Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
370 results(4 / 15)
The Importance of Social Programming in Urban Agriculture: A Practitioner’s Experiences from Norway
2024Helene Gallis, Kimberly Weger, Adam Curtis · The Geojournal library · Norway (Oslo)
This memoir presents the experiences of urban agriculture pioneer Helene Gallis and Nabolagshager in Oslo, Norway. It argues for a systematic application of placemaking principles in urban agriculture to enhance social well-being, enabling diverse community members to participate in co-creating urban agriculture in public spaces. The projects highlight the transformative impact of using placemaking principles for more accessible, inclusive, and democratic cultivated public spaces.
CommunityWelfareMotivations for Urban Agriculture Policies: Evidence from Norway’s Largest Urban Areas
2024Inger‐Lise Saglie · The Geojournal library · Norway
This study investigated the motivations for urban agriculture policies in Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim, Norway, identifying five categories of motivations. These include urban "green" development, food production and alternative food systems, provision of social meeting places and community building, municipal welfare services (work training, integration, health promotion, knowledge sharing), and active citizenship and co-creation of city development. While motivations were similar across cities, their emphasis varied.
PolicyCommunityBiodiversityWelfareCultivating Change: Empowering Communities Among Elderly Through Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Smart Urban Farming
2024Nasreen Khan, Anusuyah Subbarao, Shereen Khan, Aysa Siddika · Journal of Human Earth and Future · Malaysia
This research investigated whether the adoption of smart urban farming (SUF) enhances the social and economic well-being (SEW) of senior citizens, involving 130 elderly participants from Klang Valley, Malaysia. Survey data was analyzed using SPSS. The study revealed that while Social Entrepreneurship alone may not be enough to encourage elderly adoption of SUF, combining it with social innovation significantly increases adoption. It also indicated that SUF adoption enhances the elderly's SEW.
ElderlyCommunityEconomicsWelfareThe community contributions of urban farms in Singapore
2024Sean Olivia Nicholas, Niki Harré · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Singapore
A review of existing literature and a case study of three urban farms in Singapore were conducted to examine their community contributions. Content analysis of 27 interviews with employees and volunteers revealed that these farms empower participants, generate social capital, provide jobs, involve marginalized groups, and promote pro-environmental behaviors. However, the farms were limited by poor job prospects and lower-than-expected yield.
Economic viabilityCommunityWelfareEconomicsClimate changeEvaluation of the nature based community recovery project - Extended 2023
2024Joanne E. Porter, Megan Simic, Elizabeth Miller, Daria Soldatenko, Luis Hualda · · Australia
This project, commissioned by the Collaborative Evaluation and Research Centre (CERC), explored how nature improved the recovery of remote and rural communities affected by bushfires in East Gippsland, Australia. Data were collected from June to September 2023 through a nature-based community recovery project survey and community interviews. Phase 1 evaluated grant-funded projects, while Phase 2 investigated how broader communities interacted with nature for healing after the 2019-2020 bushfires.
CommunityWelfareFood educationSustainable Parental Resources of Organic Urban Teaching (SPROUT): An Innovation to Upgrade 4Ps Parents’ Livelihood Sustainability
2024Lynch Jun H. Dondriano, Cathy Jane A. Susuban, Michelle C. Estreller, Saddamiya A. Mingkat · International journal of research and scientific innovation · Philippines
This action research study introduces the Sustainable Parental Resources of Organic Urban Teaching (SPROUT) innovation, aimed at upgrading the livelihood sustainability of parents participating in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in the Philippines. SPROUT supports parents in growing organic produce for personal consumption and potential income generation through sustainable agriculture practices and urban gardening techniques. This approach has the potential to enhance families' nutritional status, promote environmental stewardship, and encourage a shift towards healthier, sustainable lifestyles.
WelfareFood educationDIYEconomicsCapabilities and Beyond: Towards an Operationalization of Eudaimonic Well-Being in a Public Space Context
2024Beata Sirowy · The Geojournal library · Global
This chapter discusses and operationalizes the concept of eudaimonic well-being in cities, based on Aristotle's view of human flourishing and Martha Nussbaum's capability approach, within the context of public space. It proposes using Nussbaum's ten human capabilities and the consideration of virtues to evaluate how urban agriculture projects can sustain well-being dimensions through spatial/functional and social affordances. The research argues for a clearer distinction between eudaimonic and hedonic well-being in urban studies.
HealthCommunityWelfareGREEN INFORMALITIES AS SOCIALLY JUST ECOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Enduring with Dignity at the Edges of Resilient Development in Dhaka
2024Efadul 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.
Equity & displacementFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityWelfarePolicyEconomicsGreen Informalities as Socially Just Ecological Infrastucture: Enduring with Dignity at the Edges of Resilient Development in Dhaka
2024Huq, 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.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyWelfareKajian literatur: Pertanian perkotaan sebagai penyedia jasa ekosistem dalam tujuan pembangunan berkelanjutan
2024Assyifa Fauzia · Journal of Critical Ecology. · Global
This literature review analyzed the role of urban agriculture as an ecosystem service provider within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Urban agriculture in developing countries was found to be adopted as a solution to address poverty and improve the welfare of urban populations, applicable to all SDGs except ocean ecosystems. Urban agriculture contributes to social indicators like employment, food provision, community welfare, education, women's roles, and community forms; economic indicators such as market food reach, job status, land ownership, food subsidies, and credit access; and environmental indicators including water storage, land use, emission reduction, microclimate regulation, and biodiversity.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareEconomicsCommunityIdentifying Key Benefits and Characteristics of Community Gardening for Vulnerable Populations: A Systematic Review
2023Tracey D., Gray T., Sweeting J., Kingsley J., Bailey A., Pettitt P. · Health & Social Care in the Community (Wiley/Hindawi), 2023:5570089 · Global
The first systematic review to summarize the benefits of community gardening for vulnerable populations such as low-socioeconomic-status and culturally diverse groups. Analyzing 33 studies, it finds social connection, health, education, and nutrition to be the most frequently reported benefits, supporting social inclusion and welfare.
WelfareCommunityHealthFood educationCommunity garden developed by refugees from Syria—A sanctuary and a space for learning and empowerment
2023· Wellbeing, Space and Society · Denmark
A participatory action research project in which Syrian refugee families in Denmark jointly developed a community garden; gardening and cooking together built community, social capital, and a sense of belonging.
WelfareCommunityHealthHouseholds' participation in agri-food based livelihoods: Insights from urban and peri-urban contexts of Tanzania
2023· Cogent Economics & Finance · Tanzania
Analyzes household participation in agri-food based livelihoods across urban and peri-urban contexts of Tanzania.
EconomicsWelfareGreen gentrification and changing planning policies in Vienna?
2023· City · Austria (Vienna)
Examines how greening-oriented planning policy shifts in Vienna interact with gentrification pressures, analyzing whether municipal planning instruments mitigate or inadvertently enable green gentrification in a social-democratic housing context.
PolicyWelfareIs Urban Agriculture Sustaining the Urban Poor? A Study of Grandmother Headed Households (GHHs) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
2023Chipo Hungwe · Journal of Women & Aging · Zimbabwe (Bulawayo)
A qualitative case study based on interviews with 19 older women heading grandmother-headed households in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Urban agriculture did not reduce food insecurity or social exclusion for these participants. The barriers reported were difficulty obtaining land to cultivate, health problems associated with ageing, and the physically demanding nature of the farming work itself. The author concludes that social assistance, rather than reliance on urban agriculture as a livelihood strategy for elderly-headed households, is what these households need.
ElderlyWelfareEconomicsGardens for the People
2023Clive R. Hollin · · Global
This research shifts focus from individual gardening to collective gardening activities shared by groups of people, examining communal gardens that benefit groups such as hospital residents, school pupils, or prison inmates. These "gardens for the people" take various forms, including allotments primarily for food production, school gardens for academic and social purposes, prison gardens for prisoner well-being and rehabilitation, gardens tended by immigrant populations, and guerrilla gardening.
CommunityFood educationWelfareEnvironmental place-making by the ‘out of place’
2023Pauline Marsh, Suzanne Mallick, Dave Kendal, Renae Riviere · · Australia (Hobart)
In Hobart, Australia, a conservation program for culturally and linguistically diverse adult migrants was implemented. This study used mixed methods to examine how a structured program of plant nursery and field-based community conservation activities helped overcome participants' sense of feeling "out of place." Positive impacts were found on indirect health and wellbeing factors such as work skills, language acquisition, and social connection, and participants' self-esteem, happiness, and social connection were also cultivated.
CommunityHealthWelfareFood educationProducción urbana de alimentos: una contribución al cumplimiento de los ODS. Una experiencia desde la proyección social universitaria
2023Luis Carlos Estupiñán Aponte · Repositorio Institucional UPTC · Global
This project explores urban and peri-urban agriculture as a viable, though not comprehensive, solution to food vulnerability in urban areas, where access to food is often limited by purchasing power. It applies circular economy and agroecological principles, utilizing available resources for garden assembly, processing plant waste into fertilizers, and employing botanical and microbiological controls for phytosanitary management. The initiative emphasizes broad community participation, knowledge exchange, and the creation of social spaces to enhance food and nutrition security.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareEconomicsClimate changeOrganic cycleCash for assets during acute food insecurity: an observational study in South Sudan
2023Shannon Doocy, Emily Lyles, Robert Kenyi Morjan, Kayla Pfieffer-Mundt, Courtland Robinson, Kevin Savage · Agriculture & Food Security · South Sudan
A prospective cohort study in South Sudan (2019–2021) examined the impact of cash assistance for work in community gardens on food security among 1213 cash-receiving, 582 non-intervention, and 300 later cash-receiving households. The study found no significant differences in changes over time in household hunger, coping strategies, or meal frequency between participants and the comparison group. Cash transfers did not appear to have lasting benefits on food security and livelihoods coping strategy use.
Limited or null effectWelfareCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceDrivers of the Chemical Quality of Market Gardening Soils in the Urban and Peri-Urban Environment of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso): Impact of Fertilizers Sources and Sites Location
2023Fabèkourè Cédric Kambiré, Sheick Sangaré, Rayangnéwendé Adèle Ouédraogo, Adama Zanga Ouattara · Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment · Burkina Faso (Bobo-Dioulasso)
This study investigated the chemical quality of soils across six market gardening sites in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, considering the impact of fertilizer use and site location. Soil samples from 30 farms in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas were analyzed for carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and pH, revealing that soil chemical parameters, except for available K, were affected by site location. Urban farm soils were less acidic, and long-term organic matter application improved soil chemical quality, though soil quality tended to decrease with area expansion.
Peri-urban agricultureWelfareOrganic cycleLa trama de la agricultura urbana: trayectoria de vida de un militante local (Rosario, Argentina)
2023Licia María Lilli · kult-ur revista interdisciplinària sobre la cultura de la ciutat · Argentina (Rosario)
This study reflects on sustainable food systems through the biographical narrative of Antonio Lattuca, a key figure in urban agriculture development in Rosario, Argentina. Based on a semi-structured interview, the research focuses on his activism in establishing urban gardens and institutionalizing collective strategies within the municipal government since the 1990s, including the Urban Agriculture Program. Rosario has over 34 years of urban agroecological experiences addressing urbanization, poverty, and exclusion.
CommunityPolicyWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceA Social-Ecological Model for Inclusion Processes in Urban Agriculture of Vienna, Austria
2023Sophie Kathrin Schaffernicht, Elisabeth Quendler · Merits · Austria
This study aimed to identify systemic barriers to inclusion in horticultural working life and potential solutions for people with disabilities within urban agriculture in Vienna, Austria. A pilot project was conducted from May to October 2019, involving a university, three social institutions, two horticultural farms, and fifteen people with disabilities. The findings suggested that urban agriculture opportunities should extend beyond simple cooperation between social institutions and horticultural farms.
Equity & displacementWelfareCommunity‘We’ve Never Done This Before’
2023Jen Rae · Performance Research · Australia (Melbourne)
During the 2020-21 COVID-19 lockdowns, Fawkner Commons in Melbourne, Australia, transformed a community garden into an urban farm and a disused lawn bowling club into a food hub. This initiative, led by local residents, distributed over $116,000 worth of no-cost/low-cost culturally relevant food boxes and over 2,400 prepared meals in 2020 to the food-insecure suburb of Fawkner. This article reflects on the creative methodologies that supported Fawkner Commons' success in providing food relief when other organizations were overwhelmed.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareClimate changeNurturing soil-adarities
2023Bethaney Turner · · Global
This chapter explored human-soil relations in urban home and community gardens through ethnographic fieldwork. While biodiverse soil offers direct health benefits, the presence of contaminated, toxic soils, prevalent in lower socio-economic neighborhoods, was shown to expose inequities in access to safe gardening sites and hinder the realization of potential therapeutic benefits. It argues that the therapeutic benefits of gardens are best realized when humans cultivate attentive relationships with myriad multispecies companions.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthBiodiversityOrganic cycleWelfareThe pedagogical school garden and the educationalisation of social problems in Denmark
2023Christian Larsen · Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes · Denmark
In Denmark, school gardens were voluntarily established by the School Gardens Association and local teachers to address perceived social problems in cities during the first half of the 20th century. This initiative aimed to develop civic virtue and inner strength in urban children through garden education. The movement peaked around 1960 and has experienced a revival in recent decades.
Food educationCommunityWelfare