Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2091 results(43 / 84)
Productivity, resource efficiency and financial savings: An investigation of the current capabilities and potential of South Australian home food gardens
2020Georgia Csortan, James Ward, Philip Roetman · PLoS ONE · Australia
The productivity, resource efficiency, and potential financial savings of home food gardens in South Australia were investigated. Thirty-four citizen science participants measured and recorded garden inputs and outputs, revealing that smaller gardens were more intensive than larger ones, requiring higher inputs but also yielding higher outputs per unit area. Labor requirements were significantly lower than previously estimated, and it was calculated that 65% of the gardens should break even within five years or less and save money.
DIYEconomicsCommunityAlquimias da Terra: uma experiência de usos das ervas medicinais na faxina ecológica
2020Janaina Henrique dos Santos, Clara Fagundes, Beatriz Barbalho, Nicole Massa · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Global
This report details an experience in ecological, medicinal, and biodegradable cleaning using medicinal herbs, developed by two female urban farmers. The farmers, after training, produced cleaning products for personal use and then for commercialization, aligning with agroecological urban agriculture principles. This initiative promotes income generation and women's autonomy through the use of medicinal plants and agroecological cleaning products.
DIYCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceThe Concept of Urban Agriculture – Historical Development and Tendencies
2020Madara Dobele, Andra Zvirbule · Rural Sustainability Research · Global
This study aimed to identify the historical development stages of the concept of urban agriculture and its main research tendencies. Using monographic and descriptive analysis, it revealed that the concept has evolved from an initial stage associated with technical solutions for urban planning to provide food, to current diverse directions including the analysis of agriculture's role in urban areas and its place in sustainable development. Researchers adapting definitions to local characteristics creates a risk of limited possibilities for quantitative comparisons between studies.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityTowards a Community Development Approach to Disaster Recovery
2020Martin Mulligan, Yaso Nadarajah · · Sri Lanka
A broadly based committee formed in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, immediately after a disaster played a crucial role in ensuring survivors received aid and respectful treatment. This study emphasizes the importance of equitable relief aid delivery and long-term assistance needs assessment. It also notes that poor people and communities often create their own coping mechanisms, and that home gardens and community gardens can enhance food security for poor households, particularly during periods of rising food prices.
CommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceVers un systeme alimentaire post-croissance
2020Marie-Soleil L’Allier · Revue Possibles · Global
In recent years, citizen-led agricultural and food innovations, such as urban agriculture, community gardens, collective greenhouses, and food cooperatives, have proliferated. These initiatives operate on a logic distinct from the globalized food system, forming the seeds of a post-growth society that does not depend on economic growth. This study raises the question of how to ensure these social innovations, while holding significant transformative potential, can effectively outline an ecological transition for our food system.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsClimate changeThe impact of care farms on quality of life, depression and anxiety among different population groups: A systematic review
2019Murray J., Wickramasekera N., Elings M., Bragg R., Brennan C., Elsey H. · Campbell Systematic Reviews, 15(4):e1061 · Global
A systematic review assessing how care farming (social farming) affects quality of life, depression and anxiety across different service-user groups. It finds that agriculture-based welfare support may improve mental health and social interaction, while highlighting the need for more robust evidence.
HealthWelfareCommunityPolicyEdible City Solutions—One Step Further to Foster Social Resilience through Enhanced Socio-Cultural Ecosystem Services in Cities
2019Ina Säumel, Suhana E. Reddy, Thomas Wachtel · Sustainability, 11(4), 972 · Global
A foundational paper of the EU EdiCitNet project that positions citizen-led food production (Edible City Solutions) as urban infrastructure generating socio-cultural ecosystem services—social cohesion, education, health—alongside regulating services such as stormwater management and biodiversity. It offers a framework in which participatory productive green space underpins social resilience and sustainable food-system transitions.
CommunityHealthFood educationWelfareUrban community gardening, social capital, and 'integration' – a mixed method exploration of urban 'integration-gardening' in Copenhagen, Denmark
2019Christensen S., Dyg P. M., Allenberg K. · Local Environment 24(3):231-248 · Denmark
Mixed-method study of 'integration-gardening' in Copenhagen examining how urban community gardens build bridging social capital and contribute to social integration of immigrants, while also noting its limits.
CommunityWelfareUrban-Rural Linkages: Guiding Principles — Framework for Action
2019UN-Habitat · UN-Habitat · Global
An international normative document codifying 10 guiding principles for urban-rural linkages (rights, participation, governance, food, land, ecosystem services, etc.), advocating multi-sector, multi-level, multi-stakeholder integrated governance.
PolicyCommunityScaling out access to land for urban agriculture. Governance hybridities in the Brussels-Capital Region
2019Manganelli A., Moulaert F. · Land Use Policy · Belgium (Brussels)
This paper applies a Hybrid Governance Approach to analyze the Boeren Bruxsel Paysans coalition in the Brussels-Capital Region, revealing how scaling out land access for urban agriculture produces governance tensions across local, regional, and institutional scales.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban and Peri-Urban Agriculture, the Dairy Farms of Cairo, Egypt: Existence, Transformations and Possible Futures of Family Farms
2019Daburon A., Alary V., Ali A., El-Srogi M., Tourrand J.F. · Diversity of Family Farming Around the World (Springer) · Egypt (Cairo)
Examines family farms engaged in dairy and market gardening in and around Cairo (population ~20 million), analyzing their role in the city's food supply chain and the transformations they undergo under urbanization pressure. Based on collaborative fieldwork by CIRAD, Ain Shams University, and the Animal Production Research Institute.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyThe sustainability of a nutrition-sensitive agriculture intervention: a case study from urban Senegal
2019Nordhagen S., Thiam K., Sow S. · Food Security · Senegal (Dakar)
A post-project survey in Dakar found that microgardens were largely abandoned (5% continued use) while poultry activities persisted strongly (75%) due to income-generation potential, suggesting urban nutrition interventions must align with economic incentives to achieve lasting adoption.
HealthEconomicsCommunityFood educationFertile cities: Nutrient management practices in urban agriculture
2019Wielemaker R., Oenema O., Zeeman G., Weijma J. · Science of the Total Environment, 668:1277-1288 · Global
Drawing on a survey of urban agriculture practitioners in industrialised countries, this study characterises how city-derived resources such as compost, food waste and urine are used as fertiliser and how nutrients are managed. It maps the practices and challenges of cycling urban organic waste back to farmland, systematising on-the-ground approaches that link food-waste composting to urban agriculture.
CompostOrganic cycleFood lossCommunityNew scholarly pathways on green gentrification: What does the urban 'green turn' mean and where is it going?
2019Anguelovski I., Connolly J. J. T., Garcia-Lamarca M., Cole H., Pearsall H. · Progress in Human Geography · Global
A critical review synthesizing research on green gentrification, arguing that urban greening interventions can create elite enclaves of environmental privilege that exclude and displace lower-income and minority residents.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsFormal sector workers' participation in urban agriculture in Ghana: perspectives from the Wa Municipality
2019Peter Dery Bolang, Issaka Kanton Osumanu · Heliyon · Ghana (Wa)
A 2019 cross-sectional survey of 364 randomly selected formal-sector employees across four public institutions in Wa Municipality, north-west Ghana, analysed with logistic regression. Only 37.9% took part in urban farming; 62.1% did not. Participation was strongly gendered (44.1% of men versus 23.1% of women), and 78% of non-participants were under 35. Participants grew food crops (55.1%), kept animals (19.9%) or did both (25.0%), 68.1% at small scale. Annual earnings from the activity were GH¢101–200 (US$22–44) and monthly food-bill savings US$13–44, and 73.9% said they could feed their families from their own production — but against an average monthly salary of about US$289 the monetary contribution is modest. Significant predictors of participation were access to credit (+67.42%), being male (+20.9%), age and household size, while each additional year of education lowered the probability by 19.72%; household income, land access and access to agricultural information were not significant. The most cited barriers were production risk (90.3%) and weekend work duties (53.5%). The authors note the study covers one municipality and only non-essential-service formal workers, is cross-sectional, and that farmers could not reliably quantify yields.
EconomicsCommunityUrban agriculture as a keystone contribution towards securing sustainable and healthy development for cities in the future
2019Siv Lene Gangenes Skar, Rocío Pineda‐Martos, Axel Timpe, Bernd Pölling, Katrin Bohn, Mart Külvik, Cecília Delgado, Celestina Pedras, Teresa A. Paço, Mirjana Ćujić, Nikolaos Tzortzakis, Antonios Chrysargyris, A. Peticilă, Gitana Alenčikienė, Hendrik Monsees, Ranka Junge · Blue-Green Systems · Global
This article discusses urban agriculture's role in creating sustainable and climate-friendly cities, drawing on 20 years of research and practice. It highlights that urban agriculture can minimize climate change effects and improve urban quality of life. Effective land use and spatial planning are crucial for establishing food production sites within cities, integrating resource streams like water, waste, and energy.
Climate changeHealthPolicyCommunityThe contribution of constructed green infrastructure to urban biodiversity: A synthesis and meta‐analysis
2019Alessandro Filazzola, Namrata Shrestha, J. Scott MacIvor · Journal of Applied Ecology · Global
A meta-analysis of 33 relevant studies, selected from 1,883 published manuscripts, investigated the effects of green infrastructure (GI) on urban biodiversity. The analysis found that GI significantly improves biodiversity compared to conventional infrastructure and, in some cases, shows comparable biodiversity measures to natural counterparts. However, many studies were excluded due to neglecting conventional experimental design frameworks, such as controls, replication, or adequate sampling effort.
BiodiversityCommunityHealthCommunity gardens and wellbeing amongst vulnerable populations: a thematic review
2019Pernille Malberg Dyg, Søren Christensen, Corissa Jade Peterson · Health Promotion International · Global
A thematic review of 51 articles published between 1980 and 2017 examined the effects of community gardens on wellbeing among vulnerable populations. Findings suggested positive impacts on physical health and individual/social wellbeing, but food security enhancements were inconsistent. Two articles raised potential food safety concerns in urban community gardens, recommending attention to minimizing these risks.
Contamination & food safetyCommunityHealthWelfareFood educationROOFTOP FARMING: AN ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL FARMING FOR URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
2019Jha Ritesh Kumar, Bhattarai Natasha, KC Suraj, Shrestha Arjun Kumar, Kadariya Manahar · Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agricultural · Nepal
This research inspected existing practices and obstacles in rooftop farming in Nagdhungha and Birauta, Nepal. Two practitioners were interviewed and 60 non-practitioners were surveyed. Results show that rooftop farming can benefit the environment by reducing atmospheric carbon and assist urban areas by reducing stormwater management costs, with a high willingness to practice rooftop farming among urban dwellers.
Economic viabilityDIYCommunityBiodiversityClimate changeUrban agriculture: boon or bust?
2019Martin Stuchtey, Tilmann Vahle · OpenEdition (OpenEdition) · Global
This paper discusses different types of urban agriculture (UA) to assess its potential for future food production. Conventional open-air farming is found to be rarely commercially viable for meaningful food production, though it offers community, educational, psychological, and environmental benefits. High-yielding Controlled Environment Farming (CEF), while potentially contributing substantially to food output, is highly capital and knowledge-intensive and likely to develop at city fringes due to economic considerations.
Economic viabilityEconomicsCommunityFood educationClimate changeLocal connections
2019Philip Pregill · · Global
This article discusses the increasing focus on local connections, such as alleys and local streets, within urban grids, driven by an emphasis on green spaces and stormwater management. Planning initiatives aim to enhance these areas to encourage social places, green spaces, and fine art, as alleys offer opportunities for off-avenue functions like parks and cafes. Independent entities and movements like guerrilla gardening are utilizing alleys for various artistic and urban interventions.
CommunityPolicyBiodiversityRészvétel a közösség által támogatott mezőgazdaságban: a társas támogatás szerepe
2019Ilona Liliána Birtalan, Bernadett Kis, József Rácz, György Bárdos · Egészségfejlesztés · Global
This qualitative study explored the role of social support in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) participation by conducting 35 semi-structured interviews with CSA members. The thematic analysis revealed three types of social support patterns within members' partner/marital relationships. The findings suggest that CSA membership can redefine individual/family consumption patterns, and the characteristics of social support influence the maintenance and duration of membership.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityHealthMotivation and satisfaction of volunteers for community‐based urban agriculture programmes
2019Leelanayagi Ramalingam, Juwaidah Sharifuddin, Zainal Abidin Mohamed, Fazlin Ali · International Social Science Journal · Malaysia (Klang Valley)
This study analyzed data from 375 volunteers in Community-based Urban Agriculture Programmes in Klang Valley, Malaysia, to determine the relationship between motivation and satisfaction. It found that volunteer satisfaction was primarily influenced by external factors like campaigns, support groups, extension departments, community, and government policy, followed by love of farming, social referents, and values. The program faces problems in attracting and retaining enough volunteers, indicating a governance challenge for sustainability.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsTemporary urban landscapes and urban gardening: re-inventing open space in Greece and Switzerland
2019Sofia Nikolaidou · Manchester University Press eBooks · Greece
This chapter examines new forms of urban gardening in Greece and Switzerland, which often involve the informal and temporary reuse of vacant land. It highlights differences and similarities in practices, social and institutional contexts, and governance patterns, emphasizing the critical role of the temporary nature of these initiatives in shaping urban green areas and public space.
CommunityPolicyUrban Harvest
2019Tracy Hood · UNC Libraries · Global
This article cautions against professional planners dismissing community gardening projects as simplistic community development initiatives. Author Tracy Hood reminds planning and city officials of the value of small-scale, less costly community development options like community gardens. She lists and describes numerous economic, educational, and social benefits derived from planting and maintaining a garden.
CommunityEconomicsFood education