Research & reports

Maha Kandil, Ahmed El-Masry, Amira Fathy · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Egypt (Cairo)

This study examines the impact of school gardens on urban youth nutrition knowledge in Cairo, focusing on students aged 14-18. It will conduct a literature review to identify relevant theoretical constructs and employ a qualitative approach to explore school garden impacts. The theoretical framework suggests schools can act as hubs for nutrition education through garden-based learning, potentially leading to healthier dietary habits.

Ian Michael Mearns · University of Washington Tacoma Digital Commons (University of Washington Tacoma) · Global

This paper proposes urban agriculture as a community system, similar to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), to provide homeless citizens with access to food, housing, vocational opportunities, and social resources. It suggests that urban agriculture can address the lack of employment, nutritional food sources, and housing resources that have contributed to increased homelessness over the past decade.

Jessica Isler · Educational Media Reviews Online · Global

The 2011 film "A Community of Gardeners" explores the impact of community garden projects in various urban settings. It highlights that community gardens fulfill important needs for individuals and communities by providing access to fresh food, increasing self-sufficiency, improving urban aesthetics, and strengthening communities through connections across diverse socio-economic groups. The film also presents the historical origins and different incarnations of community gardens.

Kasanga Makawa, Ndaye Nshuti, Mashiwama Nyamwe, Chilufya Mwakumbwa · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Tanzania

A qualitative study in Zimbabwean slums in Tanzania, involving semi-structured interviews with 20 participants from four communities over six months, explored the impact of community gardening. Participants reported significant improvements in mental health scores, noting an enhanced sense of purpose and social connection. Community garden programs appear to be a promising low-cost intervention for improving mental health resilience among urban slum dwellers.

Djola Diop, Wally Ndiaye, Cheick Mbaye · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Senegal (Dakar)

Urban food security is a critical issue in Dakar's housing projects, where limited access to fresh produce exacerbates poverty and malnutrition. This action research study conducted qualitative interviews with 50 participants from four housing projects in Dakar to understand their gardening practices and perceptions of food security. Residents reported a significant 34% increase in fresh produce consumption due to community gardens, leading to improved health outcomes. Community gardens have successfully contributed to urban food security by fostering local nutrition and improving residents' well-being.

Sandra Lorena Herrera Giraldo, Adriana Panader Torres, Luz Mery Cárdenas Cárdenas, Nancy Aurora Agudelo Cely · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Colombia (Bogotá)

In Tunja, Colombia, an intervention strategy to increase vegetable availability in a community was implemented through a qualitative study applying five principles of community-based research. The strategy included educational and urban agriculture components, involving seven participatory educational sessions and the implementation of eight home gardens and one community garden. The intervention increased vegetable availability, empowered the community, created social networks, and highlighted the role of nursing professionals in leading community actions for healthy lifestyles. The consumption of five portions of fruit/vegetables daily was insufficient in Tunja's 15-44 age group.

Sandra Lorena Herrera Giraldo, Adriana Panader Torres, Luz Mery Cárdenas Cárdenas, Nancy Aurora Agudelo Cely · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Colombia

A qualitative study in Tunja, Colombia, designed, implemented, and evaluated an intervention strategy to increase vegetable availability in a community. Applying five principles of community-based research, the strategy included educational and urban agriculture components. Seven participatory educational sessions were conducted, and eight home gardens and one community garden were implemented. The intervention strategy successfully increased vegetable availability, fostered community empowerment, built social networks, and highlighted the role of nursing professionals in community actions.

Mat Jones, Emma Weitkamp, Richard Kimberlee, Debra Salmon, Judy Orme · Children Youth and Environments · Global

This mixed-methods study analyzed the development of school garden initiatives by tracking the progress of 55 primary schools participating in the "Food for Life Partnership" program. Findings showed considerable expansion of food growing facilities, outputs, and supporting infrastructure. Participating students, parents, and community volunteers created new links to food-related activities in the dining hall, classroom, and home environment. The effectiveness of these changes was connected to the strategic redevelopment of growing spaces and conceptually integrated messages on food sustainability.

WU Yi · · Marshall Islands

This record describes a horticulture project by the Taiwan Technical Mission promoting school gardens. It is situated in the Marshall Islands, a country heavily reliant on imports, where food security and self-sufficiency are essential to agricultural development. Additionally, a significant number of Marshallese citizens suffer from nutritional deficiencies and chronic diseases.

Y. Niang, S. Niang, Saliou Niassy, Y Dieng, Mohamed Gaye, K. Diarra · International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences · Senegal

This study assessed the effect of wastewater on the agronomical performance and hygienic quality of tomato and lettuce in Senegal, comparing it to tap water, irrigation modes, and fertilizers. While tomato showed no pathogenic germs with wastewater, lettuce watered with wastewater via aspersion contained significantly more pathogenic germs than those watered in draining mode. Significant differences in yield and fruit size were observed between lettuce treated with tap water and wastewater.

Fritz Hammerling Navas Navarro, Luz Mila Peña Torres · Revista de Investigación Agraria y Ambiental · Global

Urban Vertical Garden Modules (MHUV) are introduced as a hybrid of vertical gardens and urban agriculture. This study presents a "culinary and medicinal module" that can be placed in kitchens, rooftops, or patios, proposing the cultivation of species like thyme, mint, and parsley. The module consists of three recyclable plastic baskets, each with four rows and a capacity for fourteen seedlings, supported vertically by a recycled wooden structure.

&NA; · Nurse Educator · Global

This paper describes the development and integration of a multidisciplinary community garden as a service project for a baccalaureate nursing cohort at an urban university. It discusses the application of professional ethics, service, nutritional theory, and community health nursing competencies within this project.

Owen Metcalfe, Claire Higgins, T. Lavin · Oxford University Press eBooks · Ireland

This chapter considers the development of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on the island of Ireland over a 10-year period. While not a statutory requirement, HIA has received some support from national and local government as a decision-support tool to enhance healthy public policy. New public health frameworks in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 2012 have the potential to embed HIA more systematically. The Institute of Public Health in Ireland has played a key role in building capacity for HIA and supporting its practice, with a case study examining how HIA was used to add a health and health inequalities lens to a cross-border community garden development program.

Iwona Makuch · Soil Science Annual · Global

This study investigated the influence of intensive horticulture on lead content and its fractions in soil profiles from house gardens, allotment gardens, and arable fields. It was not determined that the manner of usage had any influence on total lead content or its distribution in soil profiles. However, the usage manner did influence the content and distribution of lead fraction III, which is connected with organic matter, with humus horizons of garden soils showing the highest content.

Mirelys Rodríguez Alfaro, Olegário Muñiz Ugarte, Bernardo Calero Martín, A. Álvarez, Francisco Martínez Rodríguez, Teudys Limeres Jiménez, Mercedes Orphee Montoya, Adriana M. de Aguilar Accioly · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba

This study evaluated the heavy metal content of Cadmium, Lead, and Nickel in organic fertilizers (composts from urban solid waste) and substrates, and their effect on vegetables grown in organoponics in Havana and Guantánamo, Cuba. Composts obtained from unsorted urban solid waste and the substrates prepared from them were found to contain heavy metals, especially Cadmium and Lead, above maximum permissible limits. It was concluded that these products should not be used for food production, as these metals translocate to the edible parts of the cultivated vegetables.

Amadou Diop, Seyni Ndiaye · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Senegal

A study replicating earlier field surveys on crop yields and nutritional benefits of urban farming in Dakar, Senegal, using standardized sampling across selected urban villages. Crop yields from the replicated plots showed an average increase of 15% over initial estimates, with significant variation between crop types such as vegetables versus grains. Nutritional analysis found that urban farming increased micronutrient content in staple foods by up to 20%, particularly in leafy greens and fruits.

Leigh Whittinghill, D. Bradley Rowe · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · Global

Urban agriculture faces limitations including competition for space, lack of formalized land use rights, and health hazards from food contamination. Green roof technology is proposed as a method to alleviate these issues, potentially reducing the use of contaminated land and water at ground level. However, for large-scale implementation, installation costs must be reduced, roof weight limitations assessed, and appropriate management practices developed.

Simon Mariwah, Jan-Olof Drangert · Waste Management & Research The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy · Ghana

A study in a peri-urban agricultural community in Ghana explored attitudes towards sanitized human excreta as fertilizer, collecting data from 154 households. It found a general negative attitude towards fresh excreta and its handling. While residents accepted excreta could be used as fertilizer, they were unwilling to use it on their own crops or consume such fertilized crops.

Bethaney Turner · Local Environment · Australia

Based on an ethnographic study of community gardeners in the Australian Capital Territory, this article argues that fostering an embodied form of sustainability, which accounts for individual embodied engagement in these collective spaces, is critical for achieving sustainable urban living outcomes. It suggests that individual embodied engagement in collective spaces like community gardens can contribute to reconnection to the socio-cultural importance of food. This process may offer pathways to developing broader engagement with the food system and a long-term commitment to sustainable living practices.

Christophe Antonio‐Nkondjio, Billy Tene‐Fossog, Cyrille Ndo, Benjamin Menze Djantio, Serge Zebaze Togouet, Parfait Awono‐Ambene, Carlo Costantini, Charles S. Wondji, Hilary Ranson · Malaria Journal · Cameroon

This study assessed the influence of urban pollution and agriculture on malaria vector distribution and insecticide susceptibility in Douala and Yaoundé, Cameroon, from October 2009 to December 2010. Researchers sampled 1,546 anopheline larval breeding sites and analyzed water parameters. Findings showed mosquitoes from cultivated urban areas exhibited the highest insecticide resistance levels, with urban agriculture, rather than pollution, suggested as the major factor driving resistance.

Louiza M. Boukharaeva, Marcel Marloie · Espaces et sociétés · Russia

In Russia, the collective management of urban gardens provides places for relaxation and food production, attracting all population categories. These gardens are considered socially compensatory, stabilizing, and therapeutic, acting as shock absorbers for social, economic, and food crises.

Rachael Jaenke, Clare E. Collins, Philip J. Morgan, David R. Lubans, Kristen L. Saunders, Janet M. Warren · Health Education & Behavior · Australia (New South Wales)

This study investigated gender differences in the impact of a school garden and nutrition curriculum on fruit and vegetable intake, willingness to taste, and taste ratings among 127 children (11-12 years, 54% boys) in regional New South Wales, Australia. A significant gender difference was found only for carrot taste rating, with girls rating it higher, but no significant gender differences were observed for fruit and vegetable consumption or willingness to taste other vegetables. While a group effect was seen for overall willingness to taste and taste ratings for several vegetables, no significant treatment-time effect was found for vegetable intake in either gender.

Patricia E. Salkin, Amy Lavine · FLASH - Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship & History (Fordham University) · Global

This article examines how existing land use plans and regulations can promote healthier and more sustainable communities through the regional foodshed movement. It discusses specific land use strategies applicable in urban and suburban settings globally, focusing on facilitating local and regional food production and distribution. These strategies include supporting smaller-scale community gardens, residential agricultural uses, and farmers markets, moving beyond traditional farmland preservation.

Lori Annis · DigitalCommons@Linfield (Linfield College) · Global

This project proposes elementary school students participate in planning, producing, preparing, and tasting school garden produce. Food preferences for familiar and novel varieties were surveyed before and after the garden program, and percentage changes were measured. Student participants are hypothesized to gain enhanced consumption habits and food preferences for produce in their diets.

L Ndiaye M, Y Dieng, S. Niang, Rak H, Mauro Tonolla, Raffaele Peduzzi · African Journal of Microbiology Research · Senegal (Dakar)

A survey in Dakar, Senegal, assessed the effect of irrigation water quality on Salmonella spp. incidence in lettuce. Microbiological analysis revealed that 35% of irrigation water was contaminated by Salmonella spp., with no significant difference between groundwater and wastewater. Lettuce from Dalifort and Grand-Yoff markets showed significantly higher contamination rates than those from Sham and Zinc markets. The study concluded that irrigation water and manure are potential sources of contamination, and lettuce may serve as a vector for pathogen transmission to consumers.