Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
1177 results(35 / 48)
Modern Capitalism and Food Commoditization: The Limitations of Industrial Agriculture and the Challenges of Sustainable Alternatives
2015Gerardo Patron-Cano · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver) · Global
This thesis argues that agriculture should be divorced from capitalist economic principles, pointing out that industrialized growing methods have been economically, socially, and environmentally unsustainable. For sustainable and equitable agriculture, food systems need to be de-commodified, with policies empowering local community control and subsidizing localized production-consumption cycles. Urban farming and food hub initiatives are discussed as primary solutions to address challenges limiting local food systems from replacing the dominant industrial agricultural paradigm.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyCommunityStudies on the Development of Family Farms Under the Background of Urban Agriculture
2015Wang Hai-ya · · Global
Under the background of urban agriculture, family farms have broad development prospects and are categorized into three development modes: professional production type, multi-functional integrated type, and ecological protection type. This study proposed countermeasures for key issues such as land, capital, talent, products, and social services, including formulating family farm development plans, accelerating land approval, promoting land circulation, encouraging company registration, strengthening government funding support, and introducing social capital.
EconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageEnergy studies on high yield container farming systems
2015Pei Xin Koh · DR-NTU (Nanyang Technological University) · Singapore
This study aimed to verify the viability of vertical farming systems with LED supplementary light compared to conventional hydroponic farming systems, focusing on energy consumption, cost, plant growth quality, and yield. Experiments with Butterhead lettuce showed that LED lights contributed 90.12% of the total energy consumption in the vertical farming setup. The commercial viability and realistic cost levels of vertical farming have not been established, and a detailed cost-benefit and energy-benefit analysis is yet to be made.
Economic viabilityDigital agricultureEconomicsClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceEstablishing and researching school gardens in Oman as a resource for improving education and health outcomes
2015Abdullah Ambusaidi, Rashid Al‐Yahyai, Neil Taylor · Econstor (Econstor) · Oman
A school gardening project in Oman, funded by the Oman Research Council, aims to improve educational outcomes in the short term and dietary outcomes in the longer term, addressing the country's rising lifestyle diseases. The article reports on the project's rationale, conceptualization, and design, noting its potential for expansion to more schools and long-term economic benefits through local food production.
Food educationHealthEconomicsCommunityEpitomizing the Socioeconomic Impacts of Urban Agriculture in Bamenda
2015Bongajum Simplice Ngoran, Suinyuy Derrick Ngoran · Journals & Books Hosting (International Knowledge Sharing Platform) · Cameroon (Bamenda)
This article examines the socioeconomic implications of urban agriculture in Bamenda, Cameroon. It found that urban agriculture has improved living conditions, providing employment to about 11% of the working population and reducing food expenses for civil servants. However, urban agriculture in Bamenda lags behind other cities due to rudimentary tools, suggesting a need for advanced technology and improved seedlings.
EconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceHealthFood educationCommunityDairy cattle, livelihoods and resilience in Gaza Strip: a case study
2015Cristiano Rossignoli, Francesco Paolo Di Iacovo, Roberta Moruzzo, Paola Scarpellini · CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (University of Pisa) · Gaza Strip
In the Gaza Strip, protracted conflict and economic crisis have led to high food insecurity, with rapid urban population growth and land scarcity accelerating urban agriculture. This study investigated the dairy cattle sector through international cooperation projects, examining breeding methods, main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and constraints. It also analyzed the livelihoods, resilience, and sustainability of dairy cattle keepers.
Urban–rural linkageWelfareEconomicsMultifunctional Peri-Urban Agriculture and Local Food Access in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: A Review
2015Shreema Rana · Journal of Natural Resources and Development · Nepal
This paper reviews existing literature on urban food supply chains and food security benefits of peri-urban agriculture in developing regions, focusing on the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It highlights the significance of peri-urban areas for a sustainable food chain and points out existing but unrecognized features of peri-urban agriculture at local and policy-making levels. The review identifies gaps in local preferences and policy acknowledgment, suggesting further research is needed for sustainable peri-urban agriculture approaches.
Peri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsPrograma de desarrollo para una agricultura sostenible en áreas urbana y peri-urbana de la ciudad de Machala.
2015Delgado Pontón, Daniela María · · Ecuador (Machala)
This work aims to provide guidelines for implementing a municipal urban and peri-urban agriculture program in Machala, Ecuador, to improve environmental quality and food security for the population. The proposed program's guidelines are presented, supported by arguments for its importance in combating hunger, enhancing food and nutritional security, reducing urban habitat deterioration, and generating employment for participating families.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunityО перспективах применения растительной земли на основе компостов из древесно-растительных остатков в городском озеленении
2015А А Золотаревский, И И Прокопович · Лесной вестник / Forestry bulletin · Russia (Moscow)
This article explores the potential of composts made from woody-plant waste (WPW) as an alternative to expensive organic additives for urban gardening in Moscow. It suggests that composting WPW can provide a cost-effective solution for preparing fertile soil, which is crucial for plant survival in urban environments. Modern composting technologies allow for the mechanization of WPW composting, producing vegetable earth suitable for planting trees.
CompostOrganic cyclePolicyEconomicsPlant This Movie
2015Sara Parme · Educational Media Reviews Online · Global
The documentary film "Plant This Movie" (2014, 83 min) explores our relationship with food and the wasted space and resource of the 21st-century lawn. This film, one of many similar documentaries on urban farming, proposes learning from and improving upon past mistakes of the Green Movement. It notes that many agricultural nonprofits, including one highlighted, fail due to lack of funding, and while it suggests sustainability efforts should be run like a business, only a fraction of the film is dedicated to this aspect.
Economic viabilityCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceHealthA methodology for the sustainability assessment of agri-food systems: an application to the Slow Food Presidia project
2014Peano C., Migliorini P., Sottile F. · Ecology and Society · Global
Develops an indicator-based sustainability assessment tool translating Slow Food's 'good, clean, fair' principles into criteria spanning economic, ecological, social, cultural, and quality dimensions, applied to the Slow Food Presidia project.
Heirloom & landracePolicyEconomicsBiodiversityUrban agriculture of the future: an overview of sustainability aspects of food production in and on buildings
2014Specht K., Siebert R., Hartmann I., Freisinger U. B., Sawicka M., Werner A., Thomaier S., Henckel D., Walk H., Dierich A. · Agriculture and Human Values 31(1):33-51 · Global
Reviews sustainability of building-integrated farming (ZFarming) such as rooftop greenhouses and indoor farms, assessing economic, environmental, and social benefits and limits of its commercial development.
EconomicsCommunityMotivations for Investing in Allotment Gardening in Dublin: A Sociological Analysis
2014Kettle 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.
CommunityHealthEconomicsBuilding Urban Resilience: Assessing Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Dakar
2014Padgham 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.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityHealthUrban agriculture: a global analysis of the space constraint to meet urban vegetable demand
2014Martellozzo F., Landry J., Plouffe D., Seufert V., Rowhani P., Ramankutty N. · Environmental Research Letters · Global
A global analysis estimating that meeting urban dwellers' vegetable demand from within cities would require roughly one-third of total global urban area, demonstrating that space constraints make full urban self-provisioning unrealistic in many countries.
PolicyEconomicsStrawberry fields forever? Urban agriculture in developed countries: a review
2014Mok H., Williamson V., Grove J., Burry K., Barker S., Hamilton A. · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · Global
This review of urban agriculture across the developed world acknowledges its role in food security and social well-being but stresses that it carries significant costs, input requirements, and constraints, underlining major hindrances to cities feeding themselves this way.
EconomicsPolicyGive peas a chance? Urban agriculture in developing countries. A review
2014Hamilton A., Burry K., Mok H., Barker S., Grove J., Williamson V. · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · Global
This global review of urban agriculture in developing countries catalogs its benefits alongside the costs and hindrances of the practice, underscoring the resource constraints and operational obstacles that temper its promise as a food-security solution.
EconomicsPolicyCost-effectiveness of community vegetable gardens for people living with HIV in Zimbabwe
2014Chloe 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.
EconomicsHealthWelfareSustainable Food Systems for Future Cities: The Potential of Urban Agriculture*
2014Kubi Ackerman, Michael Conard, Patricia J. Culligan · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Global
This multi-year study by the Urban Design Laboratory at the Earth Institute assessed urban agriculture in New York City (NYC). It presented metrics on potential growing capacity, surveyed NYC urban farmers on production challenges, and monitored a commercial rooftop farm in Brooklyn. The study aimed to provide insight into urban agriculture's role in creating sustainable food systems for NYC and other cities.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsCommunityFood educationCritical geography of urban agriculture
2014Chiara Tornaghi · Progress in Human Geography · Global
This paper defines the scope and an initial agenda for a critical geography of urban agriculture, noting that despite growing interest across disciplines, it remains a marginal field in human geography. Beyond rhetoric, urban agriculture raises questions for critical geographers, particularly regarding its role in reshaping urban landscapes and experimenting with alternatives to capitalist urban organization. The paper highlights that urban agriculture is sometimes establishing embryonic forms of recreating the Commons.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceApplications Potential of Structural Path Analysis in Urban Agriculture: A Literature Review
2014Harry Kasumba, Tabukeli Musigi Ruhiiga · Journal of Human Ecology · Global
This literature review explored the potential of Structural Path Analysis (SPA) for investigating urban agriculture. The review found that urban agriculture has not yet attracted scholarship using the SPA technique. It also identified that smaller geographical areas often lack applicable databases for SPA, and a critical requirement for SPA is a developed system of continuous record-keeping by participants, which is often absent.
Methodological critiqueEconomicsPolicyResearch on development strategy of urban agriculture based on customer value
2014Long 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.
EconomicsPolicyHealthCommunityClimate changeGovernance of agriculture in the cities of developing countries: Local leaders perspectives
2014Suleiman Mkwela Hawa · Journal of Geography and Regional Planning · Tanzania (Dar Es Salaam)
This study assessed the governance of urban agriculture (UA) in Kinondoni Municipality, Dar Es Salaam City, Tanzania, through the perceptions of 24 local leaders. Unstructured interviews focused on leadership quality, infrastructure provision, and farmers' land rights. The leaders generally perceived limited efforts and plans to support UA in the municipality based on these criteria.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsPeri-urban Camel (Camelus dromendarius) Production System in Saudi Arabia: A note
2014Izeldin A. Babiker · Journal of animal research · Saudi Arabia
This study aims to characterize the diversity of camel production systems in Saudi Arabia, with a focus on peri-urban camel production. Socio-economic changes post-petroleum era led Bedouins to settle in urban areas, increasing demand for camel milk from an urbanized population. This stimulated the development of peri-urban camel dairy production, which the study seeks to describe in terms of production orientation, resource endowments, and strategies.
Peri-urban agricultureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceGrupe solidarne razmjene. Počeci ekonomije solidarnosti u Hrvatskoj/ Community supported agriculture. The beginnings of solidarity economy in Croatia
2014Olga Orlić · Etnološka tribina · Croatia
This paper presents research results on solidarity exchange groups in Zagreb County, Croatia. These groups are described as an alternative form of direct food procurement, primarily organic, from producers. They promote ecological food production, foster equal partnerships between buyers and producers, and build solidarity and trust among people.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityFood sovereignty & justice