Research & reports

Jennifer Paola Borja Llivigañay, Karla Maribel Rocano Bustamante · Universidad Politécnica Salesiana Repositorio Digital (Universidad Politécnica Salesiana) · Global

A student thesis project (Universidad Politécnica Salesiana repository, Ecuador, 2022) by students of the Unidad Educativa Agronómico Salesiano in Paute canton, Azuay province, evaluated the capture, reproduction, and application of the antagonist fungus Trichoderma spp. as a biological control agent against soil fungal pathogens (Phytophthora, Rhizoctonia, Sclerotium, Pythium, Fusarium). Using cooked-rice traps placed in soil holes to capture the fungus, and preparing a liquid formulation from it, the project analyzed the protective benefit against parasitic fungi in lettuce crops between November 2021 and May 2022.

Sukanya Sereenonchai, Noppol Arunrat · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global

A mixed-methods study (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022) surveyed 325 villagers across 13 communities in seven Thai provinces, combining the Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Planned Behavior, and Health Belief Model with techniques including crosstab analysis, stepwise multiple linear regression, one-way ANOVA, multinomial logistic regression, decision tree analysis, and descriptive content analysis. Attitude, perceived benefits, and perceived readiness significantly and positively influenced adoption of urban agriculture. Among villagers who owned agricultural land, behavioral control and social norms drove continued practice; for other groups, perceived readiness and communication were the key drivers. The study proposes communication guidelines based on the EAST framework (easy, attractive, social, timely) delivered through a Critical Participatory Action Research process.

Simone Schiller-Merkens · Organization · Global

A theoretical paper (2022, no specific region) examines forms of alternative economic organizing — cooperatives, post-growth organizations, common-good organizations, community-supported agriculture, transition towns, and ecovillages — that are described in organization and social-movement studies as "prefigurative," creating imaginaries of an alternative future while demonstrating viability through everyday practice. It argues that existing scholarship often leaves the meaning of prefiguration and its relationship to alternative organizing and anarchism unclear, and develops a definition of prefigurative organizing that distinguishes it from alternative organizing while foregrounding its political nature — its ties to multiple struggles, tensions, and conflicts. The paper then presents a systematic overview of types of struggles around prefigurative organizing with reference to exemplary research, and argues that studying prefigurative organizing requires an alternative praxis within academia itself.

Brunno da Silva Cerozi, Caitlin G. Arlotta, Matthew L. Richardson · Agriculture · Global

A study (2022, Agriculture) examined integrating urban agriculture with aquaculture to reduce water use and cost, competition for water, chemical fertilizer use, and the environmental impact of discharging nutrient-rich agricultural water into fresh and saltwater bodies, noting that urban aquaculture could also directly benefit human health as a local source of lean protein, while few studies had demonstrated the practical feasibility and production advantages of using aquaculture wastewater to fertigate specialty crops in cities. Four spring crops (bok choy, tatsoi, radish, turnip) and two fall crops (pole beans, sugar snap peas) were grown using nutrient-rich fish aquaculture effluent versus well or municipal water to evaluate effects on soil fertility and crop production. The fish effluent raised soil pH and potassium and increased pole bean count by 9.1% (bean mass trended toward significance but was not conclusive); the soils used were relatively nutrient-rich even before the effluent was applied, which may explain the limited impact, and the study suggests differences could be more pronounced in acidic, nutrient-poor soils or with longer-duration fertigation.

Jennifer Catalina Murcia Rodríguez, Adriana Quimbayo Feria · HUMAN REVIEW International Humanities Review / Revista Internacional de Humanidades · Colombia

A short piece on urban agriculture in Colombia (2022) states that urban agriculture enables food production, particularly of fruits, vegetables, and aromatic plants, contributing to reduced ecological footprint and self-sufficiency, and that in Colombia it forms part of a worldwide trend used to help mitigate environmental pollution and reduce spending on basic foodstuffs. It notes that inflation has raised the cost of basic foods, and frames urban agriculture as helping reduce the amount of such purchases at the household level.

Ye. V. Klimov, B. O. Assilov · Problems of AgriMarket · Global

This study identifies and analyzes common sales channels for organic products and the potential for alternative marketing strategies among small-scale organic fruit and vegetable producers in the Almaty region, Kazakhstan, who have transitioned to organic horticulture, drawing on international and Kazakhstani experience. Methods included desk research, industry information from open sources, and a survey of business entities. In Kazakhstan, where organic production has existed for about 20 years and has been dominated by large export-oriented grain producers using indirect trade channels, an emerging domestic eco-products market means small-producer entry requires effective marketing programs and expanded direct-delivery channels. Distribution options examined include an order-based "organic box" scheme, Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA), a centralized U-pick sales platform, organic farmers' markets and sales fairs, shops attached to organic farms, organic restaurants, public procurement, agritourism, and e-commerce. The study concludes that the choice of sales points is an important management decision affecting the economic efficiency of an agricultural enterprise, and that small-scale producers should develop multiple distribution channels that connect them directly with consumers.

Rosmiza Mz, Noorziah Mohd Salleh, Nurin Sahira Che Helmi, Milah Zainal, Jabil Mapjabil, Mohd Nor Mohd Rosmi, Mazdi Marzuki · Journal of Asian Scientific Research · Malaysia

Against the rise of community gardens driven by increasing living costs, growing interest in healthy lifestyles, and limited agricultural land, a quantitative study of 50 residents in Kampung Gali Hilir, Pahang, Malaysia, examined the role of institutions in increasing community involvement in cultivation using fertigation methods. Most respondents, described as agripreneurs, agreed that agricultural institutions play a crucial role in providing information and assistance on fertigation cultivation through courses and training and in supplying agricultural inputs and related programs, and the study identified a need to strengthen institutional approaches to further increase participation in newly introduced methods.

Diego Alejandro Salinas Velandia, Felipe A. Perdomo, Stephanie Numa-Vergel, Edwin Villagrán, Pilar Donado-Godoy, Julio Ricardo Galindo Pacheco · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global

This study used bibliometric and text-mining analysis of the literature to assess how horticulture is transitioning to the circular economy. It found that circular horticulture is a recent, growing research field whose approach has been fragmented rather than systemic or integrative. Bioeconomy, urban agriculture, recycled nutrients, biochar, fertigation, and desalination emerged as research hotspots, with vegetables and fruits the most-studied crops; resource circulation has focused mainly on biowaste recovery for biofertilizers and substrate substitutes, and on water reuse for hydroponic systems. The One Health approach was found to be scarcely explored and weakly articulated, with the absence of assessment methodologies covering ecosystem, animal, and human health noted as a notable limitation, and science-policy interfaces linking One Health and food systems identified as needing improvement.

Ningombam Sushma Devi, Preeti Hatibarua, Ningombam Bijaya Devi, Tadar Jamja, Nangki Tagi, Ruthy Tabing · Ecology Environment and Conservation · Global

This review argues that, amid exponential population growth, expanding urban dwellings, climate change, and limited natural resources, planting fruit and vegetable home gardens and using rooftops and small plots for small-scale vegetable production can provide households with sufficient production and income generation. It states that meeting the food and nutritional needs of growing urban populations requires integrating information-technology tools, breeding crops suited to urban farming, and closing water, waste, and energy loops, and it outlines the significant features of contemporary urban horticulture alongside the traditional practices, technologies, and innovations that support it.

Suzanne Spence, Grace Gardner, Dorota Zarnowiecki, Katie Adolphus, Clare Lawton, Louise Dye, Emma Patterson, Charlotte Evans · · Global

This chapter reviews school-based food policies in England and elsewhere aimed at improving children's diets and reducing childhood obesity, noting that reintroduced school meal standards across the UK have improved the quality of school-provided meals, whereas fewer policies exist for packed lunches, which consequently remain of lower quality than school meals. It also discusses the wider school food environment, including school gardens and programs to increase children's fruit and vegetable consumption, as opportunities to improve children's diets.

Kingsley, Jonathan, Diekmann, Lucy, Egerer, Monika H., Lin, Brenda B., Ossola, Alessandro, Marsh, Pauline · Health & Place · Global

This Health & Place study analyzes survey responses from 3,743 gardeners collected internationally (including Australia, the USA, and Germany) between May and August 2020, examining gardening experiences during the early COVID-19 pandemic. It found gardens became safe spaces for social connection amid increased free time from lockdowns, while participants faced shortages of seeds and supplies and restricted access to shared garden spaces.

CONQUITO · CONQUITO (Agencia Metropolitana de Promoción Económica) · Ecuador

CONQUITO's presentation page for its AGRUPAR participatory urban agriculture programme, stating that more than 4,500 farmers participate each year, 84% of whom are women heads of household, and that around 105 organic products are handled through the programme.

Jorgelina Hiba · Infobae (América/Soluciones) · Argentina

Twenty years after launching amid Argentina's 2001 economic crisis, Rosario's Urban Agriculture Programme now supports 360 jobs, this article reports: 30 hectares of urban gardens plus 120 hectares of peri-urban plots, over 300 gardeners (60% women) growing agroecological produce across 7 Park Gardens, sold through 39 outlets, with about 400 heirloom species and varieties held in the CAR seed bank.

Bárbara Corneli Colombatto · enREDando · Argentina

Built around interviews with huerteros (urban gardeners), this piece presents both the achievements and the limits of Rosario's urban agriculture: 7 Park Gardens and 6 group gardens involving over 250 people, 25 hectares producing 2,500 tonnes a year, and a $250,000 international prize won in 2021. It also documents organizational fragmentation among gardeners, a lack of secure land-loan agreements (comodatos), the absence of sustained public investment matching the programme's international recognition, and unresolved conflicts with neighbors that the municipality does not intervene in. It cites a regional statistic that only 18% of farms in Latin America and the Caribbean are run by women.

Artmann M., Sartison K. · Making Green Cities: Concepts, Challenges and Practice (Springer, Cities and Nature series), 173-194 · Global

A case study analyzing the 'Edible City' of Andernach, Germany, as a multifunctional productive green space where citizens can harvest freely in public areas. Drawing on interviews with key initiators, it shows that the project generates multifunctional social, ecological and economic benefits addressing urban challenges such as food security, biodiversity and social cohesion, and examines its potential for upscaling local food supply.

Wetherill M.S., Bourque E.E., Taniguchi T., Love C.V., Sisk M., Jernigan V.B.B. · Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 53(11):991-995 · Global

Describes the development of a tribally-led garden curriculum for Indigenous preschoolers in the Osage Nation, integrating the traditional Three Sisters planting to teach Native foodways and improve children's vegetable intake and food security.

Apostolopoulou E., Kotsila P. · Urban Geography, 43(2), 293–319 · Greece (Athens)

Examining the Hellinikon self-organized guerrilla garden that emerged as resistance to real estate redevelopment of the former Athens international airport, the paper argues that community gardening can embed grassroots opposition to neoliberal urban transformation and assert the right to urban space.

Hammelman C., Shoffner E., Cruzat M., Lee S. · Agriculture and Human Values · Argentina (Rosario)

Drawing on interviews with 30 stakeholders in Rosario, the study applies assemblage and urban political ecology frameworks to reveal how institutionalized agroecology constructs valued socio-natures amid land pressure and economic marginalization.

Hutton G.B., Brugulat-Panés A., Bhagtani D., Maadjhou Mba C., Birch J.M., Shih H., Okop K., Muti M., Wadende P., Tatah L., Mogo E., Guariguata L., Unwin N. · Journal of Global Health Reports · Cameroon

This systematic scoping review synthesized 118 studies (from 4,828 screened) on community food production initiatives across Kenya, Cameroon, and South Africa, finding that economic and environmental impacts dominated the literature while health and social dimensions were understudied; Cameroon-specific studies (10 papers) primarily addressed economic impacts.

Marion Tharrey, Nicole Darmon · Nutrition Reviews · Global

A systematic review searching January 2000 to August 2020 for quantitative studies on urban collective gardening and health among free-living adults in high-income countries; 15 of 1,261 identified articles met the criteria. Gardeners reported higher fruit and vegetable consumption than non-gardeners and most studies found positive associations with mental and social health, while results for physical activity and physiological measures were mixed. However, 13 of the 15 studies were cross-sectional and subject to selection bias and only 3 used objective measurement, so the authors conclude that longitudinal studies are needed before the suggested health benefits can be regarded as confirmed.

Petra Matijevic · Agriculture and Human Values · Slovenia (Ljubljana)

An ethnographic study in Ljubljana, Slovenia, carried out between summer 2014 and autumn 2015: informal conversations with 57 growers across 13 sites, 25 semi-structured life-history interviews, and participant observation on the researcher's own rented plot. Plot-taking surged during the post-2009 debt crisis (an 8% economic contraction; unemployment rising from 7% to 13% by 2013), and one gardening association had roughly 350 member households by 2015, over 40% of whom joined after 2010. The author argues, however, that this surge did not work as household food or income provisioning. Newcomers who took up plots for economic reasons frequently abandoned them within a year; those who did grow food continued to rely on market produce; and people at the very bottom of the economic scale had neither the skills, tools nor time to feed themselves from a plot. Growers were strongly opposed to selling surpluses and gave them away instead. The paper concludes that urban gardening functioned as a narrative practice repairing biographical rupture after unemployment or retirement, not as an informal economy.

Helen Toxopeus, Friedemann Polzin · Journal of Environmental Management · Global

A systematic review of academic literature identified key barriers and strategies for financing urban nature-based solutions (NBS), including urban agriculture. Two overarching barriers were found: a lack of coordination between private and public financiers, and difficulties in integrating NBS benefits into valuation and accounting methods. The review concluded that an integrated accounting and valuation framework for NBS is currently lacking, and strategies often focus on encouraging co-financing from private beneficiaries.

Sumita Ghosh · · Global

This research conducted a desktop review and analyzed six international case studies of rooftop urban farms, community gardens, and home gardens. The analysis found that productive landscapes already exist on city rooftops, contributing positively to community, environment, ecology, economy, and society. Planning and designing rooftop gardens in dense urban areas could foster place-making through urban agriculture.

Chethika Gunasiri Wadumestrige Dona, Geetha Mohan, Kensuke Fukushi · Sustainability · Global

This systematic literature review analyzed 54 articles on urban agriculture, examining socio-economic context, agriculture models, opportunities, and challenges. The review found that academic literature favors community gardens in developed countries and gives comparatively less attention to identifying challenges, benefit groups, and government support for urban agriculture.

Carlos Tapia, Linda Randall, Shinan Wang, Luciane Aguiar Borges · Sustainable Cities and Society · Denmark (Aarhus)

This study presents a novel indicator-based evaluation framework for urban agriculture, tested in Fællesgartneriet Brabrand, a community garden in Aarhus, Denmark. The framework aims to capture the contribution of gardening practices to urban sustainability, acknowledging that urban agriculture may also have social and environmental externalities depending on prevalent farming practices.