Research & reports

马国珍, 代晖军, 田昌明, 张友录 · 青海经济研究 · China (Xining City)

"Farm-supermarket direct docking" (农超对接) refers to the direct entry of agricultural products into supermarkets, connecting agriculture and supermarkets. This model effectively reduces circulation links and costs for agricultural products, ensuring urban supply and consumption safety and benefiting consumers. Although still in pilot stages in China, it represents a development trend for agricultural product production and marketing.

Wendy Heiger‐Bernays, Alexa Fraser, Vaughn R. Burns, Kerry Diskin, David Pierotti, K Merchant-Borna, Michael D. McClean, Daniel J. Brabander, H. Patricia Hynes · PubMed · United States

A study characterized urban community garden soils contaminated by timbers, specifically finding elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from railroad ties and arsenic from chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated lumber. Researchers determined the extent of contamination, designed a remediation plan, and assessed the safety of adding city compost as a soil amendment in Boston community gardens. Recommendations for healthful gardening practices were also provided.

Alec Thornton · Development in Practice · Fiji

This article examines the impact of Fiji's squatter-resettlement scheme on the livelihoods of 'farming squatters' engaged in urban agriculture. Interviews with key informants and squatter residents revealed contrasting attitudes and approaches, indicating that the scheme threatens these livelihoods. The article suggests a more participatory process to address the needs of 'farming squatters'.

W. Van Averbeke · Water SA · South Africa (Pretoria)

This study in five informal settlements of Atteridgeville, Pretoria, South Africa, used a pilot study, household survey, and multiple case studies to assess urban farming's contribution to food security and household income. While over half of households participated in urban farming, its contribution to total household income and food security was generally modest. Main constraints included lack of space and limited access to irrigation water.

袁新华 · 环境 · Global

Amidst the trend of sustainable development, various environmentally friendly lifestyle attempts have spontaneously emerged worldwide. Examples include neighbors sharing laundry rooms and gardens to reduce resource consumption, exchanging old refrigerators for food or pianos via radio programs, and transforming abandoned land into community gardens. People who enjoy these sharing and collaborative behaviors are called "Pīn Kè".

Pay Drechsel, Liqa Raschid-Sally, Robert Clement Abaidoo · · Ghana (Accra)

Urbanization in West Africa has led to most domestic wastewater contaminating surface water sources. In Accra, Ghana, vegetables on urban markets are highly contaminated, with about 200,000 urban dwellers consuming street food containing raw vegetables from these sources daily. This research explores on-farm risk mitigation options, finding potential to significantly reduce helminth egg counts and bacterial contamination through improved washing practices.

Vicente Araguas · Revista de libros · New Zealand

This kaupapa Māori research explored the motivations and role of Māori community gardens (māra) in health promotion in Aotearoa New Zealand, interviewing seven māra initiative leaders. Findings indicate māra development is driven by a desire to empower Māori collectives and reconnect them with ancestral lands. Māra foster community development, intergenerational connection, and the practice of Māori language and cultural heritage, contributing to social cohesion and collective efficacy.

XU Guang-zhong · Journal of Qinghai Normal University · China (Qinghai)

This analysis proposes the development of urban agriculture in Qinghai to address the ecological crisis arising from rapid urbanization. Urban agriculture, based on modern science and technology, integrates production, services, and consumption, possessing economic, ecological, and social functions. Promoting urban agriculture in Qinghai is stated to expand urban green areas and enhance the eco-city's functions.

Vikram Bhatt, Leila Marie Farah, Nik Luka, Jeanne M. Wolfe · Open House International · Canada (Montréal)

The "Edible Campus" project, launched in Montréal in spring 2007, was an action-research initiative aimed at transforming underutilized urban spaces into productive areas. It involved citizens in creating green community spaces by incorporating productive container growing on a concrete-covered part of McGill University's downtown campus. This project investigated how to enhance urban food security through increased urban food production and demonstrated how "edible landscapes" can be integrated into urban spaces.

Samireille Silvano Messias, Ednaldo Michellon, Marcos Rogério da Silva Alves dos Santos, Camila Pereira Croge, Juliano Tait Vareschini, Fernande Antunes Fernandes · REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE AGROECOLOGIA · Brazil (Maringá)

In Maringá, Paraná, the growing need for urban and peri-urban agriculture led to the establishment of the Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture Reference Center (CERAUP) by Maringá State University, in partnership with municipal governments and funded by the Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger. This project aims to enable the region's most vulnerable families to produce healthy food without pesticides and earn extra income by selling surplus produce. This initiative facilitates food re-education and capacity building for direct beneficiaries and the entire population around these urban agriculture spaces.

Karin Ahrné, Jan Bengtsson, Thomas Elmqvist · PLoS ONE · Sweden (Stockholm)

This study investigated bumble bees in allotment gardens along an urbanization gradient from inner Stockholm to rural areas. Findings showed that bumble bee diversity decreased with increasing urbanization, from approximately eight species in rural areas to five to six species in urban allotment gardens. Higher variability in the abundance of certain species in the most urban areas suggested a potentially weaker reliability of the pollination ecosystem service in areas strongly influenced by human activity.

Mattia Celio, Christopher A. Scott, Mark Giordano · Geographical Journal · India (Hyderabad)

A study in Hyderabad, India, examined urban water capture and its impacts on pre-existing claims, particularly agriculture. Urban water appropriation often leads to conflict with existing water uses. The findings indicate that the magnitude and direction of impacts from urban water transfer on agriculture vary spatially and temporally, depending on location-specific rainfall patterns, existing water infrastructure and institutions, and farmers' adaptive capacities, including recourse to groundwater.

Liang Wei · Anhui nongye kexue · China (Dingxi)

This study analyzed the advantages, disadvantages, and existing problems in the development of urban agriculture in Dingxi City, China. Strategic concepts and countermeasures were proposed to provide consultation for urban agriculture development in Dingxi City and similar regions.

Remi Adeyemo, F. Kuhlmann · Tropicultura · Nigeria

This paper evaluates the efficiency of resource use in urban food crop production in five districts of two cities in southwestern Nigeria, based on an effective sample of 120 respondents. The analysis showed that urban food crop production is profitable, with an average revenue of N51,294 per hectare and a gross margin of N23,688. However, there was disequilibrium in resource use, with planting seeds and agrochemicals used efficiently, but land and labor used inefficiently, indicating that urban food crop production has not yet attained an optimum level of resource combination.

Anna Griffiths · Eureka street · Global

This article presents the events and decision-making processes that occurred during a community apricot jam-making session. It suggests that Niccolo Machiavelli would have found the complex politics, emotions, and diverse personalities in the community garden challenging, observing alternating forms of governance such as benign dictatorship, bureaucracy, and popular democracy.

Jessica Veenstra, Daniel Dembe, Jude Nsamba, Lisa Marie Wasko, C. Lee Burras, Gail R. Nonnecke, Orum Boniface, Simon Downie, Rachael Cox · Soil Survey Horizons · Uganda

Soil surveying was conducted in the summer of 2006 and 2007 at Namasagali Primary School in Uganda, covering approximately 95 acres (38 hectares) for a school garden program. Researchers identified soils using observations and teachers' indigenous knowledge, described pedons, and measured depth, color, roots, pores, pH, electrical conductivity, texture, structure, slope, and aspect. The survey produced a map with seven polypedons, which was shared with teachers and local farmers.

James C. Anderson, Eun‐Young Kim · Journal of Agricultural Education · United States (Chicago)

This descriptive study investigated leadership development perceptions and preferences among 284 students in a comprehensive urban agriculture program at Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences. Students reported limited involvement in school or community organizations, learning leadership primarily through sports, work, and FFA. They preferred leadership activities to be organized, fun, interactive, and provide real-world application, with training occurring in school, national workshops, or international experiences.

Sébastien Gadal · RURAL DEVELOPMENT 2019 · India (Jaipur)

To evaluate the impact of urbanization on rural territories around Jaipur, urban sprawl was monitored by remote sensing from the 1990s until 2008. Using Landsat 5, Landsat 7, Spot 3, and Kompsat-2 satellite images, land cover changes and land use transformations in rural areas were analyzed. This analysis identified the territorial transformation of rural space towards becoming part of the Jaipur metropolitan area, indicating that surrounding rural areas are transitioning into geographical areas of urban agriculture.

Éric Duchemin, Fabien Wegmuller, Anne-Marie Legault · Field Actions Science Reports · Canada (Montreal)

This article discusses urban agriculture (UA) initiatives undertaken in Montreal, Canada, for over 30 years, specifically the City-managed Community Gardening Program and six collective gardens managed by community organizations. These UA initiatives have fostered vegetable production and a socialization and education environment, contributing to individual and collective social development in economically disadvantaged districts. The various approaches achieve their established objectives and serve as multi-dimensional tools for the social development of disadvantaged populations.

Roberta Sonnino · International Planning Studies · Global

This paper analyzes emerging integrated food policies in cities like New York, Rome, and London, which extend beyond traditional urban agriculture. It argues for a new research agenda on urban public food provisioning and policy-making to facilitate knowledge-building and exchange. The paper concludes that comparative studies of urban food strategies are needed to understand cities' potential for sustainable linkages with surrounding regions.

Rodrigue V.C. Diogo, Andreas Buerkert, Eva Schlecht · Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems · Niger (Niamey)

This 24-month study investigated nutrient efficiency and food safety in urban and peri-urban agriculture in Niamey, Niger. Nutrient inputs and offtakes were quantified for 10 vegetable gardens and 9 millet fields, and contamination of irrigation water and selected vegetables with fecal pathogens and heavy metals was determined. Above-threshold levels of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli were detected in lettuce irrigated with river water and fertilized with animal manure, and in lettuce irrigated with wastewater, indicating food safety concerns.

· Engineering & Technology · United Kingdom (London)

This article describes the historical landscape of the 2012 London Olympic Park site, a 321-hectare brownfield in the Lea Valley. Archaeological findings by the Museum of London indicate human presence from the Mesolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods, with evidence of dwellings, skeletons, and a Roman coin. The site hosted textile printing in the 17th century, followed by petrol factories, bone, varnish, soap, and tallow works, distilleries, engineering, and chemical plants, and was used for landfill from the late 19th century. It also had strong electronic associations, with the development of the first diode valve in 1904 and the establishment of Britain's first radio valve factory in 1916 and first television tube factory in 1936.

C. Colliot, J.M. Bertrand · HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · France

This paper discusses how peri-urban agriculture is influenced by urban sprawl, noting that common tools like SCoT and PLU are insufficient for rural extension services in this context. Based on examples from the Provence-Alpes Côtes d’Azur region and a CASDAR project, it proposes a future network to renew competencies of rural advisors. The objective is to foster fruitful relationships with city extension services.

Huang Xue-qun, Li Jin, Song JianHui · Nongye xiandaihua yanjiu · China (Tianjin)

This paper proposes development ideas and countermeasures for facility agriculture in Tianjin, China, based on the current urban agriculture situation. It outlines the scientific planning of three facility agriculture development zones and strategies to promote 4412 projects using modern technology. The goal is to achieve automation, mechanization, standardization, and branding in agricultural facilities.

Erica Rose Menkel Mintzer · · United States

This study evaluated a garden-based curriculum and school lunch program at Common Ground High School in the United States using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods. It found that Common Ground students had more food system knowledge but not more basic nutrition knowledge than comparison schools. While Common Ground students increased fruit and vegetable intake at school over the year, comparison school students ate more familiar vegetables, and Common Ground students ate more unfamiliar vegetables. BMI data showed varied averages between schools and grades, with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.0622).