Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
11393 results(432 / 456)
Agriculture urbaine et subsistance des ménages dans une zone de post-conflit en Afrique centrale
2006André Mfoukou-Ntsakala, Michel Bitémo, Niko Speybroeck, Guido Van Huylenbroeck, É. Thys · Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) · Congo (Brazzaville)
This study analyzed the technical and socio-economic specificities of urban agriculture and its role in household subsistence in a post-conflict region in Central Africa. It was based on a 2002 survey of 710 randomly selected households in Brazzaville, Congo. About one-third of Brazzaville households engage in urban agriculture, with 29.5% in crop production and 8.8% in animal production, predominantly aviculture. The 1997 conflict negatively impacted urban agricultural production, especially animal production, and urban agriculture is dominated by subsistence and poor households. While crop production is mainly for subsistence, animal production is more income-driven, and constraints like input provision, theft, and soil degradation limit productivity.
CommunityWelfareEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Density, Meteorology and Rooftops
2006Carol Skinner · Urban Policy and Research · Australia
While favorable aspects of denser urban development are recognized in Australia and elsewhere, this study also highlights its negative impacts on a city's climate and hydrology. It summarizes the appealing aspects of denser cities and provides examples of adverse effects. Strategies to minimize these negative impacts are proposed, including the widespread use of rooftop gardens.
Climate changeBiodiversityPolicyGlobally useful conceptions of Alternative Food Networks in the developing south: the case of Johannesburg’s urban food supply system
2006Caryn Abrahams · ERA · South Africa
This paper reviews existing literature on Alternative Food Networks (AFN), discussing their multifaceted foci. AFNs have been presented as a response to conventional agribusiness or a transition towards an alternative era, encompassing short food supply chains, local food supply systems, direct farm retail, and community-supported agriculture. Defining characteristics of AFNs include "fresh," "diverse," "organic," "small-scale," "local," and "sustainable," which contrast with the "processed," "mass production," and "long food supply chains" of conventional systems.
Food sovereignty & justiceCSA & TeikeiFood miles & supply chainEconomics巩固先进性教育成果 扎实推进社会主义新农村建设——对小河区建设社会主义新农村的调查与思考
2006刘光祥 · 贵阳市委党校学报 · China (Guiyang)
This study investigated the construction of a socialist new countryside in Xiaohe District, Guiyang City, which has a prominent contradiction of high population and limited land (20,400 agricultural residents, 4,800 mu of cultivated land). The district government promoted urban, ecological, specialized, efficient, and leisure tourism agriculture, establishing eight agricultural tourism bases and three provincial-certified pollution-free agricultural product bases. This led to a more rational agricultural structure, diversified income channels for farmers, and improved rural infrastructure and ecological environment.
Urban–rural linkageEconomicsPolicyCommunityLe aree agricole nei parchi periurbani italiani: verso nuovi modelli?/The agricultural areas in the peri-urban Italian parks: toward new models?
2006Paola Branduini · Virtual Community of Pathological Anatomy (University of Castilla La Mancha) · Italy
Projects for the valorization of agriculture in Italian metropolitan areas have primarily originated from initiatives within peri-urban parks. The second national Conference on Protected Areas in 2002 confirmed the idea that peri-urban agricultural areas can bridge rural and urban cultures through new management models. Italy presents several plans already realized or in progress that are significant for their concept of peri-urban agriculture, ongoing actions, and the role played by stakeholders.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyCommunityEffects of a Gardening Program on the Academic Progress of Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade Math and Science Students
2006Adelaide Ellen Pigg, Tina M. Waliczek, Jayne M. Zajicek · HortTechnology · United States (McAllen, Texas)
A study of 196 elementary students in McAllen, Texas, compared the academic progress of students participating in a school garden program with those receiving traditional classroom instruction. No statistically significant differences were found in science achievement scores, indicating similar benefits for both groups. However, students receiving traditional math instruction showed more improved math achievement scores compared to those in the garden program.
Limited or null effectFood educationLes documents d’urbanisme, un outil pour la régulation des conflits d’usage de l’espace agricole périurbain ?
2006Samuel Martín, Nathalie Bertrand, Nicole Rousier · Géographie Économie Société · France (Rhône-Alpes)
This paper examines spatial planning documents in two Rhône-Alpes city regions, France, as a tool for regulating land use conflicts in peri-urban agricultural areas under urbanization pressure. The analysis highlights rising tensions between local actors and suggests that agriculture is instrumentalized by spatial planning policies at the inter-communal level. At the communal level, local plans manage neighborhood and land ownership conflicts.
Governance failurePolicyPeri-urban agricultureUrban–rural linkageBasil little leaf: a new disease associated with a phytoplasma of the 16SrI (Aster Yellows) group in Cuba
2006Y. Arocha, B. Piñol, B. Picornell, R. Almeida, P. Jones, E. Boa · Plant Pathology · Cuba
A 2005 survey in the 'Alamar' organoponic in Havana province, Cuba, observed typical phytoplasma-symptoms of little leaf and witches' broom in all basil (Ocimum basilicum) plants. DNA analysis of leaf samples from 27 symptomatic plants confirmed an association with a 16SrI group phytoplasma (Aster Yellows; 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris'). This report from Cuba is the first record of this new disease, for which the name basil little leaf is proposed.
Limited or null effectPeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceInformal irrigation in urban West Africa: An overview
2006Pay Drechsel, Sophie Graefe, M. Sonou, Olufunke Cofie, Drechsel, Pay, Graefe, Sophie, Sonou, Moise, Cofie, Olufunke O. · Digital Library Of The Commons Repository (Indiana University) · Africa
This report provides a state-of-the-art overview of irrigated urban agriculture in the West African sub-region. The overview is based on a comprehensive literature review supported by the results of three IWMI FAO projects.
Urban–rural linkageEconomicsFood, Culture and Survival in an African City
2006Thomas Cousins · The International Journal of African Historical Studies · Tanzania (Mwanza)
Karen Coen Flynn's ethnography of Mwanza, Tanzania, explores experiences of deprivation and survival strategies, including urban farming, in this rapidly expanding city. Using a large number of qualitative interviews, the study examines changing consumption patterns, household organization of labor and kinship regarding food, and the gendered character of household labor. It also considers how street children and adults secure survival, presenting a typology of survival strategies.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareCommunity全面推进农业现代化 构建无锡农村和谐社会——赴韩国现代农业及农业机械化学习考察的启示
2006王鸿涌 · 江苏农机化 · China (Wuxi)
To accelerate the development of modern urban agriculture and agricultural mechanization in Wuxi City, China, the Wuxi Agricultural Machinery Bureau organized a study tour to South Korea. The tour focused on modern agricultural production technology, large-scale agricultural operation methods, agricultural and horticultural machinery, agricultural product processing machinery development, and agricultural management systems. The findings from this inspection were used to discuss issues related to Wuxi City's modern urban agriculture development and agricultural mechanization.
PolicyEconomicsDigital agricultureExploring the Allotment Gardens and Its Implication - Case Study on Kleingarten in German, Dacha in Russia and Civic Garden in Japan-
2006Duk‐Byeong Park, Sang-Duk Lee, Hye-Hyun Lee, Min‐Soo Lee, Myun-Ju Jang · Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning · Global
This study explored the situation and implications of allotment gardens through case studies of Kleingarten in Germany, Dacha in Russia, and Civic Garden in Japan. Allotment gardens were shown to be important for urban residents to gain recreation and health from agricultural activities. While allotment gardens in the three countries developed according to their historical and social contexts, their basic rationales were to provide recreation areas for supporting people's health and preserving green spaces in urban areas.
CommunityPolicyHealthUrban–rural linkageUrban agriculture in less developed countries
2006Mengjie Xu · Urban Problems · Global
This paper summarizes the types and characteristics of urban agriculture (UA) in less developed countries (LDCs), distinguishing it from UA in developed countries. It elucidates both the positive and negative effects of UA in LDCs, including impediments arising from its negative impacts. The study discusses the necessity of developing UA in LDCs and details measures to regulate its development, highlighting governance challenges.
Governance failurePolicyEconomicsCommunityUrban–rural linkageAplicación de biofertilizantes como alternativa nutricional, ambiental y económica en la agricultura urbana
2006Ramón Liriano González · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Cuba (Matanzas)
This study evaluated the effect of organic matter and biofertilizers (Azospirillum sp and Mycorrhizae) on horticultural crops and their economic effectiveness in Matanzas, Cuba. Two experiments were conducted: one at the University of Matanzas and another at the 'La Dignidad' urban garden, both using 13 treatments including varying organic matter doses and biofertilizer combinations. The study details the application methods and experimental design, but the abstract does not state the findings.
Organic cycleEconomicsHealthMaraîchers à Khartoum : entre intégration et marginalisation étude des capacités intégratrices de l'agriculture urbaine
2006Alice Franck · Revue internationale des études du développement · Sudan
This study of market gardeners in Khartoum, Sudan, reveals limitations in the integrating capacity of urban agriculture. Uncontrolled urbanization in the capital creates intense competition for property, restricting the potential integration of farm-workers in the downtown area. This activity is strictly commercial and primarily carried out by a migrant population.
Equity & displacementEconomicsCommunityUrban–rural linkage文化としての農業、文化としての食料(2) : 「城壁のない都市」京都の都市農業
2006Tatsurô Suehara · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan (Kyoto)
This article discusses the historical role of urban agriculture in Kyoto, an ancient Japanese city. It points out that Kyoto, being a city without ramparts, allowed urban areas to be easily converted into agricultural fields during the medieval period, suggesting it may have been the birthplace of Japanese urban agriculture. Over its 1200-year history, urban agriculture in Kyoto flexibly changed its form according to residents' needs, and agricultural fields played a significant role in the city's history.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkage建“百家园”工程 创都市农业新路
2006朱良华 · 浙江现代农业 · China (Ningbo)
Ningbo's Yinzhou District invested 190 million yuan over two years to implement over 40 "Hundred Gardens" projects, focusing on rural leisure, tourism, agricultural technology, and farm stay experiences. These projects, centered on agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, aim to provide citizens with new agricultural industries for leisure and experience. By 2005, 27 projects were completed, attracting 800,000 visitors and generating over 12 million yuan in revenue.
CommunityFood educationEconomicsThe Evaluation of Industry Development in Jiulongpo District of Chongqing City and the Policy Suggestions
2006Lei Cui · Journal of Chongqing Institute of Technology · China (Chongqing)
This paper analyzes and evaluates the status quo of industry development in Jiulongpo District, Chongqing City, which has established industry groups including urban agriculture. It proposes ideas for industry development during the "Eleventh Five-year" period and corresponding policy suggestions.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityCommunity Supported Agriculture (CSA) - en väg mot ökad uthållighet?
2006Karin Andersson · · Sweden
This study analyzed Ramsjo gard, the only Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in Sweden, from a sustainability perspective using a mail survey of CSA members and a farm sustainability analysis. The survey found no statistically significant relationship between farmer-member contact and member learning, nor between member learning and changes in food purchasing habits. The sustainability analysis indicated that farmers perceived social and environmental aspects as more sustainable than economic and practical ones.
CSA & TeikeiFood miles & supply chainClimate changeEconomicsStudy on the Development Strategy of Multi-functional Urban Agriculture in Tianjin city
2006Wenna Liu · Ecological Economy · China
This study examines strategies for developing multi-functional urban agriculture in Tianjin, China. It notes that traditional urban agriculture, aimed primarily at food production through intensive production systems, has caused ecological and environmental problems that hinder the multi-functional development of agriculture. Based on an analysis of current conditions and existing problems, the paper proposes strategic directions, a development model, and specific measures for multi-functional agriculture.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsUse of Bauxite Minerals to Control Pollutant Outflow in Urban Areas
2006Ree Ho Kim, Jin‐Woo Jeong, Sang Ho Lee, Chai Sung Gee · Materials science forum · Global
This laboratory-scale study tested incorporating bauxite minerals — red waste from alumina refineries — into a specialized soil layer for rooftop gardens, aiming to address the release of pollutants in urban stormwater runoff, a known issue with green roofs, against a backdrop of declining green-planted surfaces in urban areas. Bauxite minerals were noted for their high trapping capacity for trace metals and other soluble species and ease of integration into rooftop garden systems. Based on equilibrium adsorption capacity, an optimum amount of bauxite minerals was proposed, and rainwater runoff characteristics and pollutant release were compared between standard and modified rooftop gardens at laboratory scale. The green roof system with the bauxite layer was found to reduce heavy metal concentrations, and the technique is suggested as applicable to other green surfaces in housing complexes.
PolicyBiodiversityEco-symbolic Landscape Characteristics in Community Gardens and Common Spaces of Eco-Villages in Europe
2006Kim Geun Ho, Tongbuhm Cho, 김미향 · Journal of the Korean housing association · Europe
Seven eco-villages in Germany, Denmark, and the UK were selected for field surveys of settlement background, social and economic aspects, architectural specifications, recycled energy, and landscape characteristics of external spaces, analyzing the landscape characteristics of community gardens and common spaces and the ecological symbolism of landscapes created by residents. The eco-village landscapes were found to intend neither a return to primitive society nor control of nature through technology but rather coexistence with nature, with primitive nature symbolically restored and residents who share this outlook intending to cultivate this common sense together, landscape creation playing an important role in establishing a shared relationship between human living and nature.
CommunityBiodiversityCivic Markets: Alternative Value Chain Governance as Civic Engagement
2006E. Melanie DuPuis · Crop Management · Global
An essay arguing that today's agricultural markets have fragmented into diverse "niches," in contrast to the past commodity-based marketing system that offered farmers only a few stable outlets. It notes the organic market niche itself is splitting into sub-niches, and that the growth of large-scale industrial organic agriculture has left smaller organic farmers with diminishing access to mainstream buyers, since supermarkets prefer dealing with larger firms. As a result, some farmers are turning to alternative markets—direct marketing, farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), and more recently localized or fair-trade markets—though the paper states the dynamics of these alternative markets remain poorly understood.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsCurriculum Development for Organic Horticulture: Introduction
2006Mathieu Ngouajio, Kathleen Delate, Edward E. Carey, Anita N. Azarenko, James J. Ferguson, William Sciarappa · HortTechnology · United States
A US report on the growth of organic agriculture and resulting pressure from students and the public for new curricula tailored to the sector. It notes that more students from cities with limited production-agriculture backgrounds are enrolling in agricultural programs and demanding curricula grounded in agroecology principles and experiential training, and summarizes a workshop that brought together experts from universities across the country working on different organic and sustainable agriculture curricula to share experiences and lessons learned. Most curricula combine traditional classroom teaching, a major experiential component, a student farm for hands-on training and internships, and in some cases a marketing component typically built around Community Supported Agriculture (CSA); other programs are more extension-oriented, offering applied training to growers outside the university curriculum.
Food educationOrganic cycleCSA & TeikeiCan Sunn Hemp Decrease Nitrogen Fertilizer Requirements of Vegetable Crops in the Southeastern United States?
2006Laura Avila, Johannes Scholberg, Nancy E. Roe, C. M. Cherr · HortScience · United States (Florida)
Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) was tested as a summer cover crop in a Community Supported Agriculture vegetable operation in Southeast Florida, United States, from 2003 to 2005. The farm system compared sunn hemp (SH) with a conventional summer fallow, followed by winter/spring tomato and pepper and then sweet corn. Tomato and pepper received 0, 67, 133 or 200 kg N/ha in 2003, and 0, 100 or 200 kg N/ha in 2004/05; sweet corn received 133 or 200 kg N/ha in 2003 and 100 kg N/ha in 2004/05. Average SH biomass was 3.7 Mg/ha. In 2003, tomato yields following SH without supplemental nitrogen were similar to the fallow treatment fertilized with 200 kg N/ha. By the third year, tomato and pepper yields in SH plots were 25% and 26% higher, respectively, than conventional plots, while conventional pepper fertilized with 200 kg N/ha showed only 8% higher yield than plots given 100 kg N/ha plus cover crop. Sweet corn yields were low overall but increased when the preceding tomato/pepper crop received higher nitrogen rates: in 2003, sweet corn fertilized with 200 kg N/ha following an SH-fall vegetable rotation produced 17% higher marketable yield than the fallow treatment, and in 2004–2005, sweet corn within the SH–unfertilized tomato system produced 29% higher yields than a comparable conventional system. The results indicate that in this rotation, both fall vegetable crops and sweet corn benefit from residual nitrogen, with SH mineralization affecting not only the immediately following crop but also yields later in the year.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityOrganic cycleEconomics