Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
11393 results(452 / 456)
The Effect of School Gardens on Self-Esteem, Interpersonal Relationships, Attitude toward School, and Environmental Attitude in Populations of Children
1996Tina M. Waliczek, J.M. Zajicek · HortScience · United States
This study initiated an environmental education garden program, "The Green Classroom," in eight schools across the Midwest and Texas, involving approximately 1000 third- through eighth-grade students. The program aimed to integrate garden activities into classroom lessons to reinforce curriculum. Researchers administered pre- and post-tests, including a psychological inventory and an environmental attitude survey, to examine the relationship between garden program participation and students' self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, attitude toward school, and environmental attitudes.
Food educationCommunityHealthProfitability and sustainability of peri-urban vegetable production systems in Vietnam
1996Hans Jansen, David J. Midmore, P.H. Binh, S. Valasayya, L.C. Tru · Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science · Vietnam
This study in peri-urban Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, examined the income and cropping systems of small vegetable farms (average 0.8 ha, 60% dedicated to vegetables). Vegetables yielded about $1000 in total revenues or $650 added value per farm annually, with added value per hectare per day being double or more than that for rice. Constraints included labor limitations (especially for irrigation), high input costs for organic materials, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, as well as pests, low and variable vegetable prices, and an apparent overuse of chemical fertilizers and insecticides.
Peri-urban agricultureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceIn Situ Conservation of Landraces in Centers of Crop Diversity
1995Brush S. B. · Crop Science 35(2):346-354 · Global
A foundational paper presenting three cases of ongoing farmer maintenance of landraces—potatoes in the Peruvian Andes, maize in southern Mexico and wheat in western Turkey—and the rationale for in situ conservation.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityPolicyWhose Landscape? Technology, Fascism, and Environmentalism on the National Socialist Autobahn
1995Rollins W. H. · Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 85, No. 3, pp. 494–520 · Germany
Analyzes how Seifert and his team applied aesthetic and ecological principles, grounded in climax-vegetation theory, to the Autobahn, probing the entangled relationship of technology, fascism, and environmentalism under National Socialism.
PolicyBiodiversityUrban Community Gardens as Contested Space
1995Karen Schmelzkopf · Geographical Review · United States (New York City)
This article examines community gardens in Loisaida, a high-crime, poverty-stricken area of Manhattan's Lower East Side in New York City. The gardens provide social and economic functions, serving as safe open spaces for socialization and sources of food. A major problem identified is the competition for these sites between gardening and housing development.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsUrban Agriculture in Zimbabwe: Implications for Urban Management and Poverty
1995Beacon Mbiba · · Zimbabwe (Harare)
This paper addresses the implications of urban agriculture for urban management and poverty in Zimbabwe, covering various aspects such as off-plot cultivation in Harare, urban cultivation at home, urban maize markets, and institutional responses to uncontrolled urban cultivation. Evidence from Harare suggests that urban agriculture can be a counterproductive activity, highlighting challenges and conflicts in urban management.
Governance failureCommunityWelfarePolicyHealthURBAN AGRICULTURE AS A SURVIVAL STRATEGY: IMPLICATIONS FOR PLANNING
1995Yasmin Y. Coovadia · · South Africa
Large cities and metropolitan areas in South Africa are experiencing increasing urbanization and urban poverty. Residents of informal settlements secure shelter with minimal resources, create income-earning opportunities in the informal sector, and make efforts to supplement household food supplies through direct production within the city. Urban agriculture serves as a survival strategy for these residents.
WelfareEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceMetals in urban gardens ‐ effect of lime and sludge
1995James R. Preer, Ahmed N. Abdi, Harkewal S. Sekhon, George B. Murchison · Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A Environmental Science and Engineering and Toxicology · Global
This study investigated cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in vegetables grown in community gardens on different urban soils. Vegetables from a low-pH urban soil without contamination history showed higher Cd and Zn levels than those from a reclaimed landfill with digested sewage sludge, and also higher than a low-metal, neutral-pH site. Liming on the low-pH site reduced Cd and Zn concentrations in beet, lettuce, radish, and Swiss chard leaves, reaching background levels after four years. The findings indicate that soil pH is more important than total soil Cd and Zn in determining vegetable metal availability.
Contamination & food safetyHealthCommunityOrganic cycleOptions for municipal interventions in urban poverty alleviation
1995Emiel A. Wegelin, Karin M. Borgman · Environment and Urbanization · Global
This paper reviews the wide range of options available to municipalities in the Global South for alleviating or reducing poverty. These options include employment creation, improving low-income groups’ access to justice and protection from crime, and enhancing urban services such as water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, public transport, health care, and education. The paper also outlines how municipal action must encourage and support community-based organizations, NGOs, and the private sector, and how changes in regulatory frameworks for land management, urban agriculture, and housing can contribute to poverty alleviation.
WelfarePolicyEconomicsCommunityAn Improvement of Facilities and Management of Allotment Garden in an Urban Area
1995Rie Matsunaga, Hong Tae Lee, Isoya SHINJI · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan
This study aimed to gather ideas about desirable physical characteristics and management of allotment gardens in an urban area. Standardized questionnaires were mailed to 660 subjects, with 345 responses received. The results clarified current user attributes and usage situations, proposing future improvements regarding traffic means, distance, contract terms, use size, cultivation guidance, facilities or equipment, use charge, and services for urban allotment gardens.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsA Study on the Needs for Allotment Gardens in Sendai
1995Hiroshi Suda, Tetsuaki Kusunoki, Yoshiyuki Tokunaga · Journal of the City Planning Institute of Japan · Japan (Sendai)
This paper analyzed the needs for allotment gardens among citizens of Sendai using a questionnaire and quantification method. The needs were categorized into three types: simply type, enrich type, and middle type. It also discussed differences in citizen awareness of allotment gardens between local cities and metropolitan areas, proposing policies for providing allotment gardens in local cities.
CommunityPolicyUrban–rural linkageCOMMUNICATING COMPOSTING TO THE PUBLIC.
1995Sandra A. Balch, D. L. Auld · HortScience · Global
This article discusses methods for communicating composting information to the public, noting that many potential composters lack expertise, information, and support. It finds that hands-on instruction and active involvement in ongoing programs, as well as integration into established programs like community gardens, are effective methods for conveying composting information.
CompostFood educationCommunitySmall scale irrigation using collector wells. Pilot project - Zimbabwe. Fifth progress report October 1994 - March 1995
1995Chris Lovell, E. Mazhangara, G. Mtetwa, Timothy Dube, Douglas Thompson, David Macdonald, C.H. Batchelor · NERC Open Research Archive (Natural Environment Research Council) · Zimbabwe
This report details the progress of a pilot project in Zimbabwe (October 1994 - March 1995) on small-scale irrigation using collector wells. Nine wells now provide domestic water to 1515 families, and 731 families have allotments in associated community gardens. The first scheme yielded a gross margin of Z$18903 per hectare in its fourth winter season, with an average of Z$22932 per hectare per year over four years. Initial results from five pilot schemes showed similarly high returns, averaging Z$23798 per hectare.
CommunityEconomicsThe Garden History Of Devon: An Illustrated Guide to Sources
1995Todd Gray, Devon Gardens Trust · · United Kingdom
This guide compiles sources on the garden history of Devon. It includes Devon's gardens and surviving documents, how to begin garden research in Devon, how to use the guides, garden descriptions, documentary sources, printed sources, illustrations, and appendices. The appendices list places and gardens visited by Revd John Swete from 1789-1804, allotment gardens in Devon, Devon nurseries and market-gardens, Devon garden societies, and miscellaneous Devon records.
CommunityPolicyOakland -- A Garden Grows a Community [Roots]
1995Laura L. Lawson · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · United States (California)
A 1995 article on the "BYA Community Garden Patch," a community garden started in 1993 by Berkeley Youth Alternatives (BYA) on a half-acre former railroad right-of-way in West Berkeley, California, US. The garden — which includes a children's garden, demonstration garden, outdoor classroom, compost area, and entrepreneurial youth garden — was planned through bilingual design workshops involving teens, their parents, neighbors, BYA board members, and city officials. BYA employs and trains 10 teens in park landscape maintenance at the site.
CommunityFood educationWelfarePutting Teens at the Center: Maximizing Public Utility of Urban Space through Youth Involvement in Planning and Employment.
1995Laura Lawson, Marcia J. McNally · · United States (California)
A paper proposing new methods for layering utility and maximizing benefit to teens and the community by including teens' needs in the planning and maintenance of urban open space. It discusses two programs run by Berkeley Youth Alternatives (BYA)—the BYA Youth Employment Landscape Program and the BYA Community Garden Patch—that attract youth through employment, providing at-risk teens with income, job training, safe after-school activity, and self-esteem, presenting program descriptions and evaluation to inform future similar projects.
CommunityFood educationWelfareDETERMINANTS OF FARM SIZE AMONG RURAL AND URBAN SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN OGUN STATE
1995Adeolu B. Ayanwale · Ife Journal of Agriculture · Nigeria
Data from 100 urban-based and 100 rural-based farms in Ogun State, Nigeria, were analyzed to identify determinants of farm size. Farming expenditure was the main determinant common to both urban and rural farming areas. Mode of land acquisition (allocation from family land) was an additional determinant in urban farming areas, while years of farming experience and mode of acquisition (customary tenancy) were additional determinants in rural farming areas.
EconomicsCommunityFruit Teaching Garden as a Collaborative Project between Horticulture and Agriculture Education
1995William C. Olien, Joe G. Harper, Katherine Ashe · HortScience · United States
A Teaching Fruit-Garden Project paired Horticulture and Agricultural Education classes at a US university (1995) to build teaching materials for college courses, area K-12 schools, and community members interested in fruit and edible landscaping, organized around team coordination, writing across the curriculum, and hands-on learning. The horticulture course produced a proposal for low-maintenance, sustainable fruit production including species and cultivar choices, a management plan, and a preliminary site plan; the agriculture education course produced self-contained teaching modules with sample lesson plans for K-12 teachers. Students reported liking the cross-class collaboration and the sense that their work served the community.
CommunityFood educationDIYSustainability and urban food supply in Africa
1995Kenneth Lynch · Sustainable Development · Africa
This paper examines Agenda 21's Chapter 7 on sustainable human settlements and surveys the growing body of publications on food supply to urban areas in the less developed world, with a particular focus on fruit and vegetables, urban agriculture, and food marketing. It discusses the main aspects of Agenda 21's Chapter 7 relating to sustainable human settlements and the role emerging research on urban food systems can play in establishing sustainable development in cities of less developed countries, with particular attention paid to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsHealthA City of Farmers: Informal Urban Agriculture on the Open Spaces of Nairobi, Kenya
1994P. Anyang’ Nyong’o, Donald B. Freeman · Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines · Kenya
This study by Donald Freeman examined informal urban agriculture in Nairobi, Kenya, through on-site surveys of 618 small-scale cultivators in ten different areas. It describes urban farmers, their land use practices, and crops, and discusses the development and significance of urban agriculture within Kenya's social and economic development. The findings suggest a need to redefine urban productive activities in the Third World to include basic food production in cities.
CommunityEconomicsUrban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceRutgers Urban Gardening: A Study in Cultural Diversity and Gardening
1994Ishwarbhai C. Patel · HortTechnology · United States
The Rutgers Urban Gardening (RUG) program in the United States fosters cultural diversity by employing six ethnic minority workers and reaching over 30 ethnic groups through various educational programs. It creates an environment where people can connect, share concerns, and solve problems, bridging social, economic, cultural, and racial barriers.
CommunityFood educationWelfareInstitutional responses to uncontrolled urban cultivation in Harare: prohibitive or accommodative?
1994Beacon Mbiba · Environment and Urbanization · Zimbabwe (Harare)
This review examines local government responses to uncontrolled urban cultivation in Harare, Zimbabwe, covering both the colonial period and post-independence since 1980. The study finds that local authorities struggle to manage urban agriculture effectively and sustainably. It suggests new directions for policy and research to address these difficulties.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityFood Systems and the Poor in Harare Under Conditions of Structural Adjustment
1994David Drakakis‐Smith · Geografiska Annaler Series B Human Geography · Africa
This paper focused on the impact of structural adjustment programs on the urban poor in Africa, specifically examining the urban food system in Harare, Zimbabwe. In Harare, food retailing is largely structured through supermarkets, which keeps costs high for the poor. While the informal sector has expanded, it remains relatively restricted and unorganized compared to Asian cities. Consequently, urban agriculture has grown extensively in house-gardens and illegally in the urban periphery, yet there is little coordinated or positive policy response from urban authorities.
Governance failureWelfareEconomicsPolicyUrban–rural linkageUrban horticulture: a part of the biodiversity picture
1994H. B. Tukey · Cambridge University Press eBooks · Global
This paper defines urban horticulture as the functional use of plants to improve urban environments. It states that urban horticulture contributes to screening views, food production, reducing noise and air pollution, ameliorating urban climates, and improving human well-being. The abstract notes that information on city plants often comes from observations and anecdotes, and that strategies from commercial agriculture do not always apply well to urban horticulture.
BiodiversityHealthClimate changeFood sovereignty & justice221 MEASURING THE IMPACT OF A COMMUNITY GARDENING PROGRAM
1994William T. Hlubik, Michael W. Hamm · HortScience · United States
A 1994 conference presentation abstract (HortScience) describing the need for a comprehensive model to measure the impact of community gardening on the physical, nutritional and sociological structures of at-risk urban communities in the United States, and reporting on the stepwise development and implementation of an evaluation tool built to address that need. Developed in partnership with horticultural researchers, urban gardeners, dietitians and sociologists, the tool integrates established evaluative methods with new measurement techniques into a statistical survey. Preliminary findings from the first year of survey administration were to be shared at the presentation, but no specific results are given in the abstract itself.
CommunityHealthWelfareFood education