Research & reports

Aline Oliveira Zoia do Amaral, Regina Yoshie Matsue, Luciana Yuki Tomita · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil (São Paulo)

This engaged, reflexive case study analyzed the implementation of a community garden in a condominium in Heliópolis, a high social-vulnerability neighborhood in São Paulo, Brazil, and the participants' motivations, drawing on participant observation, a field diary, and semi-structured interviews. The garden was established through crowdfunding (a "vaquinha virtual"). It contributed to the household budget, expanded the variety of vegetables consumed to include unconventional food plants, and improved diet. It also became a space for recovering affective memories, socializing, an activity for elderly women, and bringing the condominium's children closer to the practice of growing food.

Barelds-Cramer, Leonie, Kapteijns, Annemarie, Battjes-Fries, Marieke · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · Europe

This report presents the outcomes and insights from a series of co-design workshops conducted at four FEAST Living Labs — Leuven (Belgium), Oxfordshire (UK), Ghent (Belgium), and Tuscany (Italy) — aimed at developing community-driven solutions supporting healthier, more sustainable food choices. The workshops used a participatory design methodology including timeline reflection, cognitive mapping of bottlenecks and qualities, and solution-pathway development. In Leuven, mothers of primary-school children wanted enjoyable, healthy, sustainable food to become a social norm, especially in schools, citing increasing exposure to unhealthy food marketing, affordability, and limited healthy school offerings; bottlenecks were mainly at the meso level, and proposed solutions included nutrition education as a standard school subject, stronger regulation of unhealthy food marketing, and digital tools to build knowledge. In Oxfordshire, parents of young children prioritized access to affordable fresh produce, opportunities for community growing, time to cook from scratch, and reduced waste; bottlenecks were more often at the micro level — limited skills, fussy eating, convenience pressures, and high food prices — with solutions including a free recipe and advice app, community gardens, cooking classes, better promotion of local support services, and initiatives connecting farmers and residents. In Ghent, professional stakeholders from food-related organizations in disadvantaged neighborhoods shared a goal of fair food access and stronger community connection through food, identifying bottlenecks in fragmented service provision, pricing barriers, and limited visibility of available food support.

Sara Rizzo, Giulia Lucertini, Alessandra Bònoli, Maria Elena Bini, Roberta Guzzinati, Luca Settanni, Francesca Cappellaro · Environmental Engineering and Management Journal · Europe

A study of six experimental case studies in the metropolitan city of Bologna, Italy, describing urban community gardens (UCGs) as examples of co-production in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), focused on the design and development of circular strategies for water reuse. It situates Bologna as a context where urban horticulture has long served as local welfare and is now evolving to host solutions supporting environmental resilience, and reports the implementation of social innovation pathways, community building and citizen engagement enabled through co-design activities using open innovation approaches, particularly Urban Living Labs (ULLs), which facilitated the development and testing of locally adapted, do-it-yourself solutions. The analysis concludes that the implemented solutions had significant social and economic impact, demonstrating UCGs' effectiveness as NBS in strengthening communities, contributing to the 2030 Agenda SDGs, and validating the outcomes of the participatory co-production approach.

Maria Angela Diva Vilaningrum Wadyatenti, Ika Yuli Listyarini, Fransisca Desiana Pranatasari · Jurnal LeECOM (Leverage Engagement Empowerment of Community) · Indonesia

A community-service report on Kampung Wisata Kali Gajah Wong, a tourist site in a densely populated urban area of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, that has several underutilized abandoned plots of land. The intervention provided education and mentoring in using abandoned land and maximizing limited space for urban farming, with results positioned as a diversification of educational tourism products — priced with an appropriate cost of production (HPP) and attractive packaging — as a form of sustainable tourism marketing. The activity is reported to have improved partners' skills in implementing urban farming and included the handover of a complete set of equipment.

Ganda Adoum Malato, Nguinambaye Mberdoum Memti, Alhadj Markhous Nazal, TAMTIAL Ngariban, Touroumgaye Goalbaye · Journal of Experimental Agriculture International · Africa

A field survey of 121 randomly selected market gardeners in the city of Sarh, Chad, characterized market gardening practices there, covering grower profiles, farm characteristics, cultivation practices and vegetable products. Most gardeners were married men (70.25% married, 86.78% men) with an average age of 31, only 11.57% illiterate, farming plots averaging 333 m² (range 42-1,492 m²), 56.20% of which were inherited; 66.67% irrigated with river water, 83.5% used organic fertilizer and 82.64% used chemical fertilizer, 53.72% applied pesticides while 46.28% used biopesticides, and leafy vegetables made up 45% of cultivated products.

Human Sciences Research Council · Figshare · South Africa

A 2025 study from South Africa's Western Cape used propensity score matching on data from 220 households — those participating in Department of Agriculture-funded backyard garden projects plus a control group — to assess urban agriculture's contribution to household food security. Households engaged in urban agriculture benefited from greater dietary diversity and income from selling produce, but the study found no significant positive contribution of urban agriculture to food security.

Izabella Pisarek, Kamila Śmieszkoł, Aleksandra Cichoń, Magdalena Śliwa, Dżoana Latała-Matysiak, Katarzyna Łuczak, Grzegorz Kusza · Journal of Ecological Engineering · Poland

A 2025 study assessed the impact of a railway line on soil quality, particularly heavy metal content, at the "Hutnik" family allotment gardens in Zawadzkie, Poland. Twenty research plots were set out near a forest complex (reference) and near railway infrastructure (a potential emission source), with soil samples collected from a depth of 0-25 cm and analyzed for total zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni). Elevated concentrations of copper, zinc, and lead were found in soils close to the railway line, and based on the chemical analysis data, the study concludes that railway transport may pose a greater threat to the environment than previously expected.

Rueda, Ximena · Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling · Africa

A 2025 comparative analysis examines agricultural, economic, and biodiversity policy across Cameroon, Kenya, and Colombia in the context of agricultural expansion, using discourse analysis of policy documents via the Nature Futures Framework and Life Frames Framework, an evaluation of budgets allocated to major agricultural and biodiversity policies, and stakeholder interviews. It finds a shared struggle across all three countries to harmonize agricultural development with biodiversity conservation despite differing institutional capacities, historical pathways, and sociocultural contexts, with agriculture continuing to dominate policy agendas and resource allocation even as recognition of biodiversity's importance grows. Nature is framed primarily in instrumental terms, most strongly so in Colombia's utilitarian "Nature for Society" orientation, with intrinsic and relational values rooted in Indigenous cosmologies weakly reflected in implementation; funding for biodiversity-related ministries remains minimal relative to agriculture in all three countries — Kenya's environmental budget rarely exceeds 0.3% of national expenditure, with Cameroon showing similar disparities and Colombia's allocations continuing to favor agricultural expansion — and institutional fragmentation further undermines this governance.

Samuel Ikendi, Michael S. Retallick, Gail R. Nonnecke, Theressa N. Cooper, Francis Owusu · Journal of Agricultural Education · Global

A 2025 comparative study of alumni from Iowa State University (ISU) and Makerere University (MAK) who participated in a summer school garden service-learning program run through the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods in Uganda between 2006 and 2019. Grounded in intergroup contact theory, a self-administered questionnaire was sent to 274 alumni via Qualtrics with a 94.2% response rate, measuring change in self-perceived appreciation of differences (SAD) and awareness of structural inequalities (ASI). ISU alumni showed greater changes in knowledge, attitudes, and awareness than MAK alumni; race, ethnicity, and gender accounted for differences, with white and female ISU alumni showing greater changes than alumni of color and male alumni respectively, and binational housing arrangements also influenced the differences.

Julia Spanier · Geoforum · Germany

A 2025 paper examines how community supported agriculture (CSA) performs and shapes rural-urban relations, based on four CSA initiatives in Germany. It finds that CSA does not automatically nurture "good intentions" between the urban and the rural, but can foster material solidarity and mutual understanding between urban consumers and rural producers. At the same time, it finds that hierarchical rural-urban relations, or rural/urban autonomy, may also be enacted within CSA, and that CSA can in some cases deepen processes of alienation between the rural and the urban, arguing that investigations of rural-urban relations in CSA must go beyond assessing producer-consumer relations alone.

Katie Wagner, Kynda R. Curtis, Ruby Ward, Melanie Stock, Sheriden M. Hansen · Applied Economics Teaching Resources · United States

This article describes the Utah Urban and Small Farms Conference (USFC), an annual outreach event for new and existing small and urban agricultural producers in Utah and across the United States facing urbanization and environmental challenges. It reports that themed sessions led by producers, government personnel, and Extension faculty led to information adoption, community partnerships, and effects on participants' professional careers and involvement in urban agriculture governance. The article suggests the USFC model could be adapted by other organizations and communities facing similar challenges.

Endang Retno Wedowati, Fungki Sri Rejeki, Emmy Wahyuningtyas, Diana Puspitasari, Adi Candra · ADMA Jurnal Pengabdian dan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat · Indonesia (Surabaya)

This community outreach report describes a program to add value to vegetable products from urban farming in the Kampoeng Pintar neighborhood of Surabaya, Indonesia, working with the local farmer group Kelompok Tani Kampoeng Pintar Oase. Using socialization, training, and technology-adoption activities based on a learning-by-doing approach, the program introduced processing techniques for vegetable nuggets, vegetable chips, and vegetable ice cream. It reports that participating residents gained skills in producing these processed vegetable products.

Xiulan Xie, Yaohua Zhai, Hao Cheng, Wenhua Wei, Maozhi Ren · Plant Physiology and Biochemistry · Global

This review examines sustainable production of paclitaxel, an anti-cancer compound derived from Taxus (yew) trees, in the context of urban agriculture. It notes that traditional extraction methods from Taxus are inefficient and destructive, risking extinction of the genus, and surveys research on biotechnological approaches to efficient, cost-effective paclitaxel biosynthesis. The review discusses strategies for industrial-scale production based on Taxus cell culture methods.

Vebjørn Egner Stafseng, Anna Marie Nicolaysen, Geir Lieblein · · United Kingdom

This education-research chapter presents findings from participatory visioning workshops that agroecology students conducted with urban agriculture initiatives in Oslo, Norway, in 2018 and 2019, analyzing the students' resulting reports. Key vision characteristics were categorized into social, nature and governance themes; common challenges included difficulties in collaboration, lack of funds and time, and initiative-specific constraints, while strong political support and rising interest in urban agriculture emerged as supporting forces, with proposed actions grouped into ecology, food, education, organization, social and municipality categories.

Ni Wayan Mutia Dewi Artawati, Tri Martini, Siwi Gayatri, Forita Dyah Arianti, Retno Widiyawati, Cahyo Prasetyo, N A Sasongko, Dany Juhandi, Nur Faizah, Vina Eka Aristya · Evergreen · Indonesia

In Kampung Sawah Mijen, Mijen District, Semarang City, Indonesia, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used to identify local resources and challenges, and Multiaspect Sustainability Analysis (MSA) assessed a sustainability index across six dimensions. Farmers produced an average of 4.6 tons of rice per hectare per growing season, with most already using environmentally friendly practices; the sustainability index was 50.14, highest in the social dimension (69.44) and lowest in the technological dimension (41.67). Green manufacturing practices — composting rice straw and manure, reusing aquaculture wastewater for irrigation, and energy-efficient post-harvest techniques — were introduced and evaluated as part of an agro-edutourism model developed with local communities, academics, business and media, pointing to a need for further technological sustainability innovation.

Caroline Pacífico de Assis, André Manoel Correia dos Santos, Andrea Bittencourt de Santana Teixeira · OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA · Brazil (São Paulo)

A quali-quantitative online survey of 136 residents of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, assessed demographic profile, information sources, consumption forms, and perceptions of the nutritional value, functionality, and toxicological risk of edible flowers from unconventional food plants (PANC), including nasturtium, marigold, sunflower, and butterfly pea (clitoria). Results showed only partial knowledge and restricted consumption, with barriers related to lack of information, limited access, and cultural unfamiliarity; hibiscus and sunflower were the most recognized species, while nasturtium and clitoria had low visibility despite their bioactive compounds and nutritional value. Most participants expressed willingness to consume and promote the use of these flowers.

Ida Ayu Kartika Maharani, Putu Widiadnyana, Ni Putu Dilia Dewi · WIDYABHAKTI Jurnal Ilmiah Populer · Indonesia

A community service program among members of the GBI Swiss Ministry congregation in Denpasar, Indonesia, addressed limited land availability and a lack of knowledge of urban farming technology through training in Budikdamber, a simple aquaponics-based system for cultivating catfish in buckets. The program proceeded through needs assessment, technical outreach, cultivation training, and distribution of Budikdamber kits equipped with automatic feeders and digital guide posters, and it produced high participant enthusiasm and improved practical understanding of seed and seedling management and integrated food production systems.

Nicole Paganini · · Africa

Drawing on critical theorists including Fanon and Mbembe, the chapter examines how crises expose systemic inequalities and power imbalances rooted in colonial legacies, and how gardening becomes a means of agency, resistance, and the restoration of dignity in response to food injustice, through four African city case studies: Cape Town's land crisis, Maputo's post-war hunger crisis, Nairobi's COVID-19 crisis, and Ouagadougou's migration crisis. Noting that women are globally the primary actors in farming and food-related activities, it treats the question of women and land tenure as relevant, examining urban agriculture through a decolonial lens and framing crisis gardening as both a means of sustenance and a catalyst for community resilience and social cohesion in times of turmoil.

Imam Mashudi, Muhammad Fakhruddin, Satworo Adiwidodo, Sulistyono Sulistyono, Vinan Viyus, Moh. Hartono · Jurnal Pengabdian Polinema Kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community service program in RW 04, Karangbesuki, Malang City, Indonesia, provided training and installation of solar panels for the water circulation pump of a tilapia fish pond urban farming business, aiming to improve energy efficiency and business sustainability. Local residents were trained on solar energy concepts, installation, and system maintenance, and a site survey assessed technical and environmental factors for optimal panel placement; installing solar panels on the pond's circulation pump reduced reliance on conventional energy, optimized pond operations, and evaluation showed increased productivity and energy efficiency, while also strengthening the local community's capacity to manage renewable energy systems.

Cristiane Cruz Barros, Luciano Pires de Andrade, Horasa Maria Lima da Silva Andrade · Vivências · Brazil

Families participating in the Integrated Community Gardens Project near the Pernambuco Supply and Logistics Center (CEASA/PE) in Brazil were studied in a case study assessing the impact of urban agriculture on food and nutrition security (SAN) and eating behavior. Secondary data and primary data from semi-structured interviews were collected across 8 sections ('alcas') of the project, and community gardens were found effective at promoting and securing the principles of food and nutrition security and strengthening healthy eating habits among participants.

Ansar Amir, Mohammed Haruna · Interdisciplinary Social Studies · Indonesia (Makassar)

The Tanami Tanata Movement in Makassar City, Indonesia, was studied using a qualitative descriptive approach involving interviews, observations, and documentation to examine public administration innovation integrating organic waste management with urban farming. The movement was found to significantly reduce organic waste generation while strengthening family food security, achieved through multi-actor collaboration, participatory governance platforms, local circular economy implementation, and service digitization via the 'Sampah Tukar Sayur' (waste-for-vegetables) program; integrating waste management with urban farming created a sustainable cycle turning waste into productive resources with ecological, social, and economic benefits, and also spurred urban-agriculture-based micro businesses and greater public awareness of zero-waste principles.

Sucipto, Dian Peniasiani · INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR · Global

Using a library research method reviewing existing literature on pedagogy, environmental education, and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), the role of teachers' pedagogical competence in the local content program Tatanen di Bale Atikan was examined for its effect on students' environmental character. Teachers were found to play a crucial role in integrating environmental values into lesson planning, teaching strategies, and evaluation, with hands-on activities such as planting, plant care, and school garden management improving students' ecological literacy and developing caring attitudes, responsibility, and sustainable habits; success depended on teacher role modeling, consistent habituation, and institutional school support, and the program's potential for wider replication faces challenges including limited facilities, teacher competence, and institutional support.

Prita Indah Pratiwi, Bambang Sulistyantara, Indung Sitti Fatimah, Nizar Nasrullah, Riswandi, Andy Darusalam, Yusuf Dwi Shaka Juliandri, Khansa Aqila Arrahman · Agrokreatif Jurnal Ilmiah Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat · Indonesia

A community activity report on developing a healing garden at the Al-Muhajirin Foundation's elderly Islamic boarding school (pesantren) on Abun Bunyamin Mukhtar (ABM) Farm in Kiarapedes District, Purwakarta Regency, West Java. The site includes 4 hectares of agricultural land planted with fruit and vegetable crops, also used for management meetings, outing classes, English camps and tahfidz camps. Through seven stages—preparation, inventory, analysis and synthesis, concept development, design creation, implementation and dissemination—the project produced a relaxation garden, a toga (family medicinal plant) garden, and an edible garden, which functioned as spaces for discussion, murojaah, horticultural cultivation, and recreation. During construction and dissemination, the community actively planted aromatic plants, engaged with the material, and completed pre- and post-tests, with post-test results showing that the outreach activity increased community knowledge about healing gardens.

Stokman, Antje, Khokhlova, Viktoria, Peters, Lasse, König, Bettina, Lange, Doris, Bürig, Lara, Esche, Finn, Feldmann, Falko, Quambusch, Mona · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Germany

A German report on an urban agriculture innovation district being developed in Hamburg as part of the Horner Geest landscape axis and the urban development of the new Gartenstadt Öjendorf. An interdisciplinary research team from HafenCity University (landscape planning), the Julius Kühn Institute (horticultural sciences), and the University of Kassel (agricultural economics and sustainability research) is developing scenarios for a productive horticultural park and testing them on a test and demonstration site. The project aims to establish innovative forms of urban agriculture that increase the presence and perception of farming in urban space and promote direct interaction between city residents and professional agricultural actors; this report covers the project on the occasion of its first scenario workshop.

Marco Focacci, Christina Schäffer, Isabella De Meo, Alessandro Paletto, Fabio Salbitano · Urban forestry & urban greening · Europe

A study of urban forest gardens—multilayered, mainly perennial edible intercropping systems—in Sweden, aimed at a national inventory, identifying the drivers behind their establishment, and understanding their contribution to urban sustainability policies. The researchers identified 30 forest gardens across 10 cities and conducted site visits and stakeholder interviews, finding three main origin types: grassroots movements, schools, and municipal officials, each informed and trained by "knowledge hubs" (associations, education centres and professionals). Social network analysis showed knowledge hubs were pivotal to establishment and information circulation, while few connections existed among other actors. Stakeholders rated cultural ecosystem services—education, community building, recreation and aesthetic value (8.7/10)—higher than regulating services such as biodiversity and climate regulation (7.9/10) and provisioning services (6.5/10). Interviews also identified legal burdens on land management and use, financial sustainability challenges for both bottom-up and top-down forest gardens, and a lack of skilled labor.