Research & reports

Asaduddin Abdullah, Dikky Indrawan, Anggi Mayang Sari, Asep Rakhmat · Policy Brief Pertanian Kelautan dan Biosains Tropika · Indonesia

A policy brief on the urgency of developing innovative urban farming in Indonesia as a response to challenges in urban food security and nutrition. It discusses urban farming's role not only in increasing food availability but in achieving locally based nutritious food, preserving local wisdom, supporting a free nutritious food program, and contributing to poverty reduction and environmental quality. It states that implementation remains constrained by existing policy limitations, and calls for comprehensive policy change including integrating urban farming into urban spatial planning, building community capacity, and providing infrastructure, technology, and public awareness support.

Adriana Martins da Silva Bastos Conceição, Márcia Bento Moreira, Hélder Ribeiro Freitas · Peer Review · Brazil

A study in the Território de Identidade do Vale do Jiquiriçá, Bahia, Brazil surveyed municipal agriculture-department professionals through an online questionnaire (stages I and III) and field research (stage II). Online questionnaires initially identified only 12 urban and peri-urban agriculture experiences, but field visits raised that count to 62 active experiences. Stage III data showed professionals lack understanding of the urban agriculture concept and its potential, and that the legal provisions regulating the practice need much wider dissemination for implementation; the data indicate that urban agriculture in the territory's municipalities goes largely unnoticed and is not addressed in public policy.

Rahul B. Hiremath, Sheelratan S. Bansode · Practice, progress, and proficiency in sustainability · India

This book chapter examines the use of treated urban wastewater to support agricultural resilience in Indian cities amid rapid urbanization that strains water supplies for farming. Using an interdisciplinary approach, it evaluates current practices, policy frameworks and stakeholder engagement to assess the practicality and efficiency of incorporating treated wastewater into urban agricultural systems, addressing both the potential benefits and the difficulties involved rather than reporting a specific measured outcome.

Mélanie Douziech, Stefan Mann, Stefan Galley, Jens Lansche · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · Global

Urban agriculture is often associated with sustainable practices, but the diversity of systems classified as urban agriculture and limited information on their sustainability call that link into question. Drawing on 91 scientific papers, a study proposes a holistic classification of urban agricultural systems combining technical, social and economic characteristics, with economic production intensity and the intensity of cooperation among actors as key axes. One end of the scheme covers ground-based, open, socially motivated systems with high cooperation and low production intensity; the other end covers building-integrated, quasi-closed systems with high production intensity. Mapping sustainability claims from the literature onto the scheme associated "urban farming" with job creation, food safety, water savings and higher yields, and "urban gardening" with educational potential, biodiversity improvements and lower yields.

Chengxiang Zi, D. Winterbottom, Juanjuan Liu · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · China

Focusing on a well-preserved village of the Dong ethnic group in southwest China that maintains traditional livelihoods and a local food system, a study used field surveys, interviews and participatory mapping to propose an edible green infrastructure (EGI) model for traditional villages. The model comprises the "rice-fish-duck" cycle as the core of traditional livelihoods, a hierarchical ecological structure of "households-groups-village," and corresponding management models. By theoretically analyzing the EGI of traditional villages shaped over China's millennia-old agricultural civilization, the study aims to inform sustainable food-system and natural-resource-management knowledge, applying it to the construction of bio-districts in rural China.

Aji Saputra, Oekan S. Abdoellah, Gemilang Lara Utama · Local Environment · Indonesia

A commentary on the current state of urban agriculture implementation in large Indonesian cities, the initiatives underway and the mechanisms for pursuing stated goals. It identifies land scarcity, inadequate urban agricultural infrastructure, financial constraints, and regulatory and administrative problems as the major obstacles to implementation. It also states that urban agriculture improves quality of urban life by providing fresh, healthy food and fostering community engagement, and cites Singapore, New York and Ghana as examples showing the importance of policy support, innovation and community involvement.

Olivier Grünberger, Radhouane Hamdi, Manon Lagacherie, Hanène Chaâbane · Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part B · Africa

Two years of monthly water sampling and hydrological monitoring at the outlet of the Wadi Guenniche watershed (86 km², with rainfed cereal, legume and orchard cultivation and irrigated market gardening) in northern Tunisia, a tributary of the Bizerte coastal lagoon, tested for 469 pesticide active ingredients and metabolites. Twenty-nine pesticide active ingredients and 2 metabolites were detected in the water, 24 of which are authorized for use in Tunisia; 14 of the authorized substances had never before been mentioned in farmer surveys. The five most frequently detected herbicides and metabolites were AMPA (100%), glyphosate (94%), simazine (94%), 2,4-D (70%) and deisopropylatrazine (DIA, 47%). The detection frequency and concentration range suggest phytosanitary pressure and water contamination comparable to the northern Mediterranean shore, indicating a need for further study of pesticide use and fate on the southern shore, particularly in Tunisia.

Seng Boon Lim, Nur Wildaniah Syafiqah Mohd Razib, Imam Mukhlis, Na’asah Nasrudin, Isnen Fitri · PLANNING MALAYSIA · Malaysia

A mixed-methods single-case study evaluating early intervention in community gardening/urban farming initiatives under the Special Area Action Plan Section 13 urban regeneration project in Petaling Jaya City, Malaysia. The quantitative component analyzed 200 questionnaire samples using descriptive statistics, while the qualitative component thematically analyzed 8 interviews. Findings show respondents were skeptical about awareness, safety infrastructure and support services, caretaking, and land ownership concerns surrounding the proposed community gardening at the Sungai Penchala monsoon drain area. The study recommends that authorities plan more awareness-intervention campaigns, strengthen safety infrastructure design, provide policy support for appointing caretakers, and resolve land acquisition issues when revitalizing leftover urban public spaces.

Angga Mahardika Syahrul Putra, Jafron Wasiq Hidayat, Kasiyati · Prosiding SNAST · Indonesia

Against the backdrop of Yogyakarta City, Indonesia (32.85 sq km) having only 23.52% green open space coverage versus the legally required 30%, this study used a literature review method (journal articles, proceedings, government documents, regulations, and spatial data) to analyze the form and role of the city's Lorong Sayur ("vegetable alley") program. It found Lorong Sayur to be a form of vertical urban agriculture using land along alleys and neighborhood roads, with an ecological effect of minimizing non-organic waste and contributions to changing residents' lifestyles and improving socio-economic life.

Kimberley Hodgson · Urban agriculture · United States

A critical examination of urban agriculture governance in Seattle, Washington, USA, tracing the geographic, social, agricultural and governmental context of city policy. Seattle established its P-Patch community gardening program in 1973, and grassroots and community organizations have worked on food production and food security since the early 1970s, but the city government did not begin systemic policy engagement until the early 2000s. Using a critical lens, the chapter examines key policies - including urban agriculture zoning regulations and the Local Food Action Plan - and projects such as the Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands Project, to assess the impact of urban agriculture policy on racial, social and health equity.

Joanne Dolley, Michael Howes · Australian Planner · Australia

Drawing on interviews with participants across several types of community gardens in Australia, this paper examines how community gardens can contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 Target 7, providing universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible green and public spaces. Applying a broader definition of "inclusive" than the target currently suggests, it finds that community gardens improve the inclusivity and activation of public spaces through their design features, governance, and community involvement, contributing to Target 11.7. Community involvement in design and governance, secure land tenure, well-chosen locations, and sufficient resourcing were identified as factors improving gardens' ability to meet the target. Developing additional indicators to measure progress toward the target is identified as an area for further research.

Olalekan Tolulope B. Aduloju, Olumuyiwa Bayo Akinbamijo, Abdullateef Iyanda Bako, Abdulfatai Olanrewaju Anofi, Kolade Victor Otokiti · Local Environment · Nigeria

This study analyzed the practice of urban agriculture (UA) in open spaces within the Ilorin metropolis, Nigeria, combining primary and secondary data collected through questionnaires, an interview guide, digital cameras, a UA survey form, and GPS. Main findings showed that 14.34 hectares of land (31.4% of it in the city core) was dedicated to UA in Ilorin, an area estimated as capable of helping at least 1,500 families escape poverty. Average Nearest Neighbour Analysis (ANNA) revealed that UA sites were clustered rather than randomly distributed. Mean analysis showed the dominant food staples grown at Ilorin UA sites were vegetables (3.09), maize (2.86), cassava (2.64), millet/sorghum (2.46), and yam (2.31). Access to land, failed harvests from pests and disease, price collapse, and adverse weather events were identified as the leading challenges affecting UA practice. The study calls for city-level integration recognizing the rights of the urban poor and of UA within Ilorin's land-use plan.

Jessica Ann Diehl · · Global

This chapter investigates urban agriculture in Singapore through a political ecology lens, examining food security from the perspective of traditional commercial farmers. Growing urban food demand and risks inherent in reliance on the global food system have spurred city governments to implement diversified strategies for integrating urban agriculture at different scales; Singapore, a high-earning city-state that imports 90% of its food, has set a target of raising domestic food production to 30% under its Singapore Green Plan 2030 "30 by 30" Grow Local target. The chapter questions whether this level of food independence is achievable if food production shifts away from traditional farming toward high-tech operations such as rooftop or vertical farms. Semi-structured qualitative interviews covered four topics: general farm practices, social networks, benefits and barriers, and livelihood alternatives. Findings were examined in the context of a rising generation of high-tech entrepreneurial farmers facing the challenge of meeting consumer demand against land and labor scarcity. The in-depth case study demonstrates that technology is only one driver, among many, of the sustainability of the local food system in Singapore, and traditional commercial farmers face pressure on their livelihoods as policy shifts toward high-tech production.

Putri Balqis, Riski Wulandari, Muhammad Zulfandi · Jurnal Teknologi Cerdas · Indonesia

Reducing carbon emissions is a critical task in addressing global climate change, and establishing rooftop gardens in urban areas is presented as one approach that could be adopted. This paper is a literature review examining the environmental advantages of rooftop gardens, with particular focus on their capacity to mitigate carbon emissions. It reviewed diverse sources concerning rooftop garden implementation for carbon mitigation. The review states that rooftop gardens possess significant capacity to mitigate carbon emissions and address the challenges posed by climate change, though successful installation requires careful planning and a thorough understanding of environmental and technological aspects. Rooftop gardens are described as enhancing CO2 absorption, lowering surface temperatures, and decreasing building energy needs by improving thermal insulation, as well as contributing to improved air quality and urban biodiversity. The review identified numerous designs and best practices that could optimize the ecological and economic advantages of rooftop gardens, and points to the possibility of incorporating them into urban planning as an approach to addressing climate change and enhancing urban quality of life.

Assyifa Fauzia, Evi Frimawaty, Hadi Susilo Arifin · Holistic Journal of Tropical Agriculture Sciences · Global

This literature review examines the role of urban agriculture as an ecosystem services provider in mitigating urban environmental deterioration. It states that urban agriculture adds various functions across different landscape scales and can provide numerous benefits when managed correctly. The review method compiled literature on urban agriculture and ecosystem services across provisioning, regulating, and cultural service categories. Results describe urban agriculture as taking diverse forms, from private gardens to community plots, addressing limited public funding and promoting greening initiatives; it is described as contributing to biodiversity conservation and to regulating the urban microclimate, including reduced urban heat island effects, wind protection, and pollutant absorption. It is also described as adding aesthetic value to urban spaces, promoting cultural integration, and functioning as a multifaceted strategy for sustainable urban development addressing food security, resilience, and well-being. Amid challenges including threats to urban biodiversity and the need for proper green-space management, the review frames urban agriculture as a holistic approach contributing to cities' visual, cultural, and environmental fabric.

Lydia Bonney · · United States

Drawing on newspaper articles, books, scholarly journals, websites and one self-conducted interview, this paper examines several urban agriculture programs across Detroit's history. Analysis of past successes and failures of these programs argues that investing in urban agriculture today could address problems the city has long faced. The paper concludes that Detroit's particular landscape, community, and spatial disparities give it potential to become a world leader in urban agriculture.

Samina Raja, Subhashni Raj, Carol E. Ramos-Gerena · Urban agriculture · United States

This book chapter, part of a volume honoring urban planning scholar Jerome Kaufman's legacy, examines the extent to which local, regional and metropolitan governments in the United States engage with urban agriculture policy through an equity-centered, ethically grounded lens, summarizing a collection of perspectives on municipal policy from scholars and policy practitioners nationwide. While urban agriculture has become increasingly recognized as a space for local government engagement since Kaufman's call to action, the authors conclude that municipal governments continue to struggle to center questions of equity and ethics in their policymaking, even as they claim a progressive approach toward urban agriculture.

Miriam Elizabeth Mery-Ruiz, Gabriela Carmona Ochoa, Areli Lopez-Montelongo · Apple Academic Press eBooks · Mexico

Focusing on the Alameda Zaragoza district in Saltillo, Mexico, this study investigates the relationship between urban morphology and sustainability in the built environment. It used an ethnographic methodology involving qualitative social media research, collecting images and text through Microsoft Bing word searches and analyzing them with nubedepalabras software to identify semantic networks. The findings show that online communities' urban imaginaries offer insights into sustainability strategies, and the study recommends expanding the analysis to other case studies and including search results in additional languages.

Gizaw Ebissa, Aramde Fetene, Hayal Desta · City and Environment Interactions · Ethiopia

Treated wastewater from the plant serving Bole Lemi Industrial Park (BLIP) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was sampled at the treatment plant's influent and effluent and analyzed using a treated wastewater quality index (TWWQI) to assess suitability for urban irrigation agriculture. The aggregate TWWQI classified the water as 'very poor' for urban irrigation agriculture, with heavy metals contributing 85% of that grade, nutrient load 4%, salinity 8%, and miscellaneous contaminants 4%. Discrete indices varied: heavy metals scored 'very polluted', nutrients 'excellent', salinity 'poor', and miscellaneous contaminants 'good'. Contaminant removal efficiency ranged from 30% to 100% (58% in aggregate), and some contaminants showed higher concentrations in the effluent than the influent, indicating the treatment plant failed to remove them. Cr3+, Cl− and TDS contributed most to the poor rating, and the plant was found to need upgrading to increase removal efficiency.

J.A. Veraart, Cora van Oosten, Vincent Linderhof, Confidence Duku, Wilfred Appelman, A.M.E. Groot, Marjolein Sterk, Ilse Voskamp · International Journal of Water Governance · Global

With water-related problems from climate change threatening the future of food systems in both the Netherlands and Ghana, this comparative case study analyzed rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse in the Rhine-Scheldt Estuaries (Netherlands) and the Bono East Region (Ghana). The analysis focused on identifying similarities in how experts and stakeholders use spatial information to remove barriers to, or foster enablers of, the uptake of nature-based solutions (NbS) in view of climate change. Both rainwater harvesting and wastewater treatment techniques were found to be available and ready for adoption by farmers and the food processing industry, but their uptake was hampered by multiple barriers ranging from biophysical and technical to social and institutional. Spatial information was concluded to be a potential enabler for NbS adoption if applicable to a wide range of possible solutions for water scarcity in food production, though both case studies showed difficulty making the future spatially explicit, and in both cases the effect on biodiversity of, respectively, effluent water reuse and rainwater harvesting did not play a direct role in stakeholder dialogue.

Assyifa Fauzia · Trend and Future of Agribusiness · Global

A descriptive literature review (2015-2023) and comparative analysis of urban farming management in Thailand's Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR) and Indonesia's Jakarta. Since 2010 the BMR has pursued food self-sufficiency using canals for irrigation and transport, but urban farmers remain poorly connected to traditional markets. In Jakarta, high population density and conversion of agricultural land are serious problems; after the 1998 economic crisis residents expanded urban farming on available land, but industrialization has increased uncertainty over land rights. Both countries share a lack of coordination in urban agriculture regulation and infrastructure, which the paper suggests addressing through better communication among farmers, retailers and non-farming households.

Aliifa Jenica Athaya Natama, Kadhung Prayoga, Siwi Gayatri · Agrisocionomics Jurnal Sosial Ekonomi Pertanian · Indonesia

A study of the Dahlia Farmers' Group in Semarang, Indonesia, using multiple linear regression to examine the role of social capital in urban farming success (survey conducted December 2023-January 2024). Norms — establishing standard operating procedures for members — played an important role in supporting success, while trust and networks proved less influential, since urban farming success depends more on management and knowledge than on interpersonal relationships. The study recommends the group strengthen norms through digital networks, mentorship, social activities, external partnerships and a reward system.

Beata Sirowy, Deni Ruggeri · ˜The œGeojournal library · Global

An editors' introductory chapter to a book on urban agriculture research, situating the volume's thematic scope. The editors argue that, to achieve the greatest impact, opportunities to engage in urban cultivation should be widely accessible to all segments of the urban population and close to where people live. Because land in dense inner-city areas is scarce and costly worldwide, integrating urban agriculture into existing and planned public spaces is presented as the most feasible strategy for achieving this. The book aims to provide theoretical and practical insights on integrating urban agriculture into public space development, covering well-being impacts, design, organization, educational contexts, and urban planning.

Wirda Rohmah, Marina Ramadhani, Ghulam Fathul Amri · Jurnal Bengawan Solo Pusat Kajian Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Surakarta · Indonesia

Using a literature-study method, this research examined food security conditions in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia — a rapidly urbanizing city — and their implications for urban sustainability and resilience, covering food availability, access, utilization, and stability. It found that urbanization in Surakarta has increased food demand, altered food supply chains, and created distribution and affordability challenges, with urban land-use change, economic inequality, and the effectiveness of existing food policies and programs identified as the main factors shaping food security, and argues for an integrated approach combining improved urban agriculture, strengthened local food systems, and better coordination among stakeholders.

Francesco Orsini, Giuseppina Pennisi, Giorgio Gianquinto, Michael Martin · International Journal of Vegetable Science · Global

This paper argues that widely publicized figures on urban agriculture's environmental impacts lack the methodologically sound evidence needed for valid comparison, before conclusions can be drawn. It addresses problems in comparatively assessing environmental performance between rural and urban farming and argues for the need for specifically designed indicators capable of comprehensively assessing multifunctional urban agriculture.