle concerning the right to space. The city, operating from an entrepreneurial governance perspective, claimed that the gardens represented a loss of exchange value and potential housing. The city used market economy rhetoric to dismiss incommensurable use values, thereby restricting rights to the city within a demonstration of power and "reason."
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceGreywater Reuse in Urban Agriculture for Poverty Alleviation
2002Naser I. Faruqui, Odeh Al-Jayyousi · Water International · Jordan
This paper describes a pilot project in Tufileh, Jordan, that allowed poor residents to reuse untreated household greywater in home gardens. Women in the community used small revolving loans to implement simple greywater recovery systems and set up gardens. The project enabled the community to offset food purchases and generate income by selling surplus production, saving or earning an average of 10% of its income. An environmental impact assessment demonstrated that the quality of the untreated greywater was adequate, and the negative impacts on soil and crops were negligible.
DIYWelfareEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceMotivating factors and barriers to sustainable consumer behaviour [1]
2002Sigrid Stagl, Sabine O’Hara · International Journal of Agricultural Resources Governance and Ecology · United States (New York City)
This study examined whether Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups are a broadly accepted or limited alternative food system, based on a household survey in two distinct socio-economic neighborhoods in upstate New York. The survey found that approximately 25% of respondents expressed interest in becoming CSA members, with similar interest levels in both wealthier and low-income areas. However, several factors preventing food demand through CSAs were identified, indicating that these barriers would need to be addressed for expansion.
Limited or null effectCSA & TeikeiEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceFood miles & supply chainIntegrating Community Into the Classroom: Community Gardening, Community Involvement, and Project-Based Learning
2002Regina Day Langhout, Julian Rappaport, Doretha Simmons · Urban Education · Global
This article discusses the tensions faced in facilitating the relationship between teachers and community members while working on a community garden project. The authors adopt an ecological model for effective classroom-community collaboration and discuss how this process unfolded in the current setting. The evaluation includes a discussion of common and disparate goals of teachers and community members and how differences are navigated in the current milieu.
CommunityFood educationParticipatory Approaches to Program Development and Engaging Youth in Research: The Case of an Inter-Generational Urban Community Gardening Program
2002Marianne E. Krasny, Rebekah Doyle · Journal of Extension · Global
This study applied participatory models to an inter-generational program aimed at having youth document ethnic gardening practices in urban community gardens. Outcomes for educators included professional development and the opportunity to expand programs to urban audiences, while youth learned about gardening, developed positive relationships with elders, and enhanced academic skills. Developing relationships with youth was an important outcome for gardeners.
CommunityFood educationElderlyWelfareA design of urban agricultural development in the protected area of Chang′an site of the Han dynasty
2002Deyi Zhou · · China
This study discusses the necessity and possibility of developing urban agriculture in the protected area of the Chang'an site of the Han dynasty. Based on the natural and socioeconomic conditions in this district and domestic and international market demand, urban agriculture items and relevant policies are proposed for this area.
PolicyEconomicsUrbanizzazione e sicurezza alimentare a Niamey Niger
2002Maurizio Tiepolo · PORTO Publications Open Repository TOrino (Politecnico di Torino) · Niger
This paper investigates whether urbanization in Niamey, Niger, generates or aggravates urban food insecurity by examining agro-pastoral production, food demand, and buying power. It found that Niamey's high rate of urban growth has increased food insecurity for its inhabitants. This insecurity is attributed to low productivity of peri-urban agriculture, insufficient food influxes, rising prices, extreme poverty, and a nutrient-poor diet, with current measures failing to address root causes like land tenure uncertainty.
Limited or null effectFood sovereignty & justicePeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkageEconomicsOn Basic Characteristics and Function Exploitation of Urban Agriculture
2002LI Ya-hong · Nongye xiandaihua yanjiu · Global
This paper describes urban agriculture as a modern agricultural industry shaped by metropolitan regions and socio-economic circumstances. Its main characteristics include a perfect market system, aggregated production patterns, industrialized management, high-tech production, and the harmonization of three agricultural benefits. Beyond commodity production, urban agriculture should also offer direct and indirect multifunctions such as ecological construction, leisure tourism, cultural education, export, and demonstration.
Urban–rural linkageEconomicsFood educationClimate changeThe Thermal Effects of Plants on Buildings
2002Nyuk Hien Wong, Vi Ling Wong, Yu Chen, Siew Eang Lee, David Cheong, Guan Tiong Lim, Chui Leng Ong, Angelia Sia · Architectural Science Review · Global
This study explored the potential of rooftop gardens to reduce heat gain into buildings and modify ambient conditions through plant photosynthesis and evapotranspiration. Results suggest that rooftop gardens can effectively cool the immediate ambient environment by 1.5°C. Surface temperature readings from rooftop gardens were lower than those on barren concrete rooftops, indicating improved thermal insulation in the presence of plants. However, high relative humidity was also observed in rooftop gardens due to plants, requiring adequate natural ventilation to prevent discomfort.
Climate changeDIYSocial Inclusion in a Midwest Local Food System Project
2002C. Clare Hinrichs, Kathy S. Kremer · Journal of Poverty · United States
This 1997 case study examined a Midwest community supported agriculture (CSA) project that aimed to increase low-income participation through financial subsidies, using a telephone survey of 41 member-households. The study found that while subsidized households had lower incomes, the overall CSA sample was more advantaged in income, occupation, and education compared to local populations. The project inadvertently served the "advantaged" poor, indicating that social inclusion efforts in local food systems may not effectively reach the most vulnerable.
Equity & displacementCSA & TeikeiCommunityWelfareEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceThe common green/common ground Performance Project: The Personal, the Political, the Gardens, and NYU
2002Cindy Rosenthal · TDR/The Drama Review · United States (New York City)
In New York City, a group of NYU students and local community activists protested and performed against landlords and the city bulldozing community gardens. Their performance piece documented the transformation of garbage-strewn lots into lush, vital community havens and cried out against their destruction. This highlights a conflict over urban garden governance.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceUsing Agriculture as the Foundation for an Extension Nutrition Education Program
2002L. Hughes · Journal of Extension · United States
Rutgers Cooperative Extension developed "From Our Farms," a nutrition and agriculture education program for children aged 3-8 in the United States. This initiative promotes improved nutrition and consumption of locally grown foods through family-based activities offered via local libraries.
CSA & TeikeiFood educationCommunityGrasscutter rearing as an urban agricultural practice in Ibadan Metropolis
2002L. A. Akinbile · African Journal of Livestock Extension · Nigeria (Ibadan)
A study in Ibadan, Nigeria, reviewed grasscutter rearing as an urban agricultural practice. It found that farmers used intensive rearing systems and sold animals for N1,000-N2,100, generating up to N5,000 annually per pair. However, the provision of credit was identified as a major limiting factor for this practice.
Economic viabilityEconomicsCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity Supported Agriculture (CSA): Building Community Among Farmers and Non-Farmers
2002Jeff Sharp, Eric Imerman, Greg Peters · Journal of Extension · United States
This qualitative study of a Midwestern Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program explored how CSA builds connections between farmers and non-farmers. The findings indicate that CSA successfully met participant goals while fostering community among these groups. The study suggests that CSA can be promoted at the rural-urban interface to strengthen community and support local agriculture.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityUrban–rural linkagePolicy issues and institutional impediments in the management of groundwater: lessons from case studies
2002Charles W. Howe · Environment and Development Economics · Global
This study noted that in inappropriate legal and administrative settings, groundwater becomes an open-access resource, leading to excessive externalities. Competition between urban and agricultural sectors for limited groundwater can lead to crises if appropriate policy instruments are not used to mediate it. For non-renewable groundwater stocks, without economic and demographic development planned according to long-term criteria, there is a risk of overly rapid exploitation, unsustainable population levels, and inappropriate infrastructure investment.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsClimate changePhilosophical, ecological and technical challenges for expanding ecological sanitation into urban areas
2002Steven A. Esray · Water Science & Technology · Global
This paper argues that ecological sanitation should be understood as a closed-loop approach to human excreta management, rather than merely an alternative toilet. With urban populations in Africa and Asia expected to double in the next 25 years, ecological sanitation can facilitate urban agriculture and avoid adverse environmental impacts of conventional treatment. This approach can significantly contribute to food security and public health in a sustainable future.
Organic cycleHealthFood sovereignty & justiceThe Impact of School Garden Programmes on Adolescent Nutrition in Ghanaian Schools Contextualized within Democratic Republic of Congo Settings
2002Mandima Bangala, Kamitombo Mbwata, Tshibangu Minko · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Ghana
This study investigated the impact of school garden programs on adolescent nutrition in Ghanaian schools using a mixed-methods approach with surveys, qualitative interviews, and linear regression analysis. A significant positive correlation was found between the number of school garden programs and improved adolescent dietary diversity. The findings suggest these programs can enhance nutritional outcomes, particularly dietary diversity, among participants.
Food educationHealthCommunityLa participation, dans quel sens? L'exemple des organisations communautaires et de l'agriculture urbaine dans les villes de Mexico et de Cuernavaca
2002Manon Boulianne · Anthropologica · Mexico
A study on community organizations and urban agriculture in Mexico City and Cuernavaca suggests that the very meaning of participation becomes an issue for community organizations engaged in popular entrepreneurship development programs. It illustrates how the structuring effects of market production activities lead to a renegotiation of the meaning attributed to participation among the individuals and groups concerned.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsPolicy